Inquests: Access to Justice and the Role of Pro Bono

As part of the Law Society's Pro Bono Week, CWHLS Pro Bono and CSR Sub-Committee will be hosting a seminar titled ‘Inquests: Access to Justice and the Role of Pro Bono’ on Tuesday 5 November 2019 at 6pm. The guest speakers are Yasmin Waljee OBE, the International Pro Bono Director and Senior Counsel at Hogan Lovells International LLP; HH Sir Peter Thornton QC, the former Chief Coroner of England and Wales; and Rebecca Wilkinson, the Deputy Chief Executive & Director of Programmes at LawWorks.

The seminar will explore the issues around representation and legal aid for inquest victims and their families. Yasmin Waljee and Hogan Lovells have provided exemplary pro bono service to the victims of crime and terrorism including those of the July 7 bombings and Westminster Attacks (March 2017). The event aims to explore the extent to which pro bono representation can be utilised. CWHLS Pro Bono and CSR Sub-Committee aims to promote and enable its members to engage in sustainable pro bono activity. Rebecca Wilkinson will provide information about a variety of pro bono opportunities that firms can get involved in.

Refreshments will be provided, we are grateful to Coram Chambers and Shieldpay who are sponsoring the event.

Speaker profile

Yasmin has been key to establishing and embedding a pro bono culture within Hogan Lovells. Yasmin is an international human rights lawyer and has advised on issues relating to compensation for victims of crime and terrorism including the victims of the July 7 bombings and Westminster Attack (March 2017), the right to life, and regularly works on public policy issues in this area. Yasmin co-leads the firm's award-winning social enterprise and social finance practice.

Peter is a founder and former head of London's Doughty Street chambers and is considered one of the most eminent criminal barristers of his generation. Peter’s trial and appellate practice included work in various jurisdictions, such as the Isle of Man and Bermuda, and pro bono appearances in death penalty cases before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. In 2012 he was appointed the first Chief Coroner for England and Wales. He has actively been involved in academic and practitioner writing on civil liberties and human rights and is a contributor to Archbold Criminal Practice. He is a visiting Professor at King’s College London. He was knighted in the 2017 for services to the administration of justice and Coroner Service.

As Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Programmes at LawWorks, Rebecca oversees all pro bono opportunities developed and supported by LawWorks. In her role, Rebecca works closely with in-house teams and law firms, as well as third sector organisations, to drive forward LawWorks’ pro bono programmes which help to address unmet legal need within England & Wales. Rebecca previously worked at The Law Society as their Pro Bono and Public Legal Education Policy Adviser (2014-2018), having been called to the Bar in 2013.

CWHLS Pro Bono and CSR Sub-Committee

CWHLS Pro Bono and CSR Sub-Committee aims to have a positive impact in Holborn & Westminster and the wider London community. The Committee seeks to achieve this by supporting, promoting, signposting, and raising the profile of pro bono work and corporate responsibility initiatives among its Law Society members and the wider legal community.

King’s College London, King’s Legal Clinic

The event is being hosted and supported by King’s Legal Clinic, which is part of the Dickson Poon School of Law, King’s College London. King’s Legal Clinic aims to enhance the education of students and promote social justice. It provides free legal advice in a range of areas of law and collaborates with community organisations to provide pro bono service and promote access to justice. To find out more please click here.

The Dickson Poon School of Law at King's College London is one of the oldest law schools in England and recognised globally as one of the best law schools in the world - ranking first in the UK in the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014 and one of the top 25 worldwide (QS). The School was established in 1831, and has played an integral role in the life of King's College London since the College was formed almost 200 years ago.

It has one of this country's most distinguished research and teaching reputations - all staff are active in research and among the leading international experts. This helps us to continue to push the boundaries of academic thought and to innovate across disciplines. Sir Dickson Poon's £20m donation to the Law School, the largest in the College's history and believed to be the biggest ever to a British or European law faculty, is part of a £40m transformation project for the School which aims to further its reputation as one of the top law schools in the world and setting new standards in legal education and research.