FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Why do I need to do 20 hours of approved pro bono work as a law student in the SUSS School of Law?

All students from the SUSS School of Law are required to perform 20 hours of approved pro bono work as part of their graduating requirements. This may be done anytime after the completion of the student’s first year of study.

What is approved pro bono work?

Approved pro bono work are pro bono work that meet the criteria and guidelines stipulated by the Singapore Institute of Legal Education (SILE).

For more information about the pro bono programme you can visit the SILE website at https://www.sile.edu.sg/pro-bono-programme.

What is the SUSS School of Law Pro Bono Student Committee’s (PBSC) role?

The PBSC’s role is to facilitate the students from the SUSS School of Law in completing their mandatory 20 hours. This may be in the form of monthly pro bono clinics or attachments. These monthly pro bono clinics and attachments will be listed on the SUSS School of Law’s Pro Bono portal at https://www.sussprobono.com/. Typically, the clinics are posted by the PBSC at the start of the month for the following month. Students will have until the middle of the month to apply for these clinics.

For example, the PBSC will post the available clinics for the month of February on (approximately) the 1st of January. SUSS School of Law students will have until the middle of January (15th of January) to apply for these clinics. The allocation of the clinics will be done within 3 days of the deadline (i.e. the 18th of January).

I am doing pro bono work outside of the clinics and attachments that are listed in the SUSS Pro Bono Portal, can I clock these hours towards the required 20 mandatory pro bono hours?

The pro bono work that you are doing outside of those listed in the SUSS Pro Bono Portal has to be approved pro bono work that meet the criteria and guidelines stipulated by the SILE. If the pro bono work is approved pro bono work, you will need to get the person in charge to sign on the SUSS Pro Bono Service Letter. This letter is the same letter that students who sign up for the clinics and attachments under the SUSS Pro Bono Portal will need to get filled up.

Click here to download the SUSS Pro Bono Service Letter.

Subsequently, you will need to upload the SUSS Pro Bono Service Letter into the SUSS Pro Bono Portal to clock your hours.

If I cannot attend the clinic that I have been assigned to, what do I do?

You should immediately inform the PBSC, namely the committee members who are in charge of clinics. Next, you need to get a replacement. Your replacement should be your fellow SUSS School of Law schoolmates. If you cannot get a replacement, ask the PBSC to get one for you. The PBSC needs to inform the organisation as early as possible of the change as the organisation may require that certain conflict of interest checks be made before the student attends the clinic.

What is I have any questions or issues regarding pro bono work. Who do I reach out to?

Your first port of call would be the PBSC. The contact details of the PBSC are listed below. You can call, WhatsApp or email the respective PBSC members. We have had previous instances of students emailing clinic managers or organisations regarding their feedback or issues. They were referred back to the PBSC by the clinic managers or organisations.

The SUSS School of Law Pro Bono Student Committee

Daryl Lum 90098731 [email protected]

Rosdee 84680176 [email protected]

Lin Lee 97330544 [email protected]

For clinics related matters, please contact Rosdee and Daryl

For attachments and special projects, please contact Lin Lee

Click here to download the SUSS School of Law Student Guide for Pro Bono Work.

GUIDE TO THE VARIOUS CLINICS

Please note that this is to help clarify any doubts regarding how the various clinics are to be run. The aim is to help provide some familiarity as to what will happen and to reduce anxiety for those who are not familiar with the various clinics. These guides and photos are put up by the PBSC, sometimes with the help of fellow students. If you are attending any of the clinics and see that there is a change as to how the clinic is run, please help to take note of the change and inform the PBSC so that they can update this guide.

Guide to the Catholic Lawyer’s Guild Legal Clinic

This clinic is done entirely online. The clinic date is a range of dates rather than a specific time and date. The nature of this clinic is that the clinic manager will assign a list of cases for you to select. You will need to do research as well as make appointments with the applicant and the volunteer lawyer to meet online, typically via Zoom.

Once you are assigned the clinic, wait for the week of the clinic. For example, is your clinic happens on the 1st to 5th of July, you will be contacted by the clinic manager during that period and not before. You may not be contacted on the very first day of the period as well. In previous clinics, some students were contacted on the 2nd or 3rd day of the allocated period. If you are not contacted by the 3rd day, please contact the PBSC.

