Lawyers are notoriously expensive. Unfortunately, so many people get caught up in situations that are beyond their control and need to use the services of a legal team. But what happens if, as is the case for so many people, someone does not have the available funds to pay for that legal help? Maybe you are fighting for custody of your children.
Maybe you have new neighbors who have moved in and made your life a misery. Maybe you have been unexpectedly removed from your position at work without a satisfactory explanation. Maybe you are being bullied or stalked online and need to take legal steps out of fear for your life.
Whatever the situation, the unfortunate consequence will be the potentially excessive legal bills that will be necessary to protect your rights and hopefully remedy a situation that is causing you extreme distress and anxiety.
Check your eligibility for legal aid
First and foremost you need to check what you eligibility may be for legal aid. Legal aid can either come from government funding, or non-profit organizations that may specialize in specific areas of the law, protecting certain vulnerable members of a community.
Unfortunately, in the UK legal aid cuts have significantly reduced the number of people who can access government help. In 2012 the government passed the LASPO Act – Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act. In short, this meant that 90 percent of cases that were being processed at that time had to be dropped due to a lack of funding.
Ask if there are payment plans or sliding scale fees
Many law firms will have a good idea of what the costs may be for a specific case and will put this in writing before embarking on a case. As part of this, they may be able to offer a payment plan in which you can make deposits by installments over a longer period of time.
Be aware of hidden interest costs that these payment plans may incur. In some circumstances, the plans are outsourced to external financing companies, so it is important to do your due diligence and understand the terms and conditions of any such plan.
No win no fee – what are your chances?
A relatively new (and controversial) way in which law firms work is to offer a no-win fee type approach. This means that unless they consider your case to be worthwhile, and that you have a good chance of winning, they may decide not to take on your case after all.
This approach is used often in cases such as workplace discrimination or accidents, where there is a more clear-cut case of fault and responsibility, and the lawyers in question know they can build a cut-and-dried case on your behalf.
In terms of, for example, family law, where there are so many more complex issues at play, this type of approach is not suitable. In this scenario, an affordable family lawyer who can offer a non-profit type approach to payment, which means lower fees without any compromise on the quality of the work, may work best.
Pro bono – would you qualify?
Pro bono work is offered by a legal firm that is completely free of charge. This is often done if the firm believes the work is in the public interest and if it is of particularly high profile that could reflect back on the law firm itself. While this appears a brilliant solution on the surface, it can however be affected by the care and attention given by any solicitors involved who can be distracted by fee-paying jobs. As a client, you have little or no leverage over the course of the work, which you might have if you were paying standard fees in the traditional sense.
