The Stephen Lawrence and Hillsborough cases have more in common than you might imagine. Not only were these matters funded by legal aid, but some of the work associated with those cases was carried out pro bono. Another important commonality was that they occurred before the devastating legal aid cuts caused by the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012. In other words, undertaking elements of the cases pro bono was possible as the firms had other sufficient income streams to make such resource-intensive work possible.
Fast-forward to 2023. Society has experienced seemingly endless ‘once in a generation’ events, to the point where we are becoming desensitised to the word ‘crisis’. Additional financial stressors have caused an increase in those who cannot afford representation, exacerbated by the fact that legal aid means thresholds no longer bear any reality to affordability. When coupled with a decrease in advice agencies that cannot afford to operate, this has increased the number of people seeking pro bono assistance. The cost-of-living crisis is therefore having the effect of widening the access to justice gap even further.
Not only have we seen an increase in the volume and complexity of queries that we are dealing with as a pro bono service, but we are also seeing more enquirers requiring urgent advice. This is often because legal issues are put to one side as people prioritise managing daily stressors, such as affording food and heating and dealing with stress and health pressures. Clients are telling us that they cannot afford the travel costs of attending appointments and that they cannot afford food or the utility costs to meet their basic needs. Debt is a spiralling issue.
Our areas of practice include welfare benefits and housing and the structure of the systems serves only to exacerbate the impact of the cost-of-living crisis for all involved. Take, for example, the social security system. An increase in recent years of those living with chronic health issues, including mental health conditions, has increased the number of people applying for disability benefits. Those impacted are often adapting to significant changes in their personal lives while navigating a complicated application system and, where the application is refused (often unjustifiably), an even more complex appeals process. More clients are telling us that they are not believed, or their health conditions minimised, by a faceless system that base their decision on information gleaned from one form and a thirty-minute telephone call. This compounds the challenges that our clients are already facing and delays much needed financial assistance.
For housing clients, often the legal issue presented has roots in much deeper problems. For example, the household facing eviction for rent arrears after their workplace closed during the Covid pandemic. Or the search for ever-more scarce affordable private rental properties where prices are inflated by landlords selling up as buy-to-let income becomes less lucrative than before Covid. Proceedings take a huge emotional toll on the client and courts are dealing with huge volumes of these cases each day. We see so many clients disillusioned by the system.
This leads onto another factor of the cost-of-living crisis on the pro bono sector, and that is the impact on those working in it. We have limited resources and whilst we take on as many cases as we possibly can, we have no choice but to turn away many who really could benefit from our help. Our firm relies on Nottingham Law School student volunteers, involving them in all aspects of client work from shadowing through to representing clients in courts and tribunals. Our students gain an insight into access to justice issues and the realities faced by many in our community, the cost-of-living crisis being one such example, and one that many of our students can relate to. We have seen an increase in the number of students who must now juggle their studies with paid work, sometimes working multiple jobs, limiting the time they can devote to pro bono and other society enhancing activity that develops them both personally and professionally.
What is clear, is that it is more important than ever that we have a properly funded justice system and one that provides access to justice for all. Without it, more people will decline further into poverty and their health and wellbeing will suffer leading to more pressure on government and third sector services. There is also the risk that more injustices, like those raised in the Stephen Lawrence and Hillsborough cases but without the high profile, will go unchallenged. At NLS Legal, we will continue to do what we can to help those unable to afford or otherwise access legal services. Nothing is more rewarding than transforming your client’s life for the better, but we know we are only touching the surface.
Emma McGowan is housing and welfare benefits supervisor at NLS Legal, Nottingham Law School’s teaching law firm
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