Legal Volunteers

Organisation Overview

PAS offers information to prisoners, to those within the prison sector, and responds to Government Consultations. PAS is an independent charity founded in 1991 by organisations including Liberty, NACRO, the Prison Reform Trust, and the Howard League for Penal Reform, to deal with the increasing demand for legal advice throughout England and Wales.

Role Details

Time commitment: Volunteers are expected to commit to one day a week for at least three months, although flexibility will be given to more experienced candidates. An expense allowance is provided.

Attendance: Due to the location of the PAS office, we are unable to offer volunteer positions outside of London. We are unfortunately not able to accommodate volunteers on evenings or weekends.

Role Description

We are always in need of keen volunteers interested in gaining experience in a prison law environment. We have a small number of caseworkers, and with over 80,000 people in prison in England and Wales, a huge number of queries. Volunteer support is invaluable to us, and makes a very real difference in enabling prisoners to access legal information and to defend their legal rights.

This role is well suited to experienced barristers and solicitors who are wanting to use their skills and experience to help prisoners and who will be assisting on more complex casework matters with the service. This role is also suited to current or recent law students seeking to gain more experience of legal work and who will be taking on more straightforward casework and administrative work like photocopying, filing and typing.

Legal Volunteer duties include sending general information to clients and other prisoners as directed by the legal caseworkers or senior solicitor, writing to clients with information about their specific cases and responding to general letters from prisoners.

MAIN PURPOSE: To assist with casework and answering of general letters and to help ensure the smooth running of the office

MAIN TASKS:
• To send general information to clients and other prisoners as directed by the legal caseworkers or senior solicitors
• To write to clients with information about their specific cases as directed by the senior solicitor or legal caseworkers
• To respond to general letters from prisoners under supervision of the senior solicitor or legal caseworkers

OTHER TASKS:
• To review and re-organise as necessary current manual filing systems of external resources
• To assist with the design and distribution of information leaflets and posters for prisoners
• To assist with the production of training course materials run by PAS
• To assist with the production of the reports and publications as required
• To undertake the above in accordance with the PAS Equal Opportunities policy

To apply for or express an interest in this position, please email bicenquiries@weareadvocate.org.uk