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Contents Quick reference grid ..................................................................................... 4 How to use this guide ................................................................................... 5 Advice agencies .............................................................................................. 6 Bar Pro Bono Unit ........................................................................................... 7 Free Representation Unit............................................................................ 8 LawWorks .......................................................................................................... 9 Law schools.....................................................................................................10 Innocence Network UK (INUK) ................................................................11 Personal Support Unit.................................................................................12 Pure Leapfrog ........................................................................................... 13 Advocates for International Development (A4ID) ...........................14 Amicus ..............................................................................................................15 ISLP-UK .............................................................................................................16 i-ProBono .........................................................................................................17 TrustLaw Connect ........................................................................................18
Individuals Civil Community Groups Criminal Cross Profession International
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Quick reference grid The grid below indicates which pro bono organisations offer support to individuals in the indicated areas of law.
Area of law
Bar Pro Bono Unit (pg 7)
Consumer rights
ü
FRU (pg 8)
ü
Employment
ü
Family (including divorce, custody, and
(does assist victims with criminal injuries compensation)
ü
ü
(convicted individuals maintaining innocence)
ü
ü
Housing / Landlord and tenant
ü
Immigration
ü
Personal injury
ü
Tax (including tax credits)
ü
(does assist with tax credits)
ü
ü
ü
ü
Welfare
4
LawWorks (pg 9)
ü ✗
Criminal
Innocence Network UK (pg 11)
ü
ü ✗
Guide to Pro Bono
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How to use this guide Pro bono legal services are not, nor can they ever be, a substitute for a properly funded system of legal aid. However for those falling outside the scope of public funding but without the means to pay for legal help, free advice and representation provided voluntarily by lawyers is often the only means of access to justice. With solicitors alone donating over ÂŁ500m worth of pro bono services each year, the added contributions of barristers, Chartered Legal Executives and law students make the collective contribution of the legal profession through free professional help unparalleled. Pro bono help can be accessed through legal advice clinics, online and by telephone. It supports individuals, community groups, NGOs and social enterprises. It may take the form of initial advice, detailed specialist advice, in-depth casework and representation before a court, tribunal or mediation. It is delivered across England and Wales and to support communities in the developing world. Where a civil case is won with pro bono help, Section 194 Legal Services Act 2007 enables courts to make “pro bono costs ordersâ€? to the Access to Justice Foundation to provide additional funding for pro bono services. This guide has been produced to help MPs, the Judiciary, advisers and others to identify and access pro bono services which may be of help to their constituents and clients. Due to the huge range of activity and variation at a local level, it cannot and does not seek to provide an exhaustive list of all the organisations involved in delivering pro bono. Instead it provides information about the main agencies operating on a national and international basis which broker pro bono work. The coloured tabs on the edge of the page indicate the type of support available from each organisation for easy reference with contact details and further information about how to access their services. The main source of information about pro bono including a calendar of events taking place during National Pro Bono Week and throughout the year is www.nationalprobonocentre.org.uk In addition to advice and representation, the profession freely gives time to prevent legal problems from occurring and escalating by helping people learn about their rights and responsibilities. Public legal education is delivered through a variety of media from websites and on this kind of help, visit www.lawforlife.org.uk
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Individuals Civil
Advice agencies Advice agencies, for which the main umbrella bodies are listed below, are vital in ensuring that limited pro bono resources are used to help those who do not qualify for legal aid.
Support •
Initial advice and assessment of eligibility for legal aid
•
Referrals to pro bono agencies
•
Many and various pro bono clinics and voluntary advisers
Advice UK T: 0203 637 1330 W: www.adviceuk.org.uk E: mail@adviceuk.org.uk Citizens Advice T: 020 7833 7102 W: www.citizensadvice.org.uk E: parliamentary@citizensadvice.org.uk Law Centres Network T: 020 7749 9120 W: www.lawcentres.org.uk E: info@lawcentres.org.uk
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Individuals
Bar Pro Bono Unit Support Barristers for: •
Representation in a court or tribunal
•
Specialist advice
•
Help at mediation
Civil
•
•
All legal areas
•
All tribunals and courts in England and Wales
•
Chartered Legal Executives to support barristers acting pro bono
•
Cases where legal aid is available or a barrister can be paid for
Application route •
Individuals exclusively by referral from a solicitor, MP or advice agency using referral form available online
•
Applications must be submitted at least 3 weeks before help is needed
•
Applications from charities, community groups, companies and other organisations via application form available on website.
