Celebrating a successful first year of the Birmingham Chancery Litigant in Person Support Scheme (B-CLIPS)

On 16^th January, Advocate and the Midland Chancery and Commercial Bar Association (MCCBA) were delighted to hold a reception at St Philips Chambers to celebrate the one year anniversary of the Birmingham Chancery Litigant in Person Support Scheme (B-CLIPS) and to launch the permanent, expanded Scheme for 2025.

Pictured: Alex Pritchard-Jones of No5 Chambers speaking to the reception.

District Judge Mantle opened the event by thanking everyone who has volunteered in the past year. He also drew attention to the benefits of having the Scheme in place in Birmingham and the valuable support it has provided to Litigants in Person.

Alex Pritchard-Jones of No5 Chambers, our Barrister-Lead for B-CLIPS, discussed the recent expansion of the Scheme, specifically the removal of the 1 hour limit, and inclusion of applications, injunctions, Part 8 Directions/Disposal Hearings and FDRs, highlighting the positive impact on access to justice.

Alex thanked the Bar for their huge enthusiasm for the Scheme, encouraging all attendees at the reception to get involved this year:

“…Whether you participate in the Scheme for personal advancement or because you burn with a zeal for access to justice, I ask that you consider getting involved.”

Our dedicated Schemes Caseworker Jess closed the evening by shining a light on how the Scheme sits in context of the wider work Advocate are doing on the Midland Circuit and beyond. She thanked the Bar, Judiciary, court staff, the MCCBA, Alex Pritchard-Jones and Michelle Caney of St Philips Chambers for their hard work and dedication to making the Scheme a success:

“Over the last 18 months, one of Advocate’s key focuses has been on expanding our services to increase access to pro bono outside of London…The Scheme has been a bit of a learning process for us all, but that process has been instrumental in the development of our other regional CLIPS Schemes in Leeds, Manchester and Bristol. The enthusiasm with which it has been met here in Birmingham has been just as instrumental in driving similar enthusiasm elsewhere also”.

The event was well-attended by members of the local Bar from chambers including St Philips, No. 5, Cornwall Street, Halcyon and St Ives, as well as Court Staff from the Civil Justice Centre. It was particularly well attended by Judiciary with District Judge Mantle speaking and HHJ Williams, Mr Justice Michael Green, HHJ Kelly and District Judge Mody also in attendance.

In 2025, we are looking forward to rolling out the new expanded version of the scheme. For the first time, we are delighted to say we have a full year of B-CLIPS dates confirmed and people are already signing up to volunteer. We look forward to what 2025 has to hold for B-CLIPS!

Find out more about B-CLIPS and our other partner schemes.