Recalibrating Relationships for Legal Services Regulation & Access to Justice

About this event:

Stephen Mayson, Honorary Professor at UCL, will be speaking about his work on the regulation of the legal profession, in particular exploring the relationship between access to justice, law school clinics, and legal services regulation. He will be joined by Rebecca Wilkinson of LawWorks and Laura Pinkney of Nottingham Law School to discuss current regulation and whether it meets the legal needs of society’s most vulnerable in a time when access to justice is in short supply.

The event will be chaired by Rachel Knowles from the UCL Centre for Access to Justice.

About the speakers

Prof Stephen Mayson was called to the Bar in 1977 by Lincoln’s Inn (of which he is now a Bencher and chairman of its Regulatory Panel). After a period as a tax lawyer with a Magic Circle law firm, he developed an international reputation as a strategic advisor in the legal sector, working on a range of strategic, financial, ownership and governance issues.

More recently, he has held a number of non-executive directorships and retained strategic advisory relationships with law firms and law-related businesses. Since 1992, Stephen has also held professorships in the UK and abroad, and is presently Honorary Professor of Law at University College London.

He has a particular interest in the regulation of legal services, and recently conducted an independent review of the regulatory framework in England & Wales and submitted his report to the Lord Chancellor in June 2020. He was subsequently appointed by the Lord Chancellor to the expert panel supporting Sir Christopher Bellamy’s review of criminal legal aid.

Laura Pinkney
Laura is the Head of NLS Legal, Nottingham Trent University’s multi-award-winning and internationally recognised teaching law firm. The firm, which launched in 2015, is fully regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and was the first of its kind in the UK. NLS Legal provides Nottingham Law School (NLS) students the opportunity to develop their technical and practical skills whilst providing access to justice to those who are unable to afford or access much needed legal advice. NLS Legal provides legal advice on a range of areas including business, civil litigation, criminal, employment, family, housing, intellectual property, special educational needs and disability, and welfare benefits. Laura is also a member of the NLS Senior Management Team.

Laura was previously operational director at a national Legal 500 law firm and has over 15 years of experience as a criminal solicitor. She is also a Council Member and former President of Nottinghamshire Law Society.

Rebecca Wilkinson
As Chief Executive of LawWorks, Rebecca leads the team which supports, facilitates and champions pro bono work by Solicitors across England & Wales. In her role, Rebecca works with law firms, in house teams, and third sector organisations, to drive forward pro bono programmes, which help to address unmet legal need within England & Wales. Rebecca previously managed The Law Society's pro bono and public legal education programmes (2014-2018). Prior to working in the legal sector, she worked for the volunteering charity, Volunteering Matters. She has a BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, and an MSc in Political Theory; she was called to the Bar in 2013.

Rachel Knowles:
Rachel is the Centre’s Director and Associate Professor (Teaching), responsible for the overall oversight of the Centre and the management of the UCL Integrated Legal Advice Clinic (UCL iLAC). Alongside delivering pro bono advice, UCL iLAC has held legal aid contracts in housing and community care since 2018, the only UK university to currently hold a legal aid contract.

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