LATEST FROM LAW WATCH: FREE VIDEO UPDATE

I cannot allow you any rest from the law. I'm back with an intestacy law change - the extended free housing advice scheme - and compulsory purchase home loss compensation limit increases. Painless and fast.  Just click below.

VIDEO: Getting legal help for free

There may be no such thing as a free lunch - but there are some ways to get free legal help if you know where to look. All explained in my latest video below (with much more advice worth paying for in the new edition of Breaking Law available for a modest fee from the button on the left) 

FREE LEGAL HELP: ENGLAND & WALES

Here is the latest about free (because you cannot afford to pay for it yourself) legal help for those caught up in civil or family court cases or who just need to know how they stand legally. 

Sometimes you will get advice only and sometimes you will get more such as representation at the hearing, be it at a court or a tribunal. Where the people you go to are restricted in what help they can give, they will refer on to another organisation who may be able to help more. Because of Covid-19 and its financial consequences, advice agencies are currently under great pressure and face-to-face sessions may well not be available. If one organisation cannot fit you in, try another. 'Ere is my contact info.

LEGAL AID   There will be a means test. Advice only on debt, housing, education, discrimination and family. www.gov.uk/civil-legal aid-advice: 0345 345 4345.  There's not much legal aid available for the whole case including representation at court although it is available for some limited cases  - included are family cases where you have been the victim of domestic abuse and local authority care cases involving children - where you have reasonable prospects of success. However, you might just be able to secure legal aid which is ordinarily excluded if you can show it would be a denial of your human rights not to be granted it (for example, you could not follow the proceedings without a lawyer). Difficult to obtain but see

https://publiclawproject.org.uk/exceptional-case-funding/

CITIZENS ADVICE - CAB They operate out of 2,500 locations. citizensadvice.org.uk: 03444111444

ROYAL COURTS OF JUSTICE ADVICE BUREAU It is based in London but don't let that put you off. www.rcjadvice.org.uk: 020 7092 3960 Monday to Friday between 2pm and 4pm and first email them a triage form which you can access online. 

ADVOCATE (formerly Bar Pro Bono Unit)  For representation in court but you need to be referred by Royal Courts of Justice Advice Bureau (see above), a solicitor or your Member of Parliament.

LAWWORKS Mainly advice at clinics (some of which may be housed in a law centre). www.lawworks.org.uk to find out your nearest clinic and other points of contact.

LAW CENTRES  Plenty of them and they can usually do more than just give initial advice: they may be able to take on a case where full legal aid is available (see above under LEGAL AID). lawcentres.org.uk

FREE REPRESENTATION UNIT Based in offices in London and Nottingham they represent claimants in social security, employment and criminal injuries compensation tribunals and will go out to venues which are within reasonable travelling distances of their offices.www.thefru.org.uk : 020 7611 9555.

SUPPORT THROUGH COURT (formerly Personal Support Unit) Emotional and practical support including help with court forms. www.supportthroughcourt.org

SHELTER Housing advice. Chatline at http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_help.

FREE HOUSING ADVICE AT COURT For cases for possession in the county court which are mainly between landlord and tenant and mortgage lender and borrower, free legal advice at the court will be available for the tenant and borrower even though it has not been sought earlier. The adviser  may also be able to speak in court for the tenant or borrower concerned. This advice will be available for what will now usually be a review hearing when attempts will be made to get parties to agree some compromise or possibly refer the case to mediation but you will not see the judge on this day and the landlord or lender should also be present for discussions or remotely available. If the case has not settled on the review date, a later substantive hearing will be listed (at least 28 days later) and advice at court will again be available, as before.

INITIAL ADVICE FROM A SOLICITOR  Many solicitors' offices will give initial advice to see whether you have a good case and how you can go about bringing or defending it and- what it may cost you if legal aid is not available. Typically, this advice will be for thirty minutes and free. 

NO WIN, NO FEE AGREEMENTS These are for bringing a claim (not a family case) where you pay your solicitor and any barrister involved a success fee (nor more than 25% of your compensation in a personal injury case) if you win and nothing if you lose. Good game and the majority of solicitors will be prepared to act for you on this basis.

DAMAGES BASES AGREEMENTS  A bit like NO WIN, NO FEE AGREEMENTS except you pay the lawyer a cut of the compensation. 

INSURANCE  You may hold an insurance policy that covers legal advice and/or representation for a host of topics. Check all you policies, even property and household contents jobs.

LEGAL SERVICES ORDER For financial remedy applications in matrimonial proceedings, if you cannot afford to pay a lawyer and cannot reasonably raise the money to do so but your opponent can afford it, then the court can order your opponent to shell out for your own lawyer: if not for the whole of the case, for part of it.

GOOD LUCK!

