Organisations working in legal aid

There are two main types of organisations that work in legal aid:

Solicitors firms
Not-for-profit organisations

Solicitors firms

Solicitors provide a wide range of legal support and advice to clients, who may be individuals or organisations. They take instructions and advise on necessary courses of legal action

Solicitor firms range from sole practitioners to large firms with branches all over the country. Some solicitors firms will work solely in legal aid and some will undertake a mixture of legal aid work and private work.

Practices also vary considerably in the type of work they undertake, depending on their size and the market they serve. Some are referred to as 'high street firms' as they tend to deal with the needs of the local community and offer a wide range of services. Others specialise in a particular area of legal expertise.

See areas you can work in for further deatils.

Not-for-profit organisations

There is no typical not-for-profit agency. The mix of organisations can range from small local community groups to large national bodies such as Shelter. They all have certain key features in common:

They are value led, i.e. they will have been established with the objective of addressing a social need, rather than simply to provide a service or make profit
They are non profit making, or will reinvest revenue for the purpose of serving their client group or achieving their objective
They generally use volunteer staff in some way

Not for profit organisations will often employ a mix of solicitors and caseworkers/advisors.

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Last updated: 15 October 2009