There will be 3 students for every Catholic Lawyer’s Guild (CLG) Legal Clinic. The clinic manager will start a WhatsApp chat with the 3 students and place the legal clinic cases in the WhatsApp chat. Students will be asked to select which cases they wish to work on. Students are expected to separately email the volunteer lawyer to ask for his or her available timeslot to meet the applicant. They will then need to contact the applicant to arrange for an appropriate timing for the virtual Zoom session. Students will need to attend the meeting and take notes. They may need to do some legal research and also compile the notes and send them to the volunteer lawyer for vetting. Once completed, students will need to send the approved notes to the clinic manager. Students will need to take note of the number of hours that they spent on contacting the various parties to set up the legal clinic, the time spent at the legal clinic and the time spent on research and compiling the clinic notes. Students will need to account for these hours and fill them into the SUSS Pro Bono Service Letter. This letter is to be endorsed by the clinic manager. Once endorsed, students are to personally upload the letter for approval in their SUSS Pro Bono portal.

Guide to the Migrant Workers’ Legal Clinic

This clinic is a physical clinic at Angullia Mosque. Angullia Mosque is located at 265 Serangoon Road, Singapore 218099. The entrance of the Angullia Mosque is by the side of the mosque. Typically on a Sunday morning the mosque is not open. It is only open for the clinic. From the past clinics, the clinic manager and personell come in very close to 930 am. Therefore if you are there very early, please do not panic that the mosque is not open. At 930 am, you will need to help with the setting up of the clinic. There will be a registration booth on the ground level and the clinic will be held on the upper levels of the mosque.

As a point of reference, this is the entrance which you will allow you to go into the mosque. If you are facing the front of the building from the main road, it is on the right of the mosque.

Landmarks near Angullia Mosque include Centrium Square. This photo is taken from the same point as the photo above.

Guide to the Queenstown CC Legal Clinic

This clinic is a physical clinic located at Queenstown Community Centre. It is a new clinic that was added to our pro bono clinic list in June 2024. The clinic is held at Queenstown Community Centre. The exact address is 365 Commonwealth Avenue, Singapore 149732. Before the clinic, you will be emailed some information about the applicants who have applied for the clinic. You will need to do a brief summary about the case and some research about the case before the clinic and email your summary and research at least one day before the clinic back to the clinic manager. The start of this physical clinic is at 7pm and you will need to help in the setting up of the clinic. Do note that if you want to have your dinner before the clinic, the nearest place to eat is at Margaret Market or Margaret Drive Hawker Centre which is across the road. It is about a 5 to 10 minute walk from Queenstown Community Centre.

This is the entrance of Queenstown Community Centre.

Go into the community centre and you will see this board on the front. The staircase leading up to the second level is just beside this board. The clinics are located on the second level.

Once you climb up the stairs, turn right. The main room where all the applicants will first be registered is located at the room on the right. This is the room which you will need to enter to inform the clinic managers and assistants that you are here. The room is labeled Activity Room.

There will be 2 other consultation rooms of which you will be assigned to one of them. You will need to bring your laptop to take notes of what was discussed and what advice was dispensed at the clinic and you will need to email it to the clinic manager at the end of the clinic. An example of one of the consultation room is shown below.

Guide to the Frontier Community Club Legal Clinic

This clinic is a physical clinic at Level 2, Frontier Community Club, Singapore 648346. It starts at 7 pm and ends at 930 pm. You will need to bring your personal laptop for note taking. The clinic is held at an empty room next to Yamaha.

This is Frontier Community Club.

You need to go up to the second level. You can take this staircase.

This is the inside of the meeting room. This is where the clinic registration is held. You need to report to this room at 7 pm.

Do note that the clinic managers will come slightly before 7 pm. There were students who were extremely early for the clinic (very good attitude) and then panicked because they saw no activity on the second level. There is usually half an hour before the clinic starts taking in applicants at 730 pm. Therefore, the first 30 minutes is for set up.

If you have any issues with your clinic, please contact the PBSC clinics team.