https://www.clao.org.uk/can-we-help/terms-of-business/
https://www.clao.org.uk/can-we-help/terms-of-business/
The Civil Legal Assistance Office (CLAO) is a network of three offices in Scotland that helps people with civil legal problems. Our solicitors can provide advice and representation in certain types of civil cases. We cover Highland and Islands, Argyll and Bute, Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, and Edinburgh and the Lothians.
You can find out more about our service and the civil cases we can assist with on our website page Can we help?
Our staff and solicitors are employed by the Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB). Our solicitors are members of The Law Society of Scotland and are bound by the same rules and codes of conduct as any other solicitor in Scotland.
CLAO solicitors are paid an annual salary rather than by making claims on the legal aid fund. We have no financial interest in the outcome of your case. We only do work under legal aid. This means that you may have to pay something towards your legal aid, depending on your financial situation, but we cannot charge you any fees.
At CLAO, we will:
The person responsible for your case and who will do most of the work is your solicitor. The solicitor responsible for your case might change.
Sometimes, another solicitor from CLAO may need to work on your case if it is more practical. That solicitor will know all about your case and be fully able to represent you at any hearing. You will be told if this happens so that you always know who is dealing with your case.
We may sometimes ask solicitors from other local firms to attend court for us. We only do this for certain types of hearings where it is not necessary for us to be there personally. If we do this, we will tell you and give the solicitor full details of what we want them to say based on your instructions.
In certain circumstances, your case may require the instruction of an advocate or a solicitor advocate. Advocates and solicitor advocates are specially trained lawyers who have been granted extended rights of audience to appear in the higher courts in Scotland, including the Court of Session.
We will tell you if we think this is needed in your case and what this involves. SLAB will decide if it is reasonable for legal aid to pay for this.
We can only take on your case if legal aid is granted. You can find out more information about legal aid through SLAB’s website, www.slab.org.uk.
You can only get legal aid through a solicitor. If there is anything that you don’t understand please ask your solicitor to explain.
This type of legal aid covers providing you with legal advice and taking certain steps in your case. We can only carry out work that is allowed under this type of legal aid. This means that we may need to ask the SLAB before we can do certain types of work for you.
If you have a contribution to pay towards A&A, please pay this as soon as possible using one of the following methods:
We will not send you requests for additional money by email or tell you that these bank details have changed by email. If you receive any such request, you should contact your solicitor immediately to verify it.
We may need to provide you with Assistance by Way of Representation (ABWOR) in your case. This is a type of A&A that, if granted, allows us to represent you in certain tribunal proceedings, for example a children’s hearing or Mental Health Tribunal hearing.
ABWOR will usually only be granted if the merits test is met. We will let you know how this applies to your case. You do not have to pay a contribution towards this.
We will need to make an application for civil legal aid on your behalf if you need us to represent you in court. This type of legal aid covers us preparing for and representing you at court hearings. It can also provide funding for instructing advocates and experts, if needed. As your solicitor has explained, you might need to pay a contribution towards this.
SLAB will decide if you should get civil legal aid by checking that:
It is important that you give SLAB everything they ask you to provide to help them decide on your application. Otherwise, you might not get legal aid, or you might be asked to pay too much towards it. If you have any problems finding anything SLAB requests, please speak to your solicitor.
Your solicitor also has a duty to provide the information required by SLAB to decide your application. This includes reporting any abuse of legal aid, or any development which might affect SLAB’s view on if it is reasonable for you to receive legal aid.
If you don’t agree with the decision SLAB makes, or how your legal aid contribution has been worked out, you can ask them to look at this again.
If your application is refused or withdrawn by SLAB or becomes abandoned because you do not give them the information they need, we will not be able to help you with your case. We also cannot keep working on your case whilst your application is suspended.
SLAB will tell you exactly how much, if any, your contribution will be and how long you can take to pay this.
If you do not pay your contribution or miss a payment, we may have no option but to stop working for you. Even if you decide that you no longer want us to be your solicitors, you may still have to pay towards any work that we have done on your behalf. If you are struggling to pay your contribution instalments you should tell SLAB straight away.
You need to let CLAO and SLAB know straight away about any changes that could affect your case, such as changes to your income, payments, a change of address or who lives with you.
SLAB needs to know about any significant change in your income for 12 months after they receive your application. They also need to know about any change in your capital, such as savings or other investments, for as long as your case lasts.
These changes could affect if you still qualify for civil legal aid and increase or decrease your contribution.
We will tell you if we need to do urgent work on your case to protect your position until your civil legal aid application has been decided by SLAB.
We may need to ask SLAB before we can do urgent work for you. We can also only do certain types of urgent work.
