AJCE Student Biographies
Charlotte Anderson, 2012-2013
Charlotte is conducting Education casework with Just for Kids Law where she works
on community care cases, assists in drafting responses to Government consultation
papers, and has trained to conduct youth advocacy. After graduation she has secured
a training contract with Freshfields.
“The AJCE course has offered a good dose of reality to my law degree after three years of abstract theory - it is
great to see the concepts and policies I am studying in Family Law actually working in practice. And the best
part is that where the law is not being followed in practice, I can contribute to setting that right.”
Brian Cheung, 2011-2012
Brian conducted his casework
with the Free Representation
Unit at social security tribunal.
He is currently undertaking the
LPC at College of Law while he
continues FRU casework and
will begin his training contract with Ashurst in 2014.
“Lord Devlin wrote that the law is the ‘gatekeeper
of the status quo’ — any new idea must ‘win its
spurs’ before the law will ‘submit’ to it and become
its ‘servant’. I chose to do a law degree precisely to
understand how the law is harnessed to bring about
change, and was therefore extremely happy to take
the AJCE course, which was about this very idea:
individuals using the law to achieve personal change.
It was undoubtedly the most insightful and
worthwhile course in my degree, and the things I
learnt still influence my views on the law.”
Tom Jones, 2012-2013
Tom conducts his casework at
the Free Representation Unit
where he represents clients at
Social Security Tribunal appeals,
assisting in all aspects of their
case from research to drafting
submissions on their behalf. Following a career
in law, Tom is undertaking the LPC next year and
beginning a training contract at Shearman &
Sterling in 2014.
“I chose the AJCE course as it offered a unique
opportunity to work at the Free Representation
Unit. This allowed me to obtain hands-on
experience of advocacy, representing real clients at
Social Security Tribunals. Not only do I feel I gained
valuable experience in this area but the course
showed me the great impact that my work had on
the lives of unrepresented litigants.”
Isabelle Champion, 2011-2012
Isabelle conducted casework with the Free Representation Unit where she worked on providing
representation for individuals disputing their Disability Living Allowance. Her experience on the
course led her to look for ways she could help empower socially disadvantaged people and she
now works as a Community Development Consultant for Solon Community Network. She hopes
in the future to work in social policy and research.
“AJCE was genuinely the best thing I did in my whole time at UCL. I was drawn to study law in the first place because
of its human implications, and through Access to Justice I was able to experience first hand the barriers people face
in interacting with the legal system. Both the course itself and my placement at FRU gave me a real insight into the
multiple ways that law can impact on someone’s life. Not only did I gain a deeper understanding of social justice,
AJCE made me think about how I could make a difference and why it was important that I should.”
Corinne McClelland, 2011-2012
Corinne conducted her casework with Just for Kids Law where she worked on cases
involving school exclusion, and helping parents to access school places and additional
educational support from the relevant local authorities. She is currently taking the LPC,
and has secured a training contract with a firm in the North of England. She is hoping
to specialise in Family Law after completing her training contract.
“AJCE appealed to me because it was so different – it gave me an opportunity to actually put academic theory
into practice and experience law outside of a text book. The insight into the day to day life of a solicitor helped
me decide that this was exactly the career path I wanted to follow. I feel my time with JfK gave me invaluable
experience which ultimately helped me secure my training contract”
Janani Paramsothy, 2012-2013
Janani is conducting her casework
at the Free Representation Unit
working in Employment tribunals
on cases of unfair dismissal. She
intends to pursue a career as a
public law barrister. She has recently been awarded
the Clifford Chance Award for Outstanding
Contribution to Pro Bono in the Faculty.
“I was born and brought up in East London
and was exposed to social justice issues from
an early age. The AJCE course has allowed
me to incorporate these interests into my
actual degree and transform my theoretical
knowledge into practical skills. It has allowed
me, as part of the future legal community,
the rare opportunity to meaningfully engage
with vulnerable communities and
individuals. “
Nick Wood, 2011-2012
Nick conducted his placement
at the Howard League for Penal
Reform where he researched
and wrote on areas of reform.
Nick worked on human rights
initiatives throughout his time at UCL before
taking the AJCE course in his final year. He will
begin his training contract with Taylor Wessing
this Autumn.
“What I learnt in the classroom helped me make
the most of my placement. It has helped me
both professionally, by giving me experience in
an office environment, and personally, by giving
me an insight into the scale of day to day abuses
of human rights. My experience has steeled my
resolve to continue volunteering and at the
moment I am helping to coordinate volunteers
at a legal advice clinic in South London with the
law firm for whom I start work in September.”
Shiva Riahi, 2011-2012
Shiva conducted her casework with Just for Kids Law where she worked on cases
involving statements of special educational needs and discrimination. Continuing to
build on these interests and skills, she now works as the Research Assistant for the
Centre for Access to Justice. In the longer term, she hopes to qualify as a family or
employment law solicitor.
“I took AJCE because it was unlike any course UCL Laws offered. I’ve always been more interested in the law’s
impact on individual rights rather than black letter case law so I saw the course as a unique opportunity to
explore the law’s interaction with individuals and their daily lives. The course exceeded my expectations in so
many ways by changing the way I see the broader role of law in society and even the way I saw my own role
and abilities.”