Post by jman on Mar 28, 2011 17:59:53 GMT 1
Further article in "Trust Law" on how legal aid cuts will destroy volunteering opportunities
"UK law centre fears loss of volunteers
25 Mar 2011 17:46
Source: alertnet // Tosin Sulaiman
LONDON (TrustLaw) - Providing free legal advice to disadvantaged members of the public may be the less visible side of pro bono but this is one of the ways law firms across the UK serve their communities. In London, many lawyers from City firms give up an evening a week to volunteer at legal advice clinics, helping people who are in debt, facing homelessness or suffering discrimination.
The queue that formed outside the Tooting law centre on a recent evening illustrates how much demand there is for such services. Despite the freezing temperatures, more than a dozen people were waiting in line by the time the centre opened its doors at 7pm.
Once inside, the clients discussed their cases with volunteer lawyers from Clifford Chance, who took notes and made photocopies of relevant documents. One man wanted advice on a dispute with his former landlord who had not returned his deposit. Another client, a young woman, was there because her former employer had refused to provide a copy of references it had sent to prospective employers. She had been unable to find a new job and believed the references were to blame.
The woman, who asked not to be named, told TrustLaw: “If a centre like this didn’t exist, I wouldn’t know where to go and I don’t know if I would have enough money to go somewhere else. I think they are a necessary service for people who don’t have a huge amount of legal know-how.”
The centre, part of a network of not-for-profit legal practices run by South West London Law Centres (SWLLC), serves people on low-incomes who cannot afford to pay for a solicitor but don’t qualify for legal aid. The clients can seek advice from volunteer lawyers four evenings a week.
Michael Ashe, chief executive of SWLLC, which provides assistance to around 25,000 people a year, said the charity could be forced to close if the legal aid cuts go ahead. It is already in serious financial difficulty and is looking for an additional 135,000 pounds in funding this year.
“It’s already a hand to mouth existence,” Ashe said. “It’s a matter of checking the bank account every day to make sure you’ve got the money to pay for things.”
As well as threatening the jobs of the 20 lawyers SWLLC employs, the cuts will also affect the 500 volunteers it supports, Ashe said.
“All of those volunteer places will just disappear,” Ashe said. “For us it’s a kind of cluster bomb going off and just destroying an advice infrastructure that’s taken decades to set up.”
The Clifford Chance volunteers at the Tooting law centre are among 200 lawyers at the firm who are involved in this kind of pro bono work. Clifford Chance works with five law centres around London and delivers about 2000 free appointments to Londoners each year, the largest such programme in the country, Tom Dunn, a pro bono lawyer at the firm, said."
www.trust.org/trustlaw/news/law-centre-fears-loss-of-volunteers/
"UK law centre fears loss of volunteers
25 Mar 2011 17:46
Source: alertnet // Tosin Sulaiman
LONDON (TrustLaw) - Providing free legal advice to disadvantaged members of the public may be the less visible side of pro bono but this is one of the ways law firms across the UK serve their communities. In London, many lawyers from City firms give up an evening a week to volunteer at legal advice clinics, helping people who are in debt, facing homelessness or suffering discrimination.
The queue that formed outside the Tooting law centre on a recent evening illustrates how much demand there is for such services. Despite the freezing temperatures, more than a dozen people were waiting in line by the time the centre opened its doors at 7pm.
Once inside, the clients discussed their cases with volunteer lawyers from Clifford Chance, who took notes and made photocopies of relevant documents. One man wanted advice on a dispute with his former landlord who had not returned his deposit. Another client, a young woman, was there because her former employer had refused to provide a copy of references it had sent to prospective employers. She had been unable to find a new job and believed the references were to blame.
The woman, who asked not to be named, told TrustLaw: “If a centre like this didn’t exist, I wouldn’t know where to go and I don’t know if I would have enough money to go somewhere else. I think they are a necessary service for people who don’t have a huge amount of legal know-how.”
The centre, part of a network of not-for-profit legal practices run by South West London Law Centres (SWLLC), serves people on low-incomes who cannot afford to pay for a solicitor but don’t qualify for legal aid. The clients can seek advice from volunteer lawyers four evenings a week.
Michael Ashe, chief executive of SWLLC, which provides assistance to around 25,000 people a year, said the charity could be forced to close if the legal aid cuts go ahead. It is already in serious financial difficulty and is looking for an additional 135,000 pounds in funding this year.
“It’s already a hand to mouth existence,” Ashe said. “It’s a matter of checking the bank account every day to make sure you’ve got the money to pay for things.”
As well as threatening the jobs of the 20 lawyers SWLLC employs, the cuts will also affect the 500 volunteers it supports, Ashe said.
“All of those volunteer places will just disappear,” Ashe said. “For us it’s a kind of cluster bomb going off and just destroying an advice infrastructure that’s taken decades to set up.”
The Clifford Chance volunteers at the Tooting law centre are among 200 lawyers at the firm who are involved in this kind of pro bono work. Clifford Chance works with five law centres around London and delivers about 2000 free appointments to Londoners each year, the largest such programme in the country, Tom Dunn, a pro bono lawyer at the firm, said."
www.trust.org/trustlaw/news/law-centre-fears-loss-of-volunteers/