Essex Law Clinic student shortlisted for national award

For the second year running, an Essex Law Clinic student has been shortlisted for a prestigious national award, recognition of her work helping others gain access to justice.

Jade Hunt, a final-year student in the School of Law, has been shortlisted in the Best Contribution by an Individual category at the LawWorks & Attorney General Student Awards.

The awards celebrate the best pro bono activities undertaken by law students and law schools and the positive impact on those assisted. Jade’s nomination noted her ”clear passion and desire to help those who are on the fringe of society gain access to legal advice.”

Jade Hunt said: “I feel very honoured to be nominated for this award. I also feel very proud to have been a part of the hardworking team at Essex Law Clinic. Being an active member, I have enjoyed the opportunity to put the legal skills I learnt in lectures at Essex into practice, offering legal advice to people who may not have had access to it otherwise.”

Jade has been a member of the Clinic for the last three years, helping it develop from a small course-based clinic to one with almost 200 students, who play an active role in Clinic management.

As a Housing Law Student Coordinator, Jade has provided advice to clients in relation to tenancy matters, homelessness challenges and eviction proceedings. She has conducted 29 cases, taking on complex casework and acting as a first point of call and mentor for other students undertaking complex housing cases.

She has been the driving force in establishing and helping to run a new homelessness outreach project, in partnership with Beacon House, Colchester, a therapeutic service for young people, families and adults who have experienced trauma and loss. The project provides a weekly information and referral session, focussing on housing and family law, for clients who are not able to access help in other ways.

Jade has also been instrumental in the development of the structure and management of the Clinic, taking on the role of ‘firm manager’, with responsibility for allocating students to cases and providing a professional, efficient and timely service to clients.

Jade follows Catherine Duggan, the Law Clinic’s then Student Director, who was shortlisted for Student of the Year at the 2019 awards.

The winners of the LawWorks & Attorney General Student Awards will be announced on 13 May.