Litigant in Person Support Strategy– improving access to justice

The Litigant in Person Support Strategy (LIPSS) is a national partnership of charities working together to improve the experience of people facing the legal process alone by improving access to information, practical support, advice and representation.

Annual activities

• 1 million people benefited from Advicenow’s content (Advicenow is the one stop shop website for litigants in person and the public face of LIPSS. 85% of users identify as litigants in person)
• Advicenow guides and resources reached vulnerable users - of those surveyed, 58% of users identified as disabled and 48% reported a household income below £1,100 per month
• 260 pro bono clinics in the LawWorks Clinics Network provided free legal help and advice to people nationwide
• 10,300 volunteers in the LawWorks Clinics Network handled over 75,000 enquiries and provided 48,000 people with free legal advice or information
• 75,000 people received practical and emotional support from Support Through Court in 24 court-based units
• RCJ Advice dealt with 9,601 civil enquiries and 9,366 family enquiries, helping over 7,500 clients
• Through Advocate, volunteer barristers provided 742 pieces of pro bono legal work for litigants in person, including written advice and representation up to Court of Appeal
• We represented the perspective of litigants in person through high level engagement with HMCTS and the Ministry of Justice, in particular the Reform Programme

This was a collaborative project involving The Access to Justice Foundation, RCJ Advice, LawWorks, Law for Life, Support Through Court, and Advocate. Working in partnership with the Ministry of Justice, these six organisations, while independent, come together to deliver on the aims of LIPSS (“the Partners”).

Law for Life was part of the Litigants in Person Support Strategy funded by the Ministry of Justice. This is a national partnership working together to improve the experience of people facing the legal process alone by improving access to information, practical support, advice and representation.

The strategy ran from October 2014 to September 2022, when it was replaced by Help Accessing Legal Support.

^{Last edited 27 March 2023}