More than 30 firms have signed up to a new initiative aimed at improving access to legal advice and dispute resolution for disabled people by providing services on-line.

TheClaimroom.com set up the project with the backing of the Disability Alliance.

It allows disabled clients and their lawyers to conduct cases over the Internet on the TheSolicitorsRoom.com Web site.

The site aims to help to combat the particular problems disabled people face when trying to access and communicate with solicitors.

Clients have individual secure files which allow them to post messages and view what other parties and lawyers have lodged, as well as 'advice archives', accessible from any Web browser.

Advisers from the Disability Alliance are also on hand to provide benefits information.

The firms that have joined the panel so far include Liverpool firms Hill Dickinson and Clement Jones, Sheffield's AMS Law, Bolton-based Keoghs, Hull firm Gosschalks, and Ipswich firm Prettys.

Firms can opt for a local or national listing; Claimroom managing director, solicitor Graham Ross, said he wanted a panel that is diverse both geographically and in relation to the type of work undertaken.

Paula Rohan