Specialist support for lawyers and advisers
The Public Law Project provides free specialist advice to all advisers and lawyers working within the Community Legal Service.
We offer specialist advice and assistance with any public law matter, including:
- Social security law – eg delays, fairness in adjudication and appeal processes, Discretionary Housing Payments, maladministration.
- Community care and health – withdrawal or reduction in services, closure of day centres, individual entitlements.
- Education – school reorganisations, admissions & exclusions.
- Discrimination in the provision of public services.
- Public Funding – access to legal aid.
We can provide advice on:
- The substantive law.
- Judicial review grounds.
- Procedure or tactics, including complaints procedures and the Ombudsmen.
- Making applications for public funding.
- Any other relevant issue.
The telephone advice line is open at the following times:
Mondays - Fridays: 10am - 4pm
For lawyers or advisers working in an organisation that provides advice as part of the CLS, the phone number is 0808 808 4546.
If you are an advice agency currently working outside of the CLS, or a not-for-profit organisation providing advice as part of your work, please call us on 020 7697 2198.
“This is the most useful conversation I’ve ever had.” - A solicitor ringing the specialist support line about how to fund a public interest judicial review and getting advice from us on how to obtain a protective costs order. As a result her client group were able to bring their important legal challenge, which they won.
"The basis of judicial review rests in the free-standing principle that every action of a public body must be justified by law..."
Laws LJ in R (Beeson) v Dorset County Council [2003] UKHRR 353 at [17]
Consultancy