If we do urgent work for you but your civil legal aid application is ultimately refused, or we must stop representing you before your application has been granted, you may have to pay for the urgent work that we have done.
If this happens, you may also have to pay some or all the court costs, including your opponent’s court expenses, if you lose your case.
Civil legal aid only covers your case costs. It does not protect you from having to pay your opponent’s court expenses if you lose your case. This means that if you lose your case, you could be asked to pay some or all your opponent’s costs. SLAB cannot pay these for you.
If you are receiving civil legal aid and the court decides that you must pay your opponent’s court expenses, you can ask the court to reduce the amount that you must pay.
If the court decides that your opponent should pay your court expenses, these will be paid to SLAB to cover the cost of your case.
If, because of receiving A&A or civil legal aid, you win or keep something of value, such as money, a house or shares, SLAB may ask you to use some or all of that to cover the cost of the work done. This is called “clawback.”
Your solicitor will tell you at the start if clawback might apply to your case. They will keep you informed of any changes that could affect this as your case progresses, and they will do their best to keep you informed of the costs incurred in your case. However, your solicitor will not be able to tell you exactly how much you might need to pay because this can only be worked out at the end of your case. You should speak to your solicitor if you have any questions about this.
If clawback does apply to your case, you will only need to pay the difference between the cost of the work we have done and any financial contribution you have paid towards your legal aid, or that your opponent might have paid towards your court expenses.
If the work we have done is less than the contributions you have paid, you will get some money back from SLAB. If it costs more, you may have to pay the additional amount out of the money or property you get or keep. This would be sent to SLAB first, and you would receive what is left once the work we have done has been paid for.
If paying for the cost of your case from the property you have won or kept would cause you grave hardship or distress, you can ask SLAB to take this into account. Your solicitor can make the hardship application on your behalf. This is only available for work done under A&A.
More information on the different types of assistance available and eligibility checks are on SLAB’s website under New to legal aid, including the Civil Legal Aid Information For Applicants booklet.
This type of legal aid covers representing you in certain children’s hearing and related court proceedings. It can also provide funding for instructing advocates and experts if needed.
You might need to pay a contribution towards this.
SLAB will decide if you should get children’s legal aid by checking that:
Your solicitor will explain how this applies in your case and the information needed for your application. It is important that you give SLAB everything they ask you to provide to help them decide on your application. Otherwise, you might not get legal aid, or you might be asked to pay too much towards it. If you have any problems finding anything they are looking for, please speak to your solicitor.
If you don’t agree with the decision SLAB makes, or how financial contribution has been worked out, you can ask them to look at this again.
If your application is refused or terminated by SLAB or becomes abandoned because you have not provided the information needed, we will not be able to continue to help you with your case.
SLAB will tell you exactly how much you will need to pay towards the cost of your case, which is known as a contribution, and how long you can take to pay this. You can usually pay any contribution from your income in up to 48 monthly instalments. Often, you will not need to pay anything.
If you do have a contribution, you will only need to pay the amount assessed or the actual cost of the work done, whichever is the lower.
If you do not pay your contribution or miss a payment, we may have no option but to stop working for you. Even if you decide that you no longer want us to be your solicitors, you may still have to pay towards any work that we have done on your behalf. If you are struggling to pay your contribution instalments you should tell SLAB straight away.
You need to let CLAO and SLAB know straight away about any changes that could affect your case, such as changes to your income, payments, a change of address or who lives with you.
These changes could affect if you still qualify for children’s legal aid and your solicitor can advise you about this.
We will tell you if we need to do urgent work on your case to protect your position until your children’s legal aid application has been decided by SLAB. We may need to ask SLAB before we can do urgent work for you. We can also only do certain types of urgent work.
If your application is ultimately refused, you may have to pay for the urgent work that we have already done on your behalf. SLAB will tell you how much you need to pay.
You need to:
We will contact you whenever something important happens in your case. We cannot represent you unless we have your instructions. It is therefore important that we can speak to you when we need, to make sure you understand what is happening and for you to tell us what you would like us to do.
We will assume, when acting for two or more people jointly, that where one of you gives us instructions about what you want us to do, that this is with the agreement of all of you.
Sometimes before we can take any action, we may need to ask you to confirm what you would like us to do in writing or sign a document. It is important that you make yourself available for this at short notice, if needed.
You should keep your solicitor updated about anything that might affect your case. This includes telling us about any other legal cases you are involved in. It is important you do this and are always fully open and honest with us because we can only give you advice on the things we know about.
If any of the ways you have told us that we can contact you change, please let your solicitor know. If you have given us an email address, you should be aware that this method of communication is not always fully secure.
If you have any questions about your case, you should contact your solicitor. You can phone or email during office opening hours, which are Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, or at another time if agreed with your solicitor.
