17 firms launch alliance to advise forces personnel

A national network of law firms offering specialist services to forces personnel formally launched this week.

Forces Law, comprising 17 firms, offers a 24-hour helpline and referral service run by Exeter firm Stones.

The network allocates each firm a geographical area to cover.

The network will also run advice clinics in service establishments.

It has been selected by the Directorate of Reserve Forces & Cadets Secretariat to help members of the reserve forces who have problems with their employers.Mark Haslam, a partner at Forces Law member Burton Copeland, which covers London and Manchester, said: 'The biggest areas of work seem to be personal injury, matrimonial and employment law.'Among the members is Salisbury firm Pye-Smiths, which in 1999handled the first court martial to be conducted in an operational battlefield theatre since the Second World War.Andrew Towler