Cardiff Law School and Hugh James win second award
Cardiff Law School and Hugh
James have won a second award for their volunteer
scheme
02 I 07 I 10
Cardiff Law School has
beaten off stiff competition to win a Project Award in the Higher
Education Academy [HEA] Student Volunteer Awards for their Pro Bono
NHS Continuing Healthcare scheme. The award was presented by the
new Chief Executive of the Higher Education Academy, Professor
Craig Mahoney.
This award is the second
for the scheme, which also won the Student Team Award at the
prestigious Law Society Junior Lawyers’ Division 10th Anniversary
Pro Bono Awards in 2008. In addition, the scheme achieved a
high commendation in the Attorney General’s Student and Law School
Pro Bono Awards in 2008, where it was shortlisted for Best New Pro
Bono Activity.
The legal clinic was
jointly established by Cardiff Law School and Hugh James in 2007 to
advise on continuing healthcare cases and assist in addressing the
nationwide problem of assessment for NHS continuing healthcare
funding. Cardiff Law School is the only Law School in the UK
to run a specialist legal advice clinic in this area. The
development has allowed for the provision of high-quality pro bono
services in an innovative and niche area of law practice which is
not always serviced by legal aid. Hugh James is a leading
firm in this area of practice and the clinic allows them to pass on
significant professional experience and expertise to law
students.
Continuing healthcare
(also known as nursing care) is where the NHS is arguably
responsible for care and should fully fund it. Problems
mainly affect very ill patients, often elderly, in nursing homes,
but can also apply if a person is in hospital long term or needs
nursing care at home.
Hugh James has a
specialist team to handle nursing care cases and currently
represents over 2000 people – from both England and Wales -
including instructions on behalf of elderly people in care homes,
hospital and estates. In the last 30 months, the team
has successfully recovered over £9 million in wrongly paid nursing
home fees, as well as the saving of future fees.
Lisa Morgan, Senior
Associate in Nursing Care at Hugh James and one of the supervising
solicitors on the scheme, says, “This award is fully deserved, and
I’m delighted that the scheme has been recognised in this
way. The students we work with are hard-working and
dedicated, and they are often of such a high calibre that we offer
them positions within the firm. Last year, we offered
positions to six students who worked on the scheme, and I’m pleased
to say that we are recruiting four from this year’s team.”
Matthew Tossell, Managing
Partner with Hugh James, congratulated the clinic on its success:
“I would like to congratulate Cardiff University’s Pro Bono Team
for their success in this prestigious competition. By
offering their services pro bono, Cardiff Law School and Hugh James
provide a valuable source of advice and information in an area of
law where legal aid is not always available. I look forward to our
continued working relationship.”
Professor Gillian
Douglas, Head of Cardiff Law School, says, “We are committed to
continuing to develop our Pro Bono Clinic to support the community
and to allow our students to gain exposure to law in action.
The Scheme equips them with valuable skills that help to prepare
them for legal practice.”
Pat Brand, tutor at
Cardiff Law School tutor and supervisor of the legal clinic, says,
“Cardiff Law School is extremely grateful to Hugh James for their
unstinting generosity and commitment to supporting the
students. Without their support, this venture could not have
succeeded in its endeavours to assist vulnerable members of the
community.”
The Scheme is also strongly
supported by Alzheimer’s Society Wales and Age Cymru. Over
eighty Cardiff University students undertook the Scheme’s
comprehensive training programme in October 2009, which included a
session by Hugh James. More than half of these students have now
gone on to work on real cases.
To find out more please see the Cardiff Law School website at
www.law.cardiff.ac.uk/probono