There are CLAO offices in Inverness, Aberdeen, Argyll & Bute and Edinburgh.

Find out more about our network of offices.
 

 

We have offices in four locations. Each of our offices serve a defined geographical area, and the services of a CLAO office is available to anyone ordinarily resident in the service area.

If you live in one of our office areas and you have a problem with housing, children including children’s hearings and child protection cases, debt and related matters, mental health cases including adults with incapacity and cases related to vulnerable adults, we may be able to help you.

You must be eligible for civil legal assistance to have access to our full advice and representation service. If you are not eligible we may be able to help with information.

We do not deal with criminal cases. Solicitors at the Public Defence Solicitors Office (PDSO), who are also employed by SLAB, can help with criminal cases.

The 24hr contact number for PDSO is 0800 328 1222.

 

We will check your financial eligibility for civil legal assistance and ask you for some general details about you and your case.

Although our service is confidential, you will have to give us some personal information including your name.

If you want to get help anonymously, you will have to contact another advice agency such as your local Citizens Advice Bureau.

We will then be able to tell you if we think we are the best people to help you.

For some problems someone else, like a Citizens Advice Bureau, may be better able to help you.

Especially if your problem does not relate to the law, or the case is not yet at the stage of going to court, another organisation may be able to handle the case better than a solicitor.

 

You will need an appointment before one of our solicitors can meet you. Before we can arrange an appointment we assess your case and look at our casework service capacity to take on new cases.

Whether or not we can take on your case will depend on:

• The type of case: we can deal with problems involving housing, children including children’s hearings and child protection cases, debt and related matters, mental health cases including adults with incapacity and cases related to vulnerable adults. If the problem is more specialised, we may not be able to deal with it and we will tell you that as soon as we can
• Whether we have a solicitor available to do the work in the time needed. We cannot guarantee that we can meet the needs of everyone looking for our help. We will tell you as soon as we can if we cannot take your case. If we cannot we will try and signpost you to another legal aid solicitor.

 

SLAB provides provide funding to help people who have a solicitor and who are eligible for assistance. The funding provides for advice and representation in civil cases.

Assistance may be free or you may have to pay a contribution towards the cost of the case, or repay the cost of the solicitor service if you recover or preserve assets, at the end of the case.

There are three kinds of help you may be able to get under civil legal assistance:

First, there is advice and assistance. This helps pay for advice from a solicitor on any matter of Scots Law, for example trying to settle a dispute for you without going to court. However, it does not normally pay for representation in court or at tribunals but there is a scheme called Advice by Way of Representation (ABWOR) which can be available for mental health tribunals and children’s hearings.

Second, there is civil legal aid. This helps pay for your solicitor to act for you in court. It covers the preparation work, as well as the hearing itself, and can provide funding for advocates and experts if needed. Most cases begin on advice and assistance; legal aid may be the next step if necessary.

Third, there is children’s legal assistance. This helps pay for advice from a solicitor in relation to Children’s Hearings and in some cases it allows a lawyer to attend the hearing or court to represent you.

 

You can find out whether you are likely to be financially eligible for civil legal assistance by going to the following websites:

www.slab.org.uk – select ‘Eligibility Estimators’ from ‘Quick Links’ on the left. You can also access up to date leaflets regarding legal assistance.

www.mygov.scot– select ‘Justice and the Law’ and then ‘Legal Advice and Legal Help’.

Alternatively, you can telephone the Financial Assessment Unit at the Scottish Legal Aid Board on 0845 123 2330 or you read SLAB's leaflet “A Guide to Civil Legal Aid” which lets you work out if you may be eligible.

 

If we are not taking your case but trying to help you find a solicitor you should continue to take steps yourself to try to find help.

We have another information sheet about other organisations you can contact who may be able to assist you.

We cannot guarantee to be able to find a solicitor willing to take your case.

You should continue to look for advice yourself while we are trying to refer your case.

Please let us know if you no longer need our help. That will give us more time to help others in need of advice.