Can we help?

We have a fixed number of solicitors working for us. That means we are not able to provide a legal casework service to everyone who asks us to take their case.

We target our services at specific types of work where we can have the biggest impact. We also have a system to ensure that we prioritise cases in a way that allows us to make the best use of the resources we have.

Next steps?

In the sections below you can find information on:

• What happens when you contact us
• Checking if you are eligible for legal assistance
• Checking if we may be able to help you using our 3-step form

Step 1: Initial contact

You speak to our CLAO business support team who:

• take some basic information, such as your name and address
• a brief note of the matter you are seeking help with.

Step 2: Initial assessment

Our Referral and Legal Support Officers/in-take team first check that:

• you reside within our geographical service area
• your case is the type of work that we do.

Outcome – unable to assist: Your case is not the type of work that we do and/or you do not reside within our geographical service area.

The Civil Legal Assistance Office is unable to assist you. We can send you details of other organisations who may be able to help you.

We usually advise of you this outcome by email unless you need us to provide this information to you in a different format.

Outcome – contact for further assessment: If your case is the type of work that we do and you reside within our geographical service, a Referral and Legal Support Officer/a member of our team will contact you to confirm this.

They will assess your eligibility for legal aid, take some additional details about your legal issue and explain how we may be able to assist you.

Step 3: Casework consideration

Your case will only be put forward for consideration to determine if we can offer you an appointment with one of our solicitors provided:

• you reside within our geographical service area
• your case is the type of work that we do
• and you appear to qualify for legal aid.

Outcome – appointment offered: You are told that we can offer you an appointment with one of our solicitors.

A Referral and Legal Support Officer will confirm the details of your appointment with you.

Outcome – unable to offer appointment: If we are unable to offer you an appointment with one of our solicitors, in some circumstances, we can make referrals to other firms to try find a solicitor who may be able to assist you and/or give you details of other organisations who may be able to help.

A Referral and Legal Support Officer will confirm this to you and update you on the outcome of our attempts to refer your case to another firm of legal aid solicitors.