Who you might talk to on the phone
When you call our helpline you will be in touch with our project coordinator, Agota, who will take some core details about your enquiry and forward the information you give to an experienced, child-centred lawyer.
The lawyer will asses the information, call you back to have a chat with you and then advise how best to proceed. This can take the form of the lawyer providing you with the necessary information and options available so that you can advise the young person, or they may advise that the young person will benefit from instructing a lawyer to represent them.
Our lawyers who are involved in this project are Sarah Bannerman, Jenna Hall and Claire Osborne (pictured below):
Lawyer-Led Training
Our lawyer-led training courses under this project are usually led by Vicki Straiton, partner, Rebecca Scott, managing lawyer, and Sarah Bannerman, lawyer (pictured below).
Between all three of them combined, they have around 25 years of experience in practicing law in a child-centred context.
For training enquiries please contact our project coordinator: agota.rauktyte@clanchildlaw.org
Child-Centred Lawyers
Our lawyers at Clan Childlaw operate in a child-centred way, meaning that the child or young person is at the centre of everything that we do. This means:
- We adapt our communication styles to ensure that the child or young person we are working with understands their rights, the options they have available to them and can express their wishes on how to proceed clearly and confidently.
- We work around the lives of the children and young people we support – meaning that we meet our clients where and when it suits them, instead of having them attend our office during office hours.
- Our services are free – meaning that a child or young person in need of legal advice and representation will never need to worry about the costs of instructing a lawyer.
What practitioners have said about working with us
Very helpful for my own knowledge and learning; very supportive for my young person.
This is the first time I have used Clan Childlaw and the whole experience has been excellent. Jenna, and initially Louise, have been a pleasure to work with. A very professional service with great expertise and knowledge, while still being approachable for the young person. The team around this young person have been trying to get better outcomes for him for over a year with no success. I do not think he would be in this tenancy without the legal representation and hard work that Jenna provided.
This was an excellent service. Having the legal representation made a huge difference for the young person and made him feel more confident. Claire explained the different terminology to him so he had a good understanding and he felt very supported.
The referral was dealt with professionally and sensitively and the young person has reported to me that her solicitor is lovely and very understanding of the complex situation the young person currently finds herself in.
The young person I support faces significant challenges and experiences considerable distress impacting his ability to engage with services and get the right support. Daniel, his solicitor at Clan Childlaw, has worked successfully on two occasions with this young person to resolve difficulties in his accommodation placement. I have been very worried about the young person and I believe that the outcome for the young person would have been worse without Clan Childlaw's involvement. Daniel has been very positive to work with and in appointments I've attended I've been extremely impressed by his child-friendly approach and how he communicates complex legal issues to young people.
