Guest writer, Davina Patel from Access to Justice Foundation ATJF and supporter of the ILFM

Access to Justice Foundation and working with the ILFM – a personal perspective

Having met with Elaine Pasini, Head of Communications at the Institute of Legal Finance & Management, she invited me to write a guest post about my personal viewpoint from someone who graduated from studying law to then working on the charity side of law.

Just over five years ago, I began my undergraduate Law LLB degree. I was undecided on a career but passionate about justice and driven by helping others. After years of hard work, I was proud to have graduated with a first-class honours degree. I was a new graduate in a barely post-pandemic world trying to decide on a new adventure, a career and a lifestyle. I remained undecided on a career for a couple of months, but the one thing I was certain of was that whatever I did, I wanted to make a difference and help others.

I feel very privileged to be armed with the knowledge and experience I gained from my Law degree. I understand when my friends and family are facing legal problems, and I can often help them. I can read a legal document and not feel overwhelmed and I do not feel intimidated if I am talking to a judge or visiting court.

But not everyone has a Law degree, and not everyone can comfortably deal with legal issues or afford a lawyer.

Pro Bono Experiences in Law

This was glaringly apparent during my pro bono experience at a number of charitable organisations that focused on delivering legal advice and support. 

I found that landlords can be unscrupulous. Vulnerable children live in appalling conditions, share space with infested “homes” often in damp surroundings, and landlords refuse to carry out repairs that they are legally obliged to do. But tenants often don’t feel that they are in a place where they can challenge their landlords. Sometimes, sadly too often, they can barely afford the rent and are unaware that the landlord was responsible for such repairs.

Similarly, I found that there is a huge inequality of power between employers and employees. We have had a minimum wage in the UK for almost twenty-five years. But if you are unskilled and trying desperately to support your family on a low wage, what options are really open to you if your employer refuses to pay you properly or dismisses you because you ask for proper pay?

Searching for Roles in Law

These observations led me to immediately seek a career at a law firm that specialises in cases where the claimant is often muted – cases that deal with inequalities of power and sensitive topics such as sexual abuse and historical child abuse. Every now and again, I was happy to have the opportunity to help women and children who had previously been silenced. But on several occasions, claimants would not be able to afford legal fees and cases would not be strong enough for the firm to offer a contingency fee agreement. In these instances, it was hard to feel like I was helping those who needed it most.

In this context, it is astonishing to reflect on the fact that the justice system in this country has long-term cuts in funding, the most recent of which was a result of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012. This legislation introduced changes to the scope of, eligibility for and rates paid for legal aid work. At the same time, there have been successive cuts in other public funding for legal advice, for example through local authority funding. Yet the need for free legal advice grows exponentially in tandem with the cost-of-living crisis.

It is hard to overstate the importance of a properly functioning legal system that is accessible to all.

Access to justice is a fundamental right and is essential to the rule of law. For rights to be effective, it must be possible for everyone to enforce them. Access to justice covers a number of rights recognised in human rights law: firstly, the right to have access to an effective remedy, secondly equality before the law and finally the right to a fair trial. These rights are protected through international human rights treaties, such as the European Convention on Human Rights and are protected under the common law.

There has long been a problem in this country with people not being able to access justice, but what is clear now, is that most people in this country literally can’t access justice.

There are various reasons, but in my experience it is because they don’t know that they have a legal problem, sometimes because they don’t understand the system, and sometimes because they know they have a legal problem but don’t know what the legal issue is. Even the Tribunal system, which is supposed to enable individuals to access the law without a lawyer, feels inaccessible and confusing if you do not know how the system works. 

Most people in this country can’t afford a lawyer. A report by the Legal Services Board into the state of UK legal services found that only 33% of adults agreed with the statement “people like me can afford help from a lawyer”.

Free social welfare legal advice is part of the solution to lots of these problems, alongside legal aid, pro bono lawyers, online resources and some of the more system-based solutions such as improving accessibility to courts and encouraging government agencies to make better decisions.  

Law and Finance Professionals in Charities

Like many, following my experience at a law firm, I decided to switch gears and focus on a career within a charity that shares my passion for justice and helps marginalised communities. This naturally led me to my current role as Senior Development Officer at the Access to Justice Foundation, where we fund free legal advice to those who need it most and focus on the solutions.

The cost to society (and the taxpayer) is a huge burden if we don’t work on the solutions.

Unemployment is a huge burden to an individual, their family and ultimately to society in terms of isolation, loss of productivity and loss of tax revenue. Why should they, and we, bear the costs where they are created by an employer who refuses to abide by the law?

According to Crisis, if 40,000 people were prevented from becoming homeless for one year in England it would save the public purse £370 million. That is on top of the human cost of things such as isolation and impact on physical and mental health. One of the ways to prevent homelessness is through access to quality legal advice.

A couple of years ago, we worked with a group of funders, the Centre for Economic and Business Research, and financial modelling experts Pragmatix Advisory to put together a detailed report about the economic value of the free legal advice sector. The research showed that the provision of free legal advice to the most marginalised in society on issues such as housing, employment, welfare benefits and debt would save the taxpayer £4 billion a year. That figure is likely to be higher today given the increased need for free legal advice on these issues in the current cost of living crisis climate.

A fully funded legal aid system would be the ideal situation, but it is hard to see any UK government funding that. We will continue to argue for it, but in the meantime lots of people need help.

The free legal advice sector cannot even come close to meeting demand. What they really need is funding, and that is where the Foundation comes in. The drive behind all my colleagues here at the Foundation is formidable and we are so grateful to the ILFM for their continued support in highlighting what we can do with law firm unclaimed accounts. We really can put those funds towards the right people who deserve justice to access.

In 2020 we made around £12.5 million in grants, partly due to exceptional Covid funding. In 2021, this figure was closer to £6.5 million and in 2022 it was closer to £5.4 million, still significant sums of money for the sector. Although of course nothing close to what is actually needed.

Access to Justice Foundation Income Streams

One of the most important income streams for the Foundation comes from residual client balance donations. Those working in legal finance will know that occasionally law firms find themselves holding money in a client account at the end of a matter, and which they are unable to return to the client or third party legally entitled to it, and those funds can make a huge difference to so many.

We believe that it is crucial to make good use of dormant accounts and put them back into the hands of individuals who require legal advice. By putting your dormant client accounts into active use, you can help to provide a lifeline to support the most marginalised groups of people access justice.

We use donations to make strategic grants to organisations providing free legal advice by looking at provisions across the country and thinking about which organisations are best placed to deliver the support needed. However, this funding can never be a substitute for a properly functioning legal aid system.

We think that lack of access to justice has a disproportionate impact on some groups and we are keen to look at the impact on different groups of people. This includes research, learning and making use of our Network for Justice to engage with local communities. We also recognise the importance of developing a robust evidence base, and better articulating the impact.

My current position gives me the opportunity to directly impact the lives of those who are most in need of legal support. I spend each day working on fundraising initiatives, encouraging the use of pro bono costs orders, talking to people about using their residual client balances to provide a lifeline where it is needed most and developing our legal walk, bake and quiz events.

Everyday I am proud of being part of such a positive solution-based picture.

If you care about access to justice, spread the word, help fundraise and volunteer and again, a huge thanks to the Institute of Legal Finance & Management (ILFM) for helping us in their capacity, it makes a difference to people’s lives.

Davina previously volunteered in a number of Pro Bono Clinics and worked within a law firm that specialised in sexual abuse and historical child abuse civil cases. Davina has a passion for helping others and is driven by making a difference to local and marginalised communities.