SHU Law welcome The Honourable Mr Justice Matthew Nicklin.
On 29th January 2020 SHU Law staff and students were delighted to welcome The Honourable Mr Justice Matthew Nicklin as a guest speaker.
Mr Justice Nicklin is Deputy Liaison Judge for Litigants in Person and had learned about SHU Law from a presentation at the Civil Justice Council Forum in December 2019. The Judge was given a guided tour of SHU Law’s office by students. He saw first-hand the work being done by SHU Law to support access to justice. The CJC is responsible for overseeing and co-ordinating the modernisation of the civil justice system and addresses relating to Litigants in Person (LiPs) and Public Legal Education (PLE) initiatives.
PLE is concerned with helping the public understand their rights. During Justice Week (24-28th February 2020) SHU Law plan to focus on highlighting, through online articles and drop-in clinics, the rights of employees.
Students and staff also welcomed HHJ Graham Robinson, the Designated Civil Judge for Sheffield and South Yorkshire and the Litigant in Person Liaison Judge. On the topic of LiPs, he referred to the fact that although new rules introduced in 2016 allowed the judges to proactively assist unrepresented parties, the impact on court resources and overall imbalance between parties remains a real concern.
During his visit, students from the broad spectrum of applied learning modules talked about their experiences of studying at Sheffield Hallam University. This included hearing from a SHU Law student currently on a placement at SHU Law, as well as gaining experience of advocacy and mooting, human rights work and mediation training.
Mr Justice Nicklin gave an insightful talk about his route into the profession, and how his desire to be a barrister emerged from his love of mooting. Originally, he embarked on joint law and economics degree at Newcastle University but quickly realised economics wasn’t the subject for him and moved to study law full-time after the first year.
His top three tips for students were:
1. Get to know and understand your client… listening is key.
2. Ask clients at the outset what they want to achieve.
