Linklaters and Coram Children’s Legal Centre shortlisted for 2021 LawWorks Pro Bono Awards

Linklaters is delighted to have been shortlisted with the Coram Children’s Legal Centre for the 2021 LawWorks Pro Bono Awards. The Awards recognise and celebrate achievement in legal pro bono work and the commitment of the legal sector in enabling access to justice.

Linklaters and the Coram Children’s Legal Centre have been recognised for their partnership to assist 21 children in care and care-leavers apply to the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS).

The project is dedicated to ensuring that the vulnerable children and young people would have the right to live in the UK and have access to education, employment, benefits, secondary healthcare and housing. Any child or young person who did not apply to the EUSS in time was at risk of losing a number of rights, as well as risking future removal from the UK.

The application process for the EUSS was designed to be straightforward, but children in care experienced several barriers to access including a lack of evidentiary documentation, knowledge of exactly when they entered the country, and access to the technology needed to make the application.

Linklaters’ support involved gathering documentary evidence from a variety of sources including local authorities, schools, and embassies, and then helping the child and their social worker through the application.

Olivia Loxley, Associate (Pro Bono) at Linklaters, commented on the firm’s work with Coram:

“Our collaboration with Coram has been an incredibly rewarding project for the team at Linklaters. Improving access to justice for the most vulnerable members of our society is a key pillar of our pro bono practice, and being able to work with an organisation like Coram to achieve justice for children in care and care leavers is an incredibly special opportunity.

We are proud to work with Coram and to be able to contribute to the work they do with vulnerable children, young people and their families.”

The Awards winners will be announced on Tuesday 7th December.

Find out more about the Coram Children’s Legal Centre and the important work being done here.