Telephone advice provider Law Express is to offer a helpline for customers of Lawpack, the legal DIY publisher that supplies kits and forms for supermarket giant Tesco's on-line store, among others.


Polledri: easy-to-use service

The helpline - details of which will appear on Lawpack's revamped Web site, www.lawpack.co.uk - will be staffed by Law Express's eight-strong team of qualified solicitors.


Callers to the service will be able to obtain legal advice in a range of practice areas, including company/ commercial, matrimonial, employment, and wills and probate. Each call will cost a flat fee of £27.50, no matter how long it takes. Law Express will also return the client's initial call, so that the cost of their phone bill is kept down.


Pam Polledri, managing director of Law Express, said: 'We are trying to make the law accessible - people do not know how to apply the law to their situation. The helpline is a straightforward method of delivering a legal service.'


All Law Express lawyers have a minimum of five years' post-qualification experience, she added.


If Law Express's staff think that a customer needs to take further advice after their call to the helpline, they will recommend particular law firms for them to turn to. However, the company will not charge a referral fee and the choice will be down to the individual.