Internet Newsletter for Lawyers |
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The SPBG tries to make it easy for lawyers to give their time freely, whether they are part of a large law firms Corporate Social Responsibility programme, a sole practitioner or anywhere in between. It does this through a number of projects which all appear under the LawWorks banner - a programme launched by the Lord Chancellor in June 2000. These projects include LawWorks for Community Groups (which delivers non-contentious advice and assistance to small not-for-profits), LawWorks Clinics (the traditional view of pro bono when lawyers volunteer at an advice clinic), LawWorks Mediation (providing free mediation services) and LawWorks Students (which works with law students and law schools).
It is not available to members of the public directly but any advice agency such as a Citizens Advice Bureau can register. Registration and use is totally free of charge and does not have an upper limit or lower limit on usage.
When a member of the public visits an advice agency with a legal question which the agency feels unable to answer or on which they would like a further opinion, they log on to a secure website and enter enough information for the lawyer to be able to understand the situation. They then select an appropriate legal area from a drop down list and submit the question. No client details are needed. Should it be necessary for one or two documents to be attached, a check box is flagged and the documents sent to the SPBG either electronically, by fax or mail. These are converted to pdf files, attached to the question and then the question enters the system.
The advice agency receives an email confirming the question submission and the system will look in its database for appropriately qualified lawyers. An email goes to the first lawyer on the list indicating that a question is available and providing a link to it. By following the link and logging in, the lawyer can view the question and, at that stage, decide if s/he wishes to accept or reject it. If rejected, an email goes to the next lawyer on the list and so on until it has been accepted. The offer only remains with any one lawyer for 24 hours. After that time the system withdraws the offer and sends an email to the next lawyer on the list, hence removing the problem of lawyers on holiday, out of the office or just not responding.
Once the question is accepted the lawyer has three days to answer it. S/he enters the answer into the appropriate box and submits it. At this stage their details drop to the bottom of the lawyer list (ensuring a fair rota for receipt of questions) and an email goes to the originating advice agency informing them that the answer is available. By following the link they can view and print the answer.
The answer is provided anonymously - the agency cannot see which lawyer or firm provided the answer, so the lawyer can be sure that there will be no follow up calls or emails. Also, because the advice is given to the agency and not to the member of the public, there is no conflict of interest.
Security is maintained as the question is never emailed. All that is ever received is a link to a location.
This type of advice giving can suit many lawyers. It can fit within a busy day, can be rejected if time does not allow and is a single piece of advice with no follow ups. Lawyers can, at any time, make themselves unavailable for a fixed period of time and can see a list of all questions which have been offered and answered.
In addition to initial advice we also accept applications for in depth services which would require the client to meet a solicitor, receive advice and, possibly, be represented by them. Again, this can only be accessed through an advice agency. The applicant visits the agency and a form is completed. This gathers information about the person, details of the case and also financial information as we do not accept applications from those eligible for legal aid or from those who could reasonably afford legal fees.
When we receive the form and the relevant papers we have the case assessed by a senior solicitor and, if appropriate, we then find a volunteer solicitor to take the matter. This process currently exists as both a paper-based process and a fully automatic web based system.
The SPBG helps over 16,000 people a year through its various programmes, saving individuals and community groups millions of pounds in legal fees. All of this is operated by a staff of nine people, but we use computer systems as effectively as we can to provide high quality advice to as many as possible.
What is quite unique is that the whole development has cost nothing – the software was developed and hosted by Tribal Internet at no cost, law firms have sent us telephone operators for no charge and, of course, the lawyers have volunteered on a pro bono basis. There has also been a strong desire to share and the site carries resources for lawyers provided by various firms.
Graham Bucknall is a LawWorks Manager at the Solicitors Pro Bono Group. He
has worked there since 2001 and develops projects which use technology to aid
pro bono legal work. Further pro bono volunteers are always welcome!
Email gb@probonogroup.org.uk.
This is a very substantial commitment to assisting individuals on a pro bono basis. Each of these firms has emailed me at some point to say they are willing to go on this page and indicated the legal areas in which they are willing to offer advice and I have only ever had two firms asking to be removed from it.
I list the web sites rather than email addresses so that the people seeking advice do have to look at the firms site - this reduces the indiscriminate emailing of solicitors which would probably take place if I listed email addresses. Firms have an incentive to provide this service, in that the enquiry *might* turn into a real client, but in the vast majority of cases, they do not. However, it seems that firms are prepared to offer this service in any case.
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