| 1. |
INFORMATION ABOUT THE CLOCK PROJECT
The CLOCK Project is a collaborative project between the University of Keele, other universities, their students, law firms and third sector organisations working together under a common framework to provide access to justice for the community in accordance with the CLOCK Objectives.
These terms set out the basis on which the CLOCK Project can provide you with assistance.
A CLOCK Project Lead is a University that will deliver a Local Community Legal Companion Service.
A Local Community Legal Companion Service means a local collaboration between the CLOCK Project Lead and CLOCK Service Providers to meet the CLOCK Objectives.
A CLOCK Service Provider includes law firms and third sector organisations who agree to participate within a Local Community Legal Companion Service.
A CLOCK Service User refers to a person who wishes to use a service of the CLOCK Project.
A Community Legal Companion refers to a student trained by a CLOCK Project Lead to assist a CLOCK Service User in supporting access to justice within the strict remit of the McKenzie Friend Practice Guidance.
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| 2. | YOUR LOCAL COMMUNITY LEGAL COMPANION SERVICE |
| 2.1 | Your application for assistance will be directed through the CLOCK Project website. The CLOCK Project website is hosted and managed by the University of Keele. The University of Keele might not be the CLOCK Project Lead in relation to your application for assistance. |
| 2.2 | You will be contacted by the CLOCK Project Lead which runs the Local Community Legal Companion Service in your geographical area. Each CLOCK Project Lead operates independently from each other and from the University of Keele. |
| 3. | THE COMMUNITY LEGAL COMPANION ROLE |
| 3.1 | The Community Legal Companion does not hold any legal qualifications and is, therefore, not a substitute for a qualified lawyer. |
| 3.2 | The Community Legal Companion cannot provide you with legal advice and cannot make decisions on your behalf. You are ultimately responsible for all of your decisions and actions involved in your case. |
| 3.3 | By continuing with this application you accept that the Community Legal Companion (a) is not legally qualified; (b)is a volunteer; (c) is not funded; and (d) cannot charge for the service. |
| 3.4 | You accept that the CLOCK Project is provided for the public benefit and that a Community Legal Companion is a trained but not legally qualified volunteer. You accept that it is reasonable that the Community Legal Companion, the CLOCK Project and/or any related organisation are not responsible for any loss or damage that you might suffer as a result of using the CLOCK Project. This does not exclude or limit liability for death or personal injury arising from negligence, nor for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, nor any other liability that cannot be excluded or limited by English law. |
| 3.5 | The Community Legal Companion can only help you by signposting you to a better placed service provider or by assisting you in your matter, as described below. |
| 4. |
COMMUNITY LEGAL COMPANION SERVICES
A Community Legal Companion is allowed to carry out ONLY the services listed below:
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| 4.1 |
Assistance Services
A Community Legal Companion is allowed to assist a CLOCK Service User with accessing legal and court services, either by directly working with the Community Legal Companion or providing assistance within a CLOCK Service Provider.
The Community Legal Companion can only assist the CLOCK Service User by:
- supporting the CLOCK Service User to fill in their own application forms and to sort and file their own paperwork;
- accompanying the CLOCK Service User in formal legal proceedings such as a court or tribunal; and/or
- attending a hearing to take notes for the CLOCK Service User's personal record.
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| 4.2 |
Signposting Services
A Community Legal Companion may direct a CLOCK Service User to a service provided by another CLOCK Service Provider in accordance with the Signposting Policy, such as:
- a charitable support service,
- an advice service,
- a mediation service,
- a law firm, or
- barristers’ chambers.
The signposted service might be either free of charge, available to a CLOCK Service User who qualifies for legal aid or available as an affordable, fixed fee service. It is for the CLOCK Service User to decide if they use the signposted service.
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| 4.3 |
The Community Legal Companion is ONLY able to provide the assistance and signposting services described above.
The Community Legal Companion is not able to provide any other support, legal or otherwise. By way of example only, this means that the Community Legal Companion cannot provide legal advice or conduct court proceedings and to do so would place the Community Legal Companion at risk of criminal sanction. If you have any concerns about the remit of the Community Legal Companion, you should get in touch with the contact name that will be provided to you by the CLOCK Project Lead.
You must not accept services from the Community Legal Companion other than those described above.
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| 5. |
YOUR APPLICATION FOR ASSISTANCE
Your contact details and correspondence with the CLOCK Project will be recorded in accordance with data protection law and the CLOCK Confidentiality Policy and anonymised data may be collated by the CLOCK Project Leads according to their ethics procedures in order to monitor and inform research on access to justice and related purposes. By acceptance of these terms, you consent to anonymised data being used in this way.
Once you have submitted your application, a Community Legal Companion will contact you so you can explain your case on the phone or in person. The data shared on this form, together with further details that will be provided through your initial interview with the Community Legal Companion may be shared with other members of the CLOCK Project in order to contact you to offer access to a specific service.
Please ensure that you provide a safe contact number and safe email address to receive the call and email notification. If you are unable to disclose your address for safety reasons, please write UNDISCLOSED. We will require a safe contact number and postcode to process your application.
A Community Legal Companion will then contact you to help signpost you to another service (or service provider) or on your request, arrange assistance in court.
If your situation is urgent and you are worried about your personal safety you should contact the emergency services by calling 101 or 999.
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| 6. |
OTHER IMPORTANT TERMS
The Community Legal Companion service depends on its volunteers and we cannot promise that we will be able to allocate your application to a Community Legal Companion within any fixed period or at all (or to continue to make a Community Legal Companion available). We will try our best to keep you informed promptly about your application.
Your application, and any agreement to assist you, is personal to you. We will only assist another person on your behalf if we agree in writing.
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