If your solicitor is not available, they will get back to you as soon as they are free. This may not always be the same day. If you need to speak to someone urgently, please let the person you speak to know why the matter is urgent and they will try to help.
If your case is paused by the court or tribunal, it is important that you continue to keep in contact with your solicitor. Cases can be paused for a long time, sometimes years. Unless otherwise agreed, your solicitor will contact you at regular intervals to check how your case is progressing. Your solicitor may also need certain information from you, including for your legal aid application.
If you do not respond to your solicitor’s attempts to contact you whilst your case is paused, we may have no option but to withdraw from acting for you.
Any information you share with any member of our staff will be treated in confidence. We will always comply with our professional duty of confidentiality. We will only share your information with someone else with your permission or if we have a legal or legitimate basis to do so, such as where:
For us to be able to provide you with advice or representation, we need to use and keep different types of personal information about you. We rely on specific provisions under Articles 6 and 9 of the General Data Protection Regulation as the lawful bases for controlling and processing data. We have a lawful basis for controlling and processing your data under the contract that we have with you as a client, and, where it is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims. This includes types of data defined as special. By instructing us you enable us to use and retain your personal information to fulfil those obligations to you, without seeking your further consent.
As was explained to you when you first contacted CLAO, we have a legal basis to use and keep your personal data where we are carrying out a task in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in us as the data controller. Our Privacy notice contains further information.
We will do our very best for you. We hope you will understand that sometimes to give you good advice we may need to tell you things that are difficult to hear. Also, sometimes things might not go the way you want them to in your case because of things that we cannot control.
We want to hear from you if you are not happy. It helps us make our service better if we know when we are not getting things right.
We would encourage you to first speak to your solicitor or their line manager (Head of Office) so they can try to explain what has happened or put things right. Alternatively, you can contact CLAO’s Head of Service and Client Relations Manager, Claire Kettlewell, by email on edinburgh@clao.org.uk or by phone on 0131 240 1960. Please make it clear in any email or call that you want it to be dealt with by the Head of Service and Client Relations Manager.
We will try to deal with your complaint within 20 working days. For more about how we deal with complaints, see SLAB’s Complaints procedure.
After we have fully investigated your complaint, if you are still not happy with our decision or the way we dealt with your complaint, you can contact the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission at Capital Building, 12-13 St Andrew Square, Edinburgh, EH2 2AF, or by phone on 0131 201 2130, or email at enquiries@scottishlegalcomplaints.org.uk.
There are strict time limits for raising a complaint with the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission. The time limits which apply depend on what type of complaint you are making. If your complaint, or part of it, is about:
You can find out more about how the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission deals with complaints and the timescales for making a complaint on their website at www.scottishlegalcomplaints.org.uk.
Because we are part of a public sector organisation, you may also be able to ask the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) to look at your complaint if this relates to a complaint about our service. For contact details, more information on how SPSO deal with complaints and their timescales, visit their website at www.spso.org.uk.
We recognise the ADR/EDR Directive 2013/11 which promotes Alternative Dispute Resolution as a method of resolving complaints. We have not adopted this, so if you have any concerns about this then you should speak to the Client Relations Manager.
Normally we will stop working for you when we have finished the work that we agreed to do for you.
However, you can tell us that you no longer want us to be your solicitor at any time. You can decide that you would prefer to represent yourself or ask another solicitor to represent you. You will normally need SLAB to agree to your legal aid being transferred to a new solicitor.
In certain situations, we may have to withdraw from acting for you and suggest that you instruct another solicitor. This may happen when:
You should read the “What we expect from you” section carefully, so you know what we need from you to represent you.
If we do withdraw from acting, we will immediately confirm this to you in writing. We will also inform the court, the opponent in your case, and SLAB.
When we have finished the work for you, we will close your file. You should arrange for any original documents supplied to CLAO to be returned to you, as otherwise these documents may be destroyed.
We are required by The Law Society of Scotland to keep your file for a retention period. We normally need to keep the paper or electronic copy of your file for a minimum period of 10 years after the work has been completed. After this, your file will be destroyed. If your case involved advice or representation for child law or a family law matter, the paper or electronic copy of your file will be kept until after the youngest child in the case reaches the age of 26, if this is longer.
We want to remove any barriers that exist in getting the best information that we can from you and ensure that the information we provide to you is as clear as possible.
If you have any requirements for how we contact you or when meeting with us, please let us know and we will do our best to meet those. If you need us to change how we communicate with you, please let us know by sending details by email to communicationsupport@slab.org.uk. Where possible, we will consider all reasonable adjustments and requests.
If we are getting something wrong, please tell us.