September 11, 2023, by Rebekah

Pro Bono Society – Access to Justice (A2J)

I am Mary Lassow, a second year Law LLB student. I am the head of the Access to Justice Project in the Pro-Bono Society. As project head, I will be recruiting truly dedicated members and motivating them to work together to help us achieve the goals of the project: to improve access to justice on both a local and global scale through practical work, and by investigating how law and technology can liaise to raise awareness.

I thoroughly enjoyed being a member of the Pro-Bono Society during my first year, and so I decided to push myself and apply for the role of Project Head of the project which I felt suited me the most. The application and interview process required me to put myself in the position of a project head and understand the responsibility that comes with it. The interview process required me to assess how I would overcome certain difficulties and scenarios that I could potentially overcome as project head. My advice to future applicants would be to demonstrate your passion for the project so that the interviewer can see that you can handle challenges and run a successful group!

Being a member of the Pro-Bono society has been an enjoyable and beneficial experience. During my first year I was a member of Junior Lawyers Against Poverty project (which has now merged with Access to Justice). I enjoyed helping as a member of the project, especially in helping Nottingham Soup Runners with the project. I was also a member of Aspire, which I found to be very rewarding. Being a member of the Pro-Bono Society during my first year allowed me to help those to whom help is not always available and helped build multiple interpersonal skills. Being the project head for Access to Justice this year has been a productive and fulfilling role. I have enjoyed building up the elements of my project, ready for members to join me in the new academic year! I have done this by creating posters advertising my project, contacting external parties who may be interested in working with us, and organising the technicalities of running such a project.

I would say that biggest challenge for me as project head has been organising the project alone. Access to Justice only has one project head, which means although you can be creative and run the project how you would like, it can be slightly difficult at times when coming across challenges, such as when contacting external parties to collaborate with your project. However, I overcame this by reaching out and asking for help from the committee, who are always happy to help and answer any queries that I had. I also found that contacting the previous head of the project resolved any general issues that I had.

My final tips for those considering a similar opportunity would be to go for it! If you are an organised, dedicated, and welcoming member of the Pro-Bono Society, and feel that you could thrive with an extra level of responsibility and could ensure that your project could be a success, then you should certainly consider it. The projects, especially Access to Justice, are reliant on its members to allow the project to grow, so ensure that you are welcoming to your members as they will make your role much easier.

If you are interested in the Pro-Bono society, visit our website where you can learn more about the projects that may interest you and see examples of the work that they do. The website also includes recent interesting information which may spark your interest further. Visit the website here: Home | University of Nottingham Pro Bono Society (uonprobono.co.uk)

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