Newcastle University and ULaw Newcastle Campus: An exciting new scheme to assist local defence lawyers during Crown Court Proceedings!

Newcastle University and ULaw Newcastle  are joining forces with a new scheme that enables law students to be trained as Student Outdoor Clerks to assist local defence lawyers during Crown Court proceedings.

Outdoor Clerks used to be sent to court by firms of solicitors to make detailed notes for advocates during trials and fact-finding hearings. However, the role disappeared in the wake of successive legal aid cuts and reforms. There is also a notable fall in entry to the criminal justice system with the average age of a ‘duty solicitor’ increasing.

An initiative to address these issues has been running successfully in Kent with a collaboration between Kent Law School, Kent Law Society and Kent Law Clinic since 2021, and we are keen to bring the scheme to the Northeast.

The Student Outdoor Clerk Scheme (SOCS) offers a helping hand to busy advocates. But it’s also a valuable opportunity for law students to gain practical legal experience in the courtroom and hopefully encourage them to specialise in Criminal Law.

An Outdoor Clerk is invaluable to advocates for the following reasons:

1. They can take a full note of all the evidence – especially the cross examination.

2. They are a second pair of ears when the client must be given certain advice and can make sure a proper note is taken when that advice is given.

3. They can provide a ‘sounding board’ for the advocate and provide a ‘lay perspective’ of how the jury might be assessing the trial.

4. They can help to provide space for the advocate away from the client so that the advocate can focus on the case whilst the outdoor clerk diverts the lay client.

Richard Atkinson, Vice President of the Kent Law Society and partner at Tuckers has used Kent SOCS since November 2021 and says, ‘we have been really impressed by the scheme. It not only assists us in being able to support advocates more fully at court but it also acts as a great introduction to students interested in a career in criminal law. I see great potential in it being rolled out nationally, and I look forward to helping that happen’.

Information can be shared by accessing this FLYER

If your firm would be interested in supporting us to get the scheme up and running, by offering training to our students, or by utilising the scheme itself please drop us an e-mail at jenny.hohnstone@newcastle.ac.uk or probono-newcastle@law.ac.uk