Criminal
T: 020 7092 3960 W: www.barprobono.org.uk E: enquiries@barprobono.org.uk
Community Groups
Not covered
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Individuals
Free Representation Unit (FRU) Civil
Support • Representation in tribunals and pre-hearing settlement negotiations in:
• Employment
• Social security benefits
• Criminal injuries compensation
Not covered • Cases without a date for a tribunal hearing • Tribunal venues more than one hour from London or Nottingham
Application route Exclusively by referral from partner advice agencies as listed on website. T: 020 7611 9555 W: www.thefru.org.uk E: admin@thefru.org.uk
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Individuals
LawWorks
LawWorks supports lawyers to volunteer their professional skills to assist individuals and community groups who cannot afford to pay for legal help and who are unable to access legal aid or other forms of financial assistance.
Civil
Support Clinics Free legal advice clinics network throughout England and Wales providing initial advice on various areas of law. Details can be found on the website www.lawworks.org.uk/clinics
Small not for profit organisations, including social enterprises, can apply for assistance with legal problems and support setting up via http://www.lawworks.org.uk/community-groups.
Application route W: www.lawworks.org.uk
Community Groups
Support for Community Groups
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Individuals
Law schools Civil
More than 70% of law schools in England and Wales have pro bono programmes. Many of them involve clinical legal education, enabling students to learn about the law while responding to real legal needs under supervision.
Support (depending on individual institution)
Community Groups
10
•
Legal advice clinics
•
Innocence Projects (see Innocence Network UK)
•
Provision of information about legal rights and responsibilities through interactive Streetlaw presentations
•
Telephone helplines
•
Tribunal and court representation
Application route Find out which pro bono services are offered by individual law schools using the searchable database at the website below. T: 020 7092 3954 W: www.studentprobono.net E: grace.kelly@lawworks.org.uk
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Individuals
Innocence Network UK (INUK) • Research into cases of convicted individuals maintaining innocence
Criminal
Support • Applications to the Criminal Cases Review Commission and Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission • Royal Prerogative of Mercy cases that have evidence of factual innocence but no legal grounds for appeal
Not covered • Cases involving allegations of technical miscarriages of justice (eg: that murder convictions should have been manslaughter)
Application route Preliminary questionnaire downloaded from website and sent to: School of Law University of Bristol Wills Memorial Building Queens Road Bristol BS8 1RJ W: www.innocencenetwork.org.uk E: innocence-network@bristol.ac.uk
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Individuals
Personal Support Unit (PSU) Support •
Practical and emotional support for people without representation in civil and family proceedings in courts and court offices
Civil
•
Signposting to relevant agencies and resources online
•
PSU offices in major court centres. Sheffield opening planned for October 2014, and possibly more in 2014 and 2015.
•
Attending court with LIPs.
Not covered •
Legal advice or representation
Application route •
in advance by telephone or email.
also
W: www.thepsu.org.uk See website for telephone, address and email details for individual •
Birmingham Civil Justice Centre
•
Bristol Civil and Family Justice Centre
• •
Canolfany Llygoedd Gifil Caendydd / Cardiff Civil Justice Centre Leeds Combined Court
•
Liverpool Civil and Family Court
•
Manchester Civil Justice Centre
•
London Central Family Court
•
London Royal Courts of Justice (base)
• Wandsworth County Court (Phone to book a volunteer to go to a hearing)
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Individuals
Pure Leapfrog Our mission is to ensure that community energy becomes a significant part of the sustainable energy mix in the UK.
Support Affordable finance for UK Based community energy projects UK Based carbon reduction projects
•
UK Based low carbon entrepreneurs
•
International carbon reduction projects
•
Multi-disciplinary professional advice: legal; accountancy, business communications, environmental engineering and consultancy
Application route By email. Full details of eligibility criteria on website.
Cross Profession
• •
Community Groups
Pure Leapfrog is the leading provider of social investment and professional support to community energy projects in the UK.
