Law Centre - Work

Work

Law Centres specialise in the areas of civil law most relevant to disadvantaged communities. In the UK, these include community care, debt, discrimination, education, employment, housing, family, immigration and asylum, mental health and welfare rights.

Law Centres offer specialist legal advice, casework and representation in these areas of law. They tailor their services to the needs of each person or group they help, and so often assist them with several legal problems at once.

Law Centres help over 120,000 people every year with problems such as eviction, unfair dismissal, discrimination, violence, abuse, exploitation, and the wrongful withdrawal of their welfare benefits.

The Law Centres Federation commissioned research on the Socio-Economic Value of Law Centres which showed that for every £1 spent by Law Centres on a typical housing case, an estimated £10 of “social value” is created through benefits to the local community and savings to government. Other research relevant to Law Centres’ work includes Time Well Spent and Rights within Reach.

Law Centres also seek to tackle the root causes of poverty and inequality. They do this by spotting trends in the needs of their communities and responding by raising awareness about legal rights, supporting community groups and influencing policy locally and nationally.

When necessary, they mount national campaigns with their clients, such as Justice for All which defends access to justice. The campaign has featured in the Guardian.

Law Centres also pursue test cases to the highest courts if necessary. For example, Sheffield Law Centre helped a young disabled man to win a case in the Court of Appeal in November 2009 which established that building works could be ordered under the Disability Discrimination Act. David Allen vs Royal Bank of Scotland.

The Law Centres Federation supports, develops and champions the Law Centres.