Norfolk Community Law Service is fortunate to have a team of over 50 volunteer solicitors who passionately dedicate their time to provide free advice on family law, general (civil) law, and employment law. Their invaluable contribution is a source of essential support for people facing difficulties in their lives.
Volunteering is not only an amazing way to give back to the community and ensure greater access to justice across Norfolk, but a good way to develop your client skills in providing concise, accessible legal advice in 15-minute sessions.
Begin your volunteer journey today.
What is Required from You
You will require a valid practising certificate to offer free legal advice (solicitors and barristers, qualified with a minimum of one year’s experience or CILEX with a minimum of one year in the relevant area of law).
Volunteer solicitors advise up to 6 clients in a 2-hour session. The appointments are pre-booked for you and details of the client’s issues are provided before you speak to them. These advice sessions can be as frequent or infrequent as you want, be that once every 3 months or once a week.
The Process
Step 1: Contact our Volunteer Co-ordinator Niahl at niahl@ncls.co.uk for an application form.
Step 2: We’ll ask you for references and to sign a confidentiality agreement.
Step 3: Once the paperwork is done we’ll arrange an induction session, this will include talking you through how the sessions work.
Please note, we are happy to have an informal chat at any stage if that would be helpful.
Get in Touch
If you are interested in volunteering with NCLS or want to find out more, please contact our volunteer coordinator Niahl at niahl@ncls.co.uk for current volunteering opportunities.
Read what they have to say about volunteering with NCLS below.
I first volunteered for NCLS way back in the 1990s! Such a long time ago, I can’t remember the date. Over the years, demand and need for the services has soared. We deal with an increasing wide range of problems. It’s challenging but it always feels great to help people.
I have provided free advice via the Family Free Legal Advice Service for approximately two years. I am passionate about access to justice and the work Norfolk Community Law Service do is vital in helping those in our community who would not otherwise be able to access legal support and advice.
I have worked with NCLS on their Domestic Abuse programme for a number of years. The service is invaluable and allows us as legal professionals to give back to those at their most vulnerable. Domestic abuse is a part of everyday lives and it is often children who are its most innocent victims.
I have been offering free employment law advice at the clinic for over two years now. I volunteer at the clinic because I believe everyone should have the right to access legal advice and understand their situation better.
In my time at NCLS I’ve seen individuals in the local community benefit greatly from the ability to freely ask questions about issues which fundamentally impact their lives, because even the questions with straightforward answers would otherwise have cost them hundreds of pounds to ask – money which they often simply did not have.
I believe I may be one of the longest-serving solicitors on the advice rota for Norfolk Community Law Service. The service is an invaluable resource for the people of Norfolk. Not only can clients obtain legal advice, but they are able to access support in preparing court applications, writing statements and how to conduct themselves in proceedings.
I chose to become involved many years ago to help people who were vulnerable, victims of abuse or because they struggled to access legal advice through more conventional routes. I am proud to be part of this exceptional service.
I have been a solicitor volunteer on the free legal advice rota since 2015. As with the other volunteers, I believe in the crucial importance of assisting the economically and socially vulnerable members of our society to understand, and thus enforce, the legal rights to which we are all entitled.
During the past seven years, I have experienced first-hand the ever-growing need for access to such pro bono advice, and the positive impact it can have on people’s lives.
I have been on the rota for a long time. I have a real passion for helping people which I do in my day job, including families who may have lost a loved one, where they need help to take on an organisation who will have caused an injury or fatality, whether at work, on the road, in a public place or in a clinical setting.
Although I specialise in the fields of personal injury/clinical negligence I am lucky in having the support of a broad range of experts at Hatch Brenner who can assist where needed.
I do feel that it is really important for those who for one reason or another cannot afford their own legal representation to not be deprived of having a lawyer available to guide and assist them, even if it is “light touch” advice which points them to good old Google!
I’ve been on the NCLS family law free advice rota since January this year and am now on both the Norwich and Cromer rotas. I joined because I had more time available to me and wanted to be involved in the great service NCLS provides to people who otherwise may not have access to legal advice.
The rota benefits NCLS clients and the people of Norfolk by enabling them to obtain initial legal advice on their problem at no cost to themselves and then to make an informed decision as to what level of further legal assistance they require, if any, and from where to access it. The clients are very appreciative of the advice and assistance they receive.
‘I lost £1,000 in 45 minutes on gambling machines after self-excluding myself. I’m severely disabled and was cut out in my father’s last will. I was refused a mortgage due to an unknown CCJ for a parking penalty. My sister gave me her dog when she emigrated but now wants it back.’
These are some of the varied problems presented to me as a rota solicitor. All four went to court and favourable outcomes were achieved. On other occasions, the advice given is not what the client wants to hear. Often, while the solicitors may benefit from researching a fascinating problem or a new area of law, they cannot help beyond listening and dispensing common sense.
Fewer and fewer people can afford to seek legal advice. Today an average solicitor charges, with VAT, upwards of £200 per hour. Our FLA scheme goes a small way towards meeting this chasm of need.
I have been on the employment law-free legal advice rota for seven years. I joined because I felt I owed it to the community to provide some legal advice in my field of expertise to those who could not afford to pay for it and who were in dire need of legal help in connection with their jobs. I have found it very interesting and satisfying to do.
Every year there are many people in Norfolk who find themselves in situations at work – or who lose their jobs – in circumstances where the law is hugely relevant to what they can do in practice – yet without legal advice, they will not be able to benefit from the protections which the law in theory provides. The rota goes a little way towards tackling that problem.
I have been on the rota for around 8 years. I do it because I believe it makes a significant difference to the clients I see, most of whom have nowhere else to turn. It also benefits the wider community, for example, local public bodies who might otherwise become embroiled in long-running and draining disputes.
From a personal perspective, the variety of problems I advise on and the limited time allowed for each appointment, challenges me to come up with quick and creative solutions, and improves my knowledge of other services out there, for example in mental health advocacy.
I would recommend the FLA rota to any local lawyer, junior or senior, as a rewarding and interesting thing to be part of.
I have volunteered with NCLS for four years and hope to for many more to come. I can see the benefit of their services at every session I attend, for individuals that do not know where else to turn. The impact of their work, in a time where legal aid is limited and the cost of living is increasing, is hugely important to Norfolk.
