Clifford Chance autism link develops human rights

It’s 15 years since law firm Clifford Chance set up a partnership with The National Autistic Society (NAS), and at the end of last month staff members and volunteers joined with families to celebrate. The association has seen 151 families benefit from free legal advice – and hundreds more benefit from clarifications to the law brought about by Clifford Chance’s work on complex cases.

There are around 140,000 school-aged children on the autism spectrum in the UK, the vast majority in mainstream schools, and many of them rely on extra support in school to reach their full potential. Unfortunately, far too many parents face long and stressful battles to get access to this support and rely on advice and help from organisations and charities like the NAS and its Education Rights Service – which, in turn, relies on Clifford Chance to provide “pro bono” legal advice for parents who cannot afford to pay legal costs. Last  year, the company gave 2,000 hours of support to needy parents – but there is a huge reward in that 85% of the cases it has taken on since the start of the century have been successful.

Having begun by offering legal advice to individual families, six years ago Clifford Chance expanded their remit to include pro-bono support for legal campaigning work around education, welfare and disability rights. This has helped achieve important rulings in the Supreme Court on the fundamental rights of disabled people in terms of the right to an education and the right for those with the most complex needs not to be deprived of their liberty. More recently the company helped with a case around the Work Capability Assessment which found the system puts people on the autism spectrum at a “substantial disadvantage”. The success of the partnership has inspired other legal practices to develop similar charitable partnerships.

Marie Berard, partner at Clifford Chance, explained what the partnership has meant for the firm. “Our pro-bono work with the National Autistic Society is a huge investment for us: over 240 lawyers and trainees have been involved over the past 15 years, dedicating thousands of pro bono hours. There are four reasons why our alliance with the NAS is so important for us.
•The first reason is that we recognise the critical need for the NAS’s Education Rights Service work. The NAS gives us the opportunity to help over 150 families in need who are not receiving the right support for their children, and to make a difference.
•The second is the NAS itself, who have an uncompromising approach to quality and expect the highest standards from their partners.
•The third reason is that our advocacy work on these cases matches our skill set as litigators.
•Last, but not least, is the huge personal reward that our lawyers get from helping families. The thank you letters that we receive from parents make everything worthwhile.”

Mark Lever, Chief Executive of the National Autistic Society, explained what Clifford Chance’s help meant to the society and their clients, saying: “Our longstanding partnership with Clifford Chance has made a huge difference to many families in desperate need of support. More than one in 100 people in the UK are on the autism spectrum. The lifelong condition can have a profound effect on a child and make everyday life extremely difficult but over the past 50 years we’ve seen again and again how the right support can be transformative.

“However, far too many families still have to fight tooth and nail to get this support. Some come up against schools or local authorities that just won’t recognise their child’s needs and have to resort to legal action to help their child. Going to appeal can be hugely stressful and overwhelming for those who are able to represent themselves, let along those who, for whatever reason, simply can’t do this. Our alliance with Clifford Chance gives them a voice and helps them to make sure their child receives the support they so desperately need. We look forward to continuing to work with Clifford Chance in years to come and helping more children to reach their full potential.”

•To find out more about autism or the NAS, go to: www.autism.org.uk.

•For further information about Clifford Chance see www.cliffordchance.com

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