Pro bono opportunities

LawWorks develops and supports the delivery of a number of pro bono programmes and initiatives. There are many other pro bono opportunities across England and Wales.

Programmes

Depending on your particular interest and capacity, there are a range of programmes we support which solicitors from member firms can get involved with: 

The Not-For-Profits Programme connects small not-for-profit organisations in need of legal support with the skills and expertise of lawyers, to support the continuation and expansion of their services to people in need. 

Secondary specialisation is a programme to support lawyers in firms and in-house teams to develop expertise in areas of social welfare law and employment where need is significant and supply increasingly limited. 

If you would like to support our work by becoming a member do get in touch. Please contact our membership officer (membership@lawworks.org.uk).

Clinics Network

LawWorks runs a Clinic Network, which supports and develops independent pro bono clinics across England and Wales. 

Clinics on the LawWorks Clinic Network are independent, locally run and provide free initial advice to individuals, predominantly in the area of social welfare law on either a drop-in or appointment basis. Advice is delivered face-to-face, over the telephone and in some circumstances via Skype. Solicitors can volunteer at clinics as individuals or as part of a firm/in-house team initiative depending on the clinic and its needs. 

Legal and skills training is offered to clinics on the Clinics Network to give volunteer solicitors the confidence to provide advice at clinics.

Pro Bono Opportunities

Our listings of pro bono opportunities give an overview of current volunteering opportunities across the country. Please see below.

If you would like to learn about other ways to volunteer, please visit the Get involved section of the website or visit the National Pro Bono Centre website at: www.nationalprobonocentre.org.uk/volunteer-portal/.  

Our team of qualified solicitors advise clients about family law problems involving children, assisted by trained and supervised law students. The service is offered for free to those who cannot afford to pay a solicitor privately elsewhere. We are part of the University of Liverpool and our law students are able to sit in on client appointments and gain valuable legal experience that helps them to gain employability skills and an insight into legal practice work on family cases.

United Legal Access is a virtual legal advice clinic providing online initial legal advice.

ELIPS provides much needed pro bono assistance to unrepresented litigants. It currently covers London Central, Cardiff, Bristol, Midlands (West), Newcastle, Leeds and Manchester Employment Tribunals.

Rights of Women are a women’s charity working to help women through the law. They provide women with the legal advice and information they need to understand and use the law and their legal rights.

The Legal Advice Clinic offers free legal advice to the general public. We welcome people from all backgrounds.

Birmingham City University Law Clinic provides one off advice from family law practitioners to clients unable to instruct their own representative.

Kent Legal Clinic is a student law clinic based at the University of Kent, providing pro bono legal advice and representation services to individuals and small unfunded community groups based in the county of Kent. Our aims are to enhance the legal education of our students by involving them in the provision of legal services to clients and to make a contribution to access to justice.

The University of Exeter's Community Law Clinic provides pro bono legal advice, information and support to the local community. There is no law centre in the Exeter area and high public demand combined with limited pro bono capacity in the south-west as a whole. The University of Exeter Community Law Clinic's new Care Leavers Advocacy Project offers legal advice and information to care leavers.

St Michael's Church Camden Town, which is located close to Camden Town Tube station, facilitates a weekly legal drop in service on Wednesday evenings.

ULLAC offers free initial legal advice on certain areas of law to people in need of legal advice, who are not eligible for legal aid and cannot afford to pay. ULLAC's service is delivered remotely using Zoom or telephone. Volunteer lawyers can work from their offices and daytime or evening appointments are available.