Lancaster University Law School will provide free legal advice to local residents next month on four dates in Lancaster city centre.

Second and third year law students, supervised by two members of staff, solicitors and lecturers Sadie Whittam and Kathryn Saban, will supervise the service for Lancaster, Morecambe and district residents who are facing legal problems.

The confidential ‘drop-in’ clinics on July 16, 18, 23 and 25 from 10am to 4pm will be held at The Storey Institute (first floor Reading and Drawing Rooms) in Lancaster.

Members of the public, who do not have to make an appointment, will be invited to run through their legal problems.

Working in teams of two, the student advisors, who are on paid internships, will then take details of key issues.

They will then liaise with clinic leaders, both qualified solicitors, to talk through potential research areas and agree actions.

The students will then provide clients with a letter of advice within 14 days of the initial appointment.

The clinics will cover an array of general legal issues including:

· Consumer rights

· Education law

· Family Law

· Personal legal problems

· Small claims

The July ‘drop in’ clinics will not cover issues linked to immigration, crime or challenges against universities, although an Immigration clinic will run from October 2019.

Head of the Law School Professor Alisdair Gillespie said: “Lancaster University is renowned for its academic excellence. The Law Clinic provides much needed assistance to members of the public who might not otherwise be able to access free legal advice. The Law Clinic enables students to apply the law to real life problems, and it is great that clients will receive top notch legal advice at no charge!”

No appointments are necessary to attend the ‘drop-in’ clinics on 16, 18, 23 and 25 July. However, any enquiries can be made to lawclinic@lancaster.ac.uk