T: 020 7825 3479 E: info@pureleapfrog.org W: www.pureleapfrog.org
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Civil Community Groups International
14
Advocates for International Development (A4ID) Support •
NGOs, Inter-governmental Organisations, developing country governments and social enterprises
•
Advice and assistance for organisations working towards global poverty eradication or sustainable development in any part of the world
•
All areas of law - from commercial legal needs, to legal research, advocacy and training
Application route By telephone or email. T: 020 3116 2798 W: www.a4id.org E: info@a4id.org
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Individuals
Support Individuals awaiting capital trial and punishment in the US
•
Drafting of amicus curiae briefs to be presented to US courts
•
Applications to the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights in Washington about breaches of the American Declaration of Human Rights in death penalty trials
•
Trained trial observers to report on individual cases
•
Trained UK interns to assist in capital investigation and trial/ appeal assistance
•
Training for UK lawyers and students in capital legal processes
International
•
Criminal
Amicus
Application route By email. T: 020 7072 5603 W: www.amicus-alj.org E: admin@amicus-alj.org
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Civil
ISLP-UK Community Groups
Support •
NGOs, Bar Associations, Law Societies, Institutes of Education and others
•
Provision of experienced senior lawyers
•
Training programmes on contentious and commercial areas of law, negotiation, mediation, arbitration and advocacy skills and a wide range of commercial and corporate topics
Application route International
16
By email. T: 020 7006 4910 W: www.islp-uk.org E: shazledine@islp.org
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Civil
Support •
Charities, NGOs, advocacy organisations, social enterprises,
•
All areas of law, legal research and internships
Application route
Community Groups
iProbono
Through website.
International
W: www.i-probono.com E: admin@i-probono.com
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Civil
TrustLaw Community Groups
Support • •
All areas of law and legal research
Not covered • • •
International
18
government agencies and community groups
Individuals Private litigation matters and disputes Full eligibility criteria on website
Application route Online or by referral from a partner organisations as listed on website. T: 020 7542 0240 W: www.trustlaw.trust.org E: trustlaw@thomsonreuters.com
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Civil The global network for Public Interest Law
PILnet runs five pro bono clearinghouses matching the legal needs of NGOS with pro bono lawyers. We do this through our domestic clearinghouses in Russia, China, Hungary and Hong Kong, and through our international, cross border Global Pro Bono Clearinghouse.
Support • Charities, NGOs, non-for-profit organisations, social enterprises and community groups
Community Groups
PILnet:
• All areas of law including employment, contracts, tax, human rights, equality and public law
Application route Application form available on our website: www.pilnet.org
International
• Local and international legal research, advice, training and representation
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Individuals
Centre for Criminal Appeals Quick Reference Grid Criminal law (Prisoners seeking to overturn unsafe conviction)
Criminal
Support The Centre for Criminal Appeals is a new “access to justice” initiative, currently in its pilot phase, which will work to: •
Overturn unsafe convictions by providing investigation and legal advice and advocacy on criminal appeal cases in England and Wales, on a non-profit basis
•
Share the lessons learned from this casework with criminal justice policy makers, the legal profession and the public, in order to improve the accuracy of the criminal justice system
Until such time as CCA registers with the SRA and is able to successfully bid for its own Legal Aid contract, the solicitors who working on the launch of CCA, Sophie Walker and Emily Bolton, are working as consultants with the law firm SCOMO, under its Legal Aid contract.
Application route Please write a letter outlining reasons why the conviction is unsafe and send to: Emily Bolton Scott-Moncrieff & Associates Ltd Office 7,19 Greenwood Place London, NW5 1LB ebolton@scomo.com W: http://www.criminalappeals.org.uk E: info@criminalappeals.org.uk
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Legal Aid If you need help with paying for legal advice, you may be able to get legal aid. By 'legal aid', we mean publically funded legal assistance, available through the Legal Aid Agency. The scope of legal aid has been reduced over the past few years; however, it is still available for certain civil and criminal cases.
Where do I get help? Legal aid is dependent on your financial position, the area of law for which you require assistance, and the strength of your case. As the legal aid system is complicated and constantly changing you should always speak to an advisor first. You can find out more at: www.lawsociety.org.uk/legalaid www.gov.uk./civil-legal-advice or by ringing 0845 345 4345
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Notes
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