Dechert lawyers launch free legal advice clinic in South East London

A new free legal advice clinic has opened at a homelessness shelter in South East London with help from lawyers at Dechert LLP.

The new clinic is based at the 999 club in Deptford Bridge, which provides services for homeless people. The Dechert lawyers will undergo training provided by LawWorks before helping the community with free legal advice on a wide range of housing and tenancy issues. Being based at the 999 club will also enable the lawyers to better help homeless members of the community with the kind of complex legal issues which so often form a barrier to getting off the streets.

Peter Wood, chief executive of the 999 Club, commented: “The 999 Club is delighted to be able to form a partnership with LawWorks and Dechert. The people who use our services find it difficult to have their voices heard. They lack confidence and knowledge about their rights and can easily be ignored by authority. Their needs are dismissed and, as a result, they do not have opportunities to make changes in their lives. In making this significant commitment, Dechert both brings practical expertise and also shows our service users that they can speak and be heard.”

Eleni Skordaki, partner at Dechert LLP said: “Dechert has teamed with the 999 Club and LawWorks with a clear objective in mind: to deliver a free housing and homelessness legal clinic here in London that provides access to desperately needed and otherwise unavailable legal advice and support. The law with regard to homelessness is good and extensive and, as lawyers, we can play a big role in ensuring that good law is complied with well.”