Free Legal Help Update

Without a lawyer for a civil or family case? Then (if you haven't been there already - shame on you) go to http://www.breakinglaw.co.uk/search/label/free%20legal%20help

Here's a short update. The Br Pro Bono Unit has just changed its name to Advocate but its aims remain the same.

And the Personal Support Unit has just recruited money saving expert Martin Lewis as a patron. He wrote the foreword to Breaking Law and so is obviously a person of impeccable taste. 

Can't Afford a Lawyer? What to do

Bringing or defending a civil or family case but no legal representation or other legal help? All is not lost. You'll find full details of what help you may be able to access in Breaking Law but here are some routes you can follow. If you've just won the lottery (more than £2 on a scratch card), don't bother.

• Where your landlord or mortgage lender is after getting you out of your home, there is usually a lawyer or other professional at court who you can get advice from on the day and who can probably speak for you in court. It matters not that you haven't seen a lawyer previously.
• Free help from the CAB.  Call 03444 111 444.
• Free help from the RCJ Advice Bureau.  In civil cases where involved in a pending county court, High Court or Court of Appeal case, telephone 020 3475 8996 or for advice on any area of family law, telephone 020 3137 6935. The Bureau may be able to organise free representation in court for you from the Bar Pro Bono Unit. 
• Free help from Law Works, particularly advice on employment, housing, consumer, debt and finance problems. Go to lawworks.org.uk
• Free advice from a law centre. Each centre focuses on core areas which are normally within social welfare law and they may be able to give extra help via legal aid.
• Free advice from the Legal Aid Agency if you pass a means test on debt, housing, education, and discrimination disputes. Telephone 0345 345 4345.
• Check any insurance policy you hold. It may extend to legal representation in a dispute. You could be pleasantly surprised.
• Free legal help from a law school or university law faculty overseen by a qualified lawyer. Google "legal advice from law school students"
• Free legal advice from a solicitor for usually up to 30 minutes. Many firms will offer this. Google the website for your local law society (for example, Hampshire Law Society and see what is on offer or email them). You may also find details of many pro bono (free of charge) initiatives run by many solicitors up and down the country for those in need of legal help who cannot afford to pay for it.
• No win, no fee agreements. You won't have to pay the lawyer if you lose but the solicitor will charge more if you win.
• Damages based agreements. The lawyer acts for you in return for a cut of the damages you are awarded.
• Third party litigation funding where your legal fees are paid in return for a cut of the damages you are awarded if bringing a claim or you are lent fees in cases including matrimonial financial remedy applications. See, for example, www.the judge.co.uk  novitasloans.co.uk  www.augustaventures.com
• In exceptional cases, you may be able to obtain legal aid for the whole case which would not normally be available but, be warned, it is very difficult to secure. publiclawproject.org.uk may help.

If you cannot afford to pay for a lawyer to cover the entirety of a case, you may be able to afford to hire a solicitor or barrister to help you with just parts of it or just to represent you at a court hearing. Lawyers call this 'unbundling' and you can now go to many barristers direct, if you prefer, instead of hiring the barrister through a solicitor.

No luck with any of this? Take a friend to court and ask the judge to allow them to assist with taking notes and handling the paperwork. They will not usually be able to speak on your behalf. They are known as McKenzie Friends. Some so-called Friends may provide this service for a fee. Alternatively, the Personal Support Agency may attend the hearing to give you moral support and can assist you with completing court forms. Go to www.the/psu.org.uk or rcj@the psuoorg.uk, telephone 020 7947 7701.

FREE LEGAL HELP

Here's another source of free legal advice and possible representation in court for family cases to be added to those you will find in my book Breaking Law. It's the Temple Legal Centre which is run out of the barristers' chambers at 10 King Bench Walk by London's Strand and was founded by experienced barrister Leanne Target-Parker. It is intended for anyone residing in Greater London who is involved in a family case whether relating to children or finance - other than child support disputes - who will not qualify for legal aid (and few do) and cannot afford to pay lawyer's fees. The centre is flexible when considering whether you  financially qualify for help. You will probably not qualify if your gross income is over a yearly £30,000 or you turn up in a Ferrari - with a driver.

Clinics are held every other Monday at 10 King Bench Walk between 6pm and 9pm. You get an initial half an hour of advice and, if necessary, a further session will be arranged. If representation in court is needed, the centre will do its best to find you an advocate. Should this turn out to be impossible then you will get full guidance about the hearing and help with the paperwork which you may need to come up with for the hearing.  

Baroness Butler-Sloss is the centre's legal patron and it's non-legal patron is actress and writer Gillian (The X-Files) Anderson. Registration as a charity has been applied for. The centre could do with a bob or two. If you have just been awarded a couple of million against your spouse on a financial remedies application, perhaps you would remember them before blowing it at the Chiltern Firehouse.

For contact, email enquiries@templelegalcentre.org , go to www.facebook.com/templelegalcentre or telephone 07887 776099.