Demand for pro bono advice on the rise, reports LawWorks

Pro bono clinics are under increasing demand for free legal advice, reports the legal charity LawWorks as it calls for people to be given early access to legal help.

A report looking at the work of 229 pro bono clinics across the UK for a year saw a 76% increase in demand for legal advice over the previous year. Some 52% of the clinics surveyed reported an increase in the number of clients in crisis or distress.

The report precedes the Ministry of Justice’s review of the impact of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) which came into force in 2013 and introduced funding cuts to legal aid.

In its submission to the LASPO review, LawWorks said that it argued the case for a “full spectrum of support”, from public legal education and information to help people identify problems, through to casework and advocacy within the legal system.

It also said that “recent research by Ipsos MORI and the Law Society has suggested a link between the provision of early advice and the resolution of people’s legal issues”, arguing that although early advice might not always offer an immediate solution, it allows people to take control of the problem and feel more confident of their next steps.

The report talked additionally about the increasing role of digital technologies within the justice system and emphasised that the way services are designed and accessed must put the needs of the users first.