Legal Aid
(also called Public Funding)
For many types of cases you may be eligible for Legal Aid, depending on your financial means and the merits of your case. If Funding is granted you may have to pay a contribution which in most cases is paid by you for as long as the case lasts. This contribution is the only amount you have to pay unless the Statutory Charge applies.
access law do not undertake Legal Aid work for criminal cases
The Statutory Charge
If you are successful in your case and it is considered that you have recovered or preserved property or money (either as a result of settling the case or as a result of agreement after proceedings have been issued), the Legal Services Commission (LSC) may require that some or all of your legal costs be paid from the money or property recovered by you. How much is deducted will depend on what the other party pays towards your costs, if anything. The amount recovered by way of costs from the other party rarely covers the entire costs involved in preparing and conducting a case and the LSC is entitled to deduct the difference from your award or settlement. This deduction is called the Statutory Charge and can take various forms, including a possible charge over your assets. A leaflet giving more information about the Statutory Charge can be downloaded direct from the LSC website here.
Are you eligible for Funding?
You are likely to be eligible if you can answer YES to the questions below (or visit the Legal Services Commission's eligibility calculator page here.
[The eligibility for Funding varies with the type of Public Funding you are claiming and/or the type of case. Eligibility rates given below are as of 6th April 2009]
Legal Help
[most cases for initial advice]
- Do you have capital of less than £8,000.00?, AND
- Do
you receive Income Support or Income-Based Job Seekers Allowance, OR is
your gross income less than £2,657.00 per month (if you have 5
or more children add an extra £222.00 per month per child for
the fifth and subsequent children) and net income less than
£733.00 per month (after tax, National Insurance, housing
costs, maintenance, childcare etc. and a monthly allowance for
dependants as follows)?
- for each dependant child the allowance is £243.81
- for a dependant Partner the allowance is £159.25
(your partner cannot be a dependant if they are your opponent in the dispute)
Civil CLS Funding
[court proceedings for Family cases and civil claims such as Consumer Contract]
- Do you have capital of less than £3,000.00 OR less than £8,000.00 when a contribution would be payable
- Do
you receive Income Support or Income-Based Job Seekers Allowance, OR is
your gross income less than £2,657.00 per month (if you have 5
or more children add an extra £222.00 per month per child for
the fifth and subsequent children) and net income less than
£733.00 per month (after tax, National Insurance, housing
costs, maintenance, childcare etc. and a monthly allowance for
dependants as follows)?
- for each dependant child the allowance is £243.81
- for a dependant Partner the allowance is £159.25
(your partner cannot be a dependant if they are your opponent in the dispute)
Applying for Public Funding
Various forms have to be completed in order to apply. We will supply and complete these on your behalf. To assist us we will require a number of personal details from you including:-
- National Insurance Number
- Place and Date of birth
- Surname at birth
- Previous Legal Aid Certificate reference number (if any)
- Details and proof of your capital, income and any benefits you receive
The Specialist Quality Mark
access law hold a Specialist Quality Mark (SQM) which means that the standard of care and conduct of publicly funded cases that we deal with is approved by the Legal Services Commission.
Our SQM permits us to provide specialist advice in Family and Mental Health matters together with general advice for other permitted case types such as Debt, Housing and Welfare Benefits.
In order to ensure that law firms providing Legal Aid deliver a consistently high standard of service they are subjected to regular audits by the Legal Services Commission.
On 10th December 2009 we passed this LSC audit with flying colours; no remedial action or alterations to our standards or procedures of any sort were required. In his letter to access law, the auditor stated:-
"... I have not asked for any corrective action to be carried out. The audit is clearly excellent and you and your team should be very pleased with the outcome"
The standards of conduct and care required by the Legal Services Commission mean more than just a logo on a door or letterhead; they indicate a reliable level of service for ALL clients. Private paying clients benefit because the systems and procedures introduced work equally well for (and are applied to) non- Legal Aid cases.
Legal Aid Contracts
From October 2010 the Legal Services Commission are awarding contracts
authorising firms to offer Legal Aid services under various categories
of work. These contracts require that firms have qualified
specialists in the appropriate categories of work and also stipulate
that firms meet defined standards of quality service.access law have been awarded contracts under this procedure to carry out Legal Aid work in:-
- Family (including divorce, children disputes, finances and care work);
- Child Abduction; and
- Mental Health
