The University of Kent is preparing for the public launch of an exciting fundraising campaign to build a new home for the Kent Law Clinic and our Mooting Programme. The project will cost £5million and each donation we raise will be matched pound for pound by the University. We have already raised just over £1.5million in donations, pledges and the University's match and are continuing to seek support from individuals, Trusts and Foundations and companies.
The public launch will take place in 2013 and we expect to begin construction towards the end of that year with Kent Law School staff and students moving into the new building in the spring of 2015 to coincide with our 50th Anniversary celebrations.
The Challenge
The Law Clinic's current facilities are in desperate need of expansion and modernisation so that our students can meet the increasing demand of the local community. It is rapidly approaching the point where its physical structure is no longer facilitating the high expectations and standards required by the students and staff to perform their pro bono work. The Mooting Programme is similarly hampered by its lack of any proper 'home' and many students are unable to attend to observe and learn from the moots as there is little viewing space available.
Without dedicated and properly equipped accommodation for both the Law Clinic and Mooting Programme, KLS will simply not be able to:
meet increasing student demand for what are undoubtedly hugely beneficial educational opportunities;
continue to meet the needs of the local community by providing free legal advice to those who cannot afford access to legal services;
provide Clinic staff and students with the high standard of working conditions which they and their clients deserve;
retain its leading role in clinical legal education;
exploit fully the competitive and educational advantages which the Clinic and Mooting could offer students.
The University has drawn up plans to provide accommodation which will not only be functional and flexible but, in keeping with the University's commitment to offer an inspiring student experience, will be an outstanding space in which to work and learn. The design of the building draws on the values and aspirations of the School and takes full account of environmental concerns. The result will be an accessible, airy and open space deliberately configured to help both formal learning and informal interaction.
The top floor will house The Kennedy Wong Mooting Chamber, named after an alumnus based in Hong Kong to recognise his most generous gift to the Campaign, with spectacular views towards the Cathedral and the city of Canterbury.
Built in the style of a courtroom (complete with interview rooms and a judges room), the new space will allow students to hone their advocacy skills in an ultra-realistic setting, complementing the realism already provided by the involvement of the local judiciary in mooting at Kent. The Kennedy Wong Mooting Chamber will include flexible seating and partitioning, allowing multi-purpose use of this space and surrounding rooms, for example for guest lectures and conferences. This will also facilitate the development of other related programmes such as the Negotiation Programme which KLS introduced in 2011 and is becoming increasingly popular with students.
The ground floor will provide extended accommodation for the Law Clinic, with new facilities including a lobby and seating area for clients, an expanded shared working space for staff and students, and a greater number of interview rooms and offices; all designed to complement the friendly and professional approach embodied by the Clinic.
The new building will provide an impressive, striking but subtle presence set down next to the Law School. A bridged walkway from the main path through campus will provide direct first floor access, complementing the feeling of openness generated by the extensive use of glass throughout the construction.
Who's who
External Campaign Board
Professor Richard de Friend (Chair) - Former Director of the College of Law. Law alumnus, Eliot 1967. Former Law Lecturer at the University of Kent, Head of Kent Law School and Pro-Vice-Chancellor.
Colin Mendoza (Deputy Chair) - Barrister at Devereux Chambers. Law alumnus, Darwin 1979.
Elaine Colville - Partner at Shepherd and Wedderburn. Law alumna, Eliot 1972.
Martin Edwards - Barrister at 39 Essex Street. Law alumnus, Eliot 1975.
Peter Frawley - CEO at International Cricket Group. Law alumnus, Darwin 1977.
Elizabeth Hiester - Senior Lawyer at Client Earth. Former Consultant for Clifford Chance and Kent Law School Lecturer.
David Hughes - Partner at Berwin Leighton Paisner LLP. Law alumnus, Keynes 1973.
James Laughland - Barrister at Temple Garden Chambers. Law alumnus, Darwin 1987.
Sir John Mummery DL - Lord Justice of Appeal and Deputy Lieutenant of Kent.
Jeremy Pendlebury - Barrister at Seven Bedford Row. Law alumnus, Keynes 1976.
District Judge Michael Walker CBE - District Judge and currently a judicial board member of Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service. Law alumnus, Eliot 1969.
Patrons
The Rt Hon the Lord Justice Aikens - Lord Justice of Appeal.
Andrew Baillie QC - Barrister at 9 Gough Square. Law alumnus, Rutherford 1966.
