A solicitor has set up a free legal advice clinic for the community he serves as a local councillor. Paris Theodorou officially launched Cannock and Rugeley Law Clinic this week.
Theodorou who was raised and educated in Cannock, previously worked at London-based firm Hodge Jones & Allen. He told the Gazette he moved back to Staffordshire during Covid and became a parish councillor. He is now a district councillor.
Two fellow councillors, Adrienne Fitzgerald and Philippa Haden, were already holding councillor surgeries at Hayes Green Community Centre for residents on various issues, such as housing, traffic and environmental concerns.
‘I thought, I’m an expert in law and have been doing this for 10 years. I should do a legal clinic,’ Theodorou said. Highlighting the need for a legal advice clinic, he recalled being told about a constituent who attended a councillor surgery seeking advice on a harassment matter. ‘It was clearly a legal matter. They wanted advice on the law regarding harassment. That’s my field.’
Cannock and Rugeley Law Clinic will open on the last Friday of every month, offering residents free 30-minute legal consultations. Just half an hour with a solicitor ‘can really change someone’s life’, Theodorou said.
Law firms such as Burrell Jenkins will be providing solicitor support. The clinic will alternate between Cannock and Rugeley libraries each month.
The clinic is part of the LawWorks network. Theodorou said LawWorks had been ‘fantastic’, providing access to LexisNexis and a digital case management system.
LawWorks clinic support and development officer Anne-Marie Dhillon said: ‘Where legal aid is no longer available and the cost of legal advice is prohibitively expensive, giving the vulnerable in society access to justice has never been more important. This service will be a lifeline to many.’
Paris Theodorou is pictured next to the law clinic’s banner, on the right
