The Intellectual Property team from Nottingham Law School’s teaching law firm, NLS Legal, has been crowned Team of the Year 2024 at the Nottinghamshire Law Society Awards for its work supporting small businesses with complex legal matters.
The award recognises consistent, outstanding performance, requiring firms to demonstrate evidence of a growing reputation or maintaining their standing as a leader in their field, their dedication to clients, the value they add to the business or organisation, and/or the contribution they make to the legal community.
The four-person IP team at NLS Legal is supported by student volunteers and offers free advice to individuals, sole traders and start-ups, addressing an unmet legal need in the community.
It acts across trademarks, designs and copyright, providing support on contentious and non-contentious matters, and is the only team in England and Wales providing IP advice and representation on a completely pro-bono basis.
In the past 12 months, the team of lawyers and students have assisted 27 clients across 45 matters, including supporting small businesses and start ups in successful legal challenges against much larger organisations, covering issues such as trademark applications and branding disputes.
It has also developed and run 20 public education sessions to more than 180 attendees with the aim of increasing awareness of IP amongst local businesses and individuals.
Working as part of the service, 39 Nottingham Law School students have gained volunteering experience in IP, giving them valuable insight into a competitive field and enhancing their employability skills. Several volunteers have received job offers to train as IP lawyers.
Head of NLS Legal, Laura Pinkney, said: “All the lawyers involved in our IP team balance the service alongside either academic commitments or supporting other services within the firm – yet they still provide an invaluable service to their clients, helping them to navigate a very complex field of law.”
Executive dean of Nottingham Law School, Jenny Chapman, said: “The team has a growing reputation for its IP pro bono work without which many clients would have been unable to withstand the pressure from much larger opponents. We know from client feedback that the impact of the team’s work on the local community has been significant.”
As a not-for-profit teaching law firm with charitable status, NLS Legal was the UK’s first law firm fully integrated into a law school when it obtained an ABS (Alternative Business Structure) licence in 2015. It is currently the only firm in the UK operating in this way.
Supervised by a small team of experienced lawyers, Nottingham Law School students support members of the local community with free legal advice on a range of areas, including employment, family, housing, business, civil litigation, intellectual property, special educational needs and disability, welfare benefits, and victims’ rights. NLS Legal also delivers public legal education sessions to raise awareness of legal rights and responsibilities.