Sir Geoffrey Chipperfield KCB - Honorary Graduate (1999) and former Pro-Chancellor of the University of Kent.
Lord Clarke of Stone-cum-Ebony - Honorary Graduate (1999)
Jonathan Cohen QC. Barrister at 4 Paper Buildings and Deputy High Court Judge (Family Division). Law alumnus, Darwin 1970.
Dr Amanda Cottrell OBE JP DL- Honorary Graduate (2011), Deputy Lieutenant of Kent and Kent Ambassador.
Sir Terence Etherton - Honorary Professor of Law at Kent and Lord Justice of Appeal.
His Honour Judge Jeremy Gold QC - Maidstone Crown Court. Law alumnus, Eliot 1973.
Courtenay Griffiths QC - Barrister at Garden Court Chambers.
Dame Rosalyn Higgins DBE QC - Former Professor of International Law at Kent, the first woman to be elected judge of the International Court of Justice and President of the Court from February 2006 to February 2009.
Professor David McLellan - Emeritus Professor of Politics at the University of Kent. Law alumnus, Eliot 1991.
Sir David Melville CBE - Honorary Graduate (2008) and former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Kent. Currently Chair of the Kent, Surrey and Sussex NHS Postgraduate Deanery.
Sir Geoffrey Nice QC - Honorary Graduate (2005) and Barrister at Temple Garden Chambers.
Dr Lucy Scott-Moncrieff - President of The Law Society and Honorary Graduate (2009). Law alumna, Rutherford 1972.
Dr Phil Shiner - Honorary Graduate (2012) and solicitor at Public Interest Lawyers.
Adrian Taylor - Founder of the Kent Law Clinic in 1972.
Sir Robert Worcester KBE - Chancellor of the University of Kent.
Young Alumni Fundraising Group
The Young Alumni Fundraising Group was established to raise awareness of the Campaign amongst our more recent graduates and they have set themselves a target of £25,000 over the life of the Campaign. The Chair of the Group, Natalie Salunke (Eliot 2002), says:
"I was honoured to be asked to Chair this important fundraising group as it has given me the opportunity to give something back to the University which provided me with so much. This campaign will make a huge difference to future students and the local community in a time when access to legal advice is diminishing. I experienced first-hand the difference the Law Clinic has made to the local community - it felt amazing to win the case for my first client! The new building will help more students experience this sense of achievement and allow more people to be helped."
If you would like to join this group please contact us.
Kent Law Campaign Student Committee
This committee, comprising current Kent Law School students, shares the £25,000 target of the Young Alumni Fundraising Group. They are helping to raise awareness of the Campaign amongst our student body and are raising money through activities such as charity balls, season's greetings cards, quiz nights and sponsored events. Follow their blog to find out about their current fundraising initiatives!
Contacts
For further information about our Campaign or to discuss how you might like to help, please contact:
On Thursday 16th May 2013, Sir James Munby, President of the Family Division, delivered a lecture entitled "Law, Morality and Religion in the Family Courts" at the offices of Karima Hudson (Eliot 1989) and Partner at Lawrence Graham. The transcript of the lecture is now available online.
Sponsored Events and the Young Alumni and Student Volunteer Group Activities
A number of our alumni and friends have taken part in sponsored events such as the London Marathon, skydives and walks to raise money for the Kent Law Campaign. We are so grateful for their efforts! Likewise, the Young Alumni Fundraising Group and the Kent Law Campaign Student Group were established to help the University raise funds for this important project and have held numerous events including a comedy night, summer fete and quiz nights and are planning their inaugural Law Ball for January 2012. They also created charity Season's Greetings cards which raised £1,200 in 2011 and new designs for 2012 will be on sale shortly. If you would like to join either of these committees, or take part in a sponsored event please contact us.
"I am delighted to have this opportunity to repay the huge debt which I owe Kent Law School. I know from personal experience, and from the numerous fellow alumni that I have met as my students at The College of Law, the high regard and great affection in which KLS is held by its former students; and how much of that is attributable to the Law Clinic".
Professor Richard de Friend (E67)
Director of The College of Law
and Chair of the Kent Law Campaign Board
"I was honoured to be asked to Chair this important fundraising group as it has given me the opportunity to give something back to the University which provided me with so much. This campaign will make a huge difference to future students and the local community in a time when access to legal advice is diminishing. I experienced first-hand the difference the Law Clinic has made to the local community - it felt amazing to win the case for my first client! The new building will help more students experience this sense of achievement and allow more people to be helped."
