How to get free legal advice about your tribunal case

Law Centres usually offer face-to-face legal advice to local residents, and during the coronavirus crisis many are running a telephone advice line. Find out if there is a law centre near you.

LawWorks supports a network of over 200 free legal advice clinics that provide initial advice to individuals on various areas of law, including social welfare issues, employment, housing, and consumer disputes. Use their search to see if there is a clinic near you offering advice on the area of law you need help with by phone, email digitally or in person. In order to use the time efficiently, please see What to bring to your appointment at a LawWorks clinic (PDF).

Advocate can help find you a barrister who can provide you with specialist legal advice but they ask that you seek initial legal advice from a clinic or Citizens' Advice before approaching the Unit. They can help with any legal issue as long as you are not eligible for legal aid and don't have enough money to pay for legal help.

To access the service, you need someone from an advice agency (such as a CAB or Law Centre), or a MP or practising lawyer to refer you. You need to send a completed application form (on paper, not email) at least three weeks before the hearing or deadline for the piece of work you want help with. You can find information about how to apply here: Advocate - do you need help?

For help with your application you can ring 020 7092 3960 and leave your name, number, email and brief query. This is a voicemail only service and calls are returned within a few days from a private number. If the casework team do not think that they have enough information in the application, they will ask you to supply more. Once the casework team is satisfied that they have enough information, the casework team will send your application to a senior barrister. The senior barrister’s job is to determine whether the Unit should find you a barrister. If they decide that the Unit should find you a barrister, the casework team will start looking for a barrister to help you. Because they rely on volunteers, they cannot guarantee to find someone to help you, but they will do their best.

Advocate finds barristers to assist you with a particular task in your case. So if your application is successful, you will receive help to do a specific task. After that, if you need further help you can apply again, providing at least three weeks' notice. 

Independent advice agencies will often be able to give you advice if you are taking a case to tribunal. See if there is an independent advice agency in your area on Advice Local's site. Check that they can provide advice on your kind of problem before you make an appointment.

Citizens Advice can offer practical advice on lots of issues. Their contact us page allows you to search for your local Citizens Advice service, and provides details about their national helpline, and their chat and other services. Be aware that the national helpline is not free. Calls are charged at the same rate as calls to landlines. 

Gingerbread provides support and advice on benefit and tax credit issues to single parents. Call: 0808 802 0925. The helpline is open Monday to Thursday at the following times: Monday 10am-12pm and 2pm-7pm, Tuesdays 10am-1pm and 4pm-7pm, Wednesdays 10am-1pm and 4pm-7pm and Thursdays 10am-12pm and 2pm-4pm. The helpline is closed on all public holidays. Webchat is open Mondays 12pm-3pm, Tuesdays 12pm-4pm, Wednesdays 12pm-1pm and Thursdays 12pm-2pm.

Going to an Education related tribunal? 

National Youth Advocacy Service (NYAS) offers information, advice, advocacy and legal representation for children, young people and vulnerable adults in taking a claim to an education related tribunal. For information about how to contact the service, see NYAS legal services.

Independent Parental Special Education Advice (known as IPSEA) offers help and support for people going to a tribunal about a decision concerning their child’s special educational needs, or a Disability Discrimination claim. An IPSEA Volunteer Adviser will give you next step advice on preparing your case. Find out more about the tribunal helpline and book an appointment online.

Coram Children’s Legal Centre offers a Child Law Advice Service where you can get free and confidential advice on specific questions you may have on education law if you do not have legal representation and live in England. The demand for the advice line is high, so they are only able to answer a limited number of calls. Therefore, make sure you read through the information on their website and only contact the support line with specific questions on the information provided. To contact them call: 0300 330 5485. Calls cost the same as calls to 01 and 02 numbers. They will be included as part of a mobile allowance or a landline call package. Lines are available Monday-Friday between 10am-4pm.  They also offer a paid-for call-back service between 8.30am-5pm Monday-Friday. There is a charge of £30 for a 30 minute advice call. Additional fees may apply if the time exceeds 30 minutes and the adviser will discuss this with you. The webchat service is available Monday to Friday 8am - 5.30pm. A webchat icon will appear on the right hand side of the page if an adviser is available. 

ACE Education Advice & Training provides independent advice and information for parents on education issues in England. See: Advisory Centre for Education - education advice. If you are the parent or carer of a child at school and you would like to talk to an adviser you can call the confidential telephone adviceline on 0300 0115 142. Open Monday and Tuesday, 10am-1pm. Term time only.

Contact for families with disabled children run provide education advice for parents and carers in any part of the UK with a disabled child aged from birth to 25. Their advisers are available from Monday to Friday, 9.30am-5.00pm to answer your query. Call 0808 808 3555. Every Tuesday the helpline opens at a slightly later time, 10.15am due to staff meetings. Visit their helpline page for more information on how to get in touch with them. They can help with any aspect of education in England and Wales.

Disability Rights UK provides advice to disabled students studying in England. Call: 0300 995 0414. Line open Tuesdays and Thursdays 11am-1pm. Or email:students@disabilityrightsuk.org For details see: Disabled Students Helpline. 

Snap Cymru provides information, advice and support to families in Wales in relation to the special educational needs of their children and young people. You can call their information and advice line on 0808 801 0608, Monday to Friday, 9am- 5pm. Or email them at: enquiries@snapcymru.org.

Going to an employment tribunal?

ACAS - Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service offers free advice on rights at work and employment law. Monday to Friday, 8am-6pm. Helpline number 0300 123 1100 or Text Relay: 18001 0300 123 1100. You can get helpline support in any language - just tell the person you talk to what language you speak.

The Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS) helpline advises and assists individuals on issues relating to equality, across England, Scotland and Wales. Telephone: 0808 800 0082 or Textphone: 0808 800 0082. Open Monday to Friday 9am-7pm, Saturday 10am-2pm. You can also email them using their online contact form. You may also mail to their freepost address: FREEPOST EASS HELPLINE FPN6521. If you are contacting them by post about an issue for the first time, please do not send any documents with your letter. They will come back to you to let you know what documents they will need to see. Their website offers a translation into Welsh facility, video information about their services for British Sign Language (BSL) users and the facility to speak to an adviser in BSL or text chat.

Employment Tribunal Litigant in Person Support Scheme (ELIPS) offers free advice at the following employment tribunals: London Central, Bristol, Cardiff, Midlands West and Leeds. They can only help if you have already begun your claim. The scheme primarily helps litigants in person with of one-off advice on the day of the clinic. They are not able to offer representation at hearings. You need to have a hearing, a case management order or judicial mediation within 2 weeks of the clinic date. You also need to have the ET1, ET3 and any case management order or notice of hearing available. If you meet these criteria, email the Pro Bono administrator at elips@elaweb.org.uk two weeks before the date of the clinic and if there are spaces, you will be contacted. 

January 2024