Student Activities | School of Law | The University of Aberdeen

Student Activities

Aberdeen University Junior Lawyers Against Poverty

Lawyers Against Poverty was set up by Oxfam in 2015 by a group of lawyers passionate about fighting the injustice of poverty worldwide and promoting access to justice. LAP’s founding members aimed to build a community of lawyers willing to use their skills to tackle social inequality and, through LAP’s Justice Fund, to support strategic legal interventions to alleviate poverty worldwide. LAP also encourages on-campus student participation in humanitarian issues and international development. They do so through the various JLAP student divisions. The Aberdeen student division was set up in 2021 and endeavours to further the aims of its parent organisation and offer flexible volunteering opportunities to students at the University of Aberdeen.

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University of Aberdeen Bar Society

The primary aim of the Bar Society is to demystify the route to the English and Scottish Bar for both law and non-law students. In doing so, students will be able to make informed decisions about their careers and decide whether or not they wish to pursue the Bar. The Bar Society offers a range of Bar-focused events, trips to London, networking opportunities and socials.

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Aberdeen Student Law Review

The Aberdeen Student Law Review (ASLR) is an academically peer-reviewed journal written and edited by students of the University of Aberdeen’s Law School. Only the second of its kind in Scotland, the purpose of the ASLR is to showcase the work of students and alumni of the University of Aberdeen, highlighting the many areas of law which are taught and researched at this institution.

If you have any questions in relation to the Aberdeen Student Law Review, or would like to subscribe for a printed copy of the journal, then please do not hesitate to contact us at: aslr@abdn.ac.uk

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AU Lawyers Without Borders

AU Lawyers without Borders is about furthering the efforts of our parent organisation to increase access to justice, rule of law and human rights by crossing borders to make a difference.

The society is split into two sections:

Research division who help write legal reports on a variety of human rights issues for our parent organisation and international NGOs. Projects which have been completed by previous teams include Business and supply chain issues of human trafficking in Tanzania, Raising Awareness and Understanding of LGBTQI Issues in Nepal and Civic and Electoral Rights in Sierra Leone
Events division who help with the organisation of our annual Human Rights Conference, alongside fundraising and socials. Previous HRC’s have been on Euthanasia, Burqa Ban and Refugee Protection.

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Aberdeen Law Project

The Aberdeen Law Project is the first purely student founded, led and operated law project in the United Kingdom. Our aims are threefold:

To secure access to justice for the economically deprived;
To provide students with practical experience under the supervision of practitioners;
To increase opportunity by undertaking educational outreach projects.

We provide our members with the most unique opportunities; from defending real client matters in court to running employability classes at the local prison. Other than practical skills, the networking opportunities through ALP are endless; our supervisors range from QCs to commercial lawyers at the world's top law firms, and we also have close links with the legal profession. We look forward to receiving your application.

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Commercial Law Society

The Commercial Law Society is the first law society at the University of Aberdeen fully focused on careers in the commercial world. We are unique in that our membership is open to any student of any discipline at the university, the reason being that nearly half of all training contracts are given to non-law students. We hope to improve student's Commercial Awareness, as well as give them the best guidance for their future careers. We will do this by giving members access to the services of our Mentorship Team and our Competitions Team. With our mentorship team giving you application advice, by putting on events such as CV Clinics and Mock Interviews with the assistance of our sponsoring law firms. Our Competitions Team aim to improve your graduate employment prospects by putting on a variety of internal competitions sponsored by firms as well as being active in a variety of external competitions.

ELSA Aberdeen

The European Law Students' Association (ELSA) is the world's largest independent law student association with more than 38 000 members worldwide. ELSA offers law students a perfect platform to develop their existing skills, acquire new ones and meet fellow students and legal professionals throughout Europe. ‘ELSA Aberdeen’ is the first ELSA branch in Scotland, and we now have branches in Glasgow and Stirling.

We organise several events throughout the year, such as panel discussion groups led by members of staff, research talks on relevant legal issues throughout the year as well as Institutional trips to Scottish Courts based in Aberdeen, and Scotland throughout. Furthermore, we encourage and assist our members in participating in national and international events organised by ELSA UK and ELSA International. Those include:

Mooting competitions (with prizes including prestigious internships in the EU institutions)
Essay competitions (prizes including cash awards and publication of the essay)
Research groups
ELSA delegations (to institutions like WTO or UNCITRAL)
ELSA Summer schools
STEP (100 internships at the biggest law firms and institutions all over Europe, open exclusively to ELSA members via the Student Exchange Programme)

Get involved with ELSA Aberdeen to see more of the legal world and get the most out of the university experience, boost your CV and socialise with other enthusiastic law students.

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Law Society

Aberdeen University Law Society is one of the largest and most active societies on campus, with a wide selection of both social and educational trips and events.

Being a member of the Law Society and attending these events is an excellent way to meet people from your course in your own year or otherwise and make memories that you will remember for years.

The Law Society committee is made up of representatives from every year.

The Law Society’s events include:

An inter-varsity sports trip
A trip to the Court of Session in Edinburgh
Careers talks
Application workshops
The Annual law ball

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Mooting Society

Any good lawyer must be able to construct an argument and then present and, where appropriate, defend it. That holds true whether you are in court, negotiating commercial transactions or simply rendering advice to a client. Mooting is all about the art of persuading. We would argue that mooting is an essential piece of a fulfilling, complete law degree and a fantastic head-start for gaining the skills necessary for a successful law career. Welcome to the Society and Aberdeen!

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