Free Legal Advice in the United Kingdom News

Legal advice scales image People contemplating on taking their individual cases to courts should be in a position to seek free legal advice in the United Kingdom and get an appointment with a lawyer free of charge, once at least in their lives. This was a priority item on the wish list on an opinion poll conducted recently to reflect on how the public perceives the system of justice in the country.

This particular research was carried out by Citizens Advice. It pointed out that the rise in number of restrictions on legal aid were demoralizing people from gaining access to the courts in the country. The research concluded that close to seventy per cent of the respondents were not aware of how they could proceed with their cases if a lawyer would not advice them about the proceedings. This particular lack of advice at the initial stage of the legal process will bring about genuine grievances from the members of the public and would leave their problems unsolved. More people would then waste their energy, time and money on bringing meritless cases to courts. For free legal advice in the UK on claims we can recommend LegalExpert.co.uk or The CitizensAdvice.org.uk both are very helpful.

Free legal advice in United Kingdom is essential as without it, questions could be posed about peoples’ access to the system of justice. Proper legal advice at the very beginning of the legal process is essential in making sure that people who are facing legal issues would be able to solve them adequately. People go through a vast range of severe concerns about professional, practical and emotional kinds of support which would be available to them if they were to require it. Many people are doubtful that they would be in a position to gain access to legal representation and they do not have confidence in representing themselves in the courts.

The research finally concluded that in absence of proper legal advice and support and on account of various negative experiences; people were opting to give up on solving their legal issues.

The best place to go to when you want to solve your legal problems is citizens advice. This is the place that you could file claims on matters like employment law issues, cancelled flights issues, family law or accident claims. You would be able to gain access to legal guides that are free and learn everything about all legal issues and how to proceed in courts.

The latest news on free legal advice cases in the United Kingdom that we have come across involved questions such as being paid for training while at work. Being paid while getting trained in your work will depend on the employment contract and also on the nature of work you are doing. You will not be entitled for any payment if unpaid training has been mentioned in the employment contract. For example, most apprentices will have a contract under which a specified amount of training time will have to be spent. If unpaid training has not been mentioned in the contract and if it has not been made clear to an apprentice or a worker; then, there may be a valid case of receiving payment while being on training on your job.

We have also come across queries recently by people who wanted to understand the difference between tax avoidance and tax evasion. This has become more topical, particularly in view of the recent scandals involved with Panama Papers. The main difference in these two concepts is that tax avoidance is legal while tax evasion would be illegal. Tax avoidance may occur where a person utilises tax planning or exploits the tax system in order to avoid paying taxes. This would involve things like gifting cash or properties within the prescribed legal limits in order to alleviate the inheritance tax burden. It could also involve setting up of offshore companies as tax havens to gain the advantage of the tax rates. Tax evasion will involve breaking of tax rules. For example, a person who is self employed gets paid cash in hand and does not want to declare his or her income.

With Citizens Advice, you could now seek free legal advice in matters relating to
• Accident Claims
• Business Law
• Consumer Rights
• Criminal Law
• Dispute Resolution
• Employment Law
• Family Law
• Personal Injury Law
• Human Rights Law
• Insolvency
• Insurance Law
• Media Law
• Mental Health Law
• Privacy Law
• Property Law
• Tax Law
• Technology Law
• Law on Wills, Trusts and Probates

Latest News on No Win No Fee Agreements

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No-Win No-Fee agreements towards legal costs are considered as contingent costs agreements. They are being offered widely by lawyers as unique selling points in the competitive legal services market in pursuit and retention of clients. However, clients do not fully understand this agreement well before they enter into a contract with a legal team.This kind of a contingent cost agreement will enable a person with limited funds to gain access to justice. The agreement hints at the payment being a contingent one on the successful outcome of a case. The main idea behind this concept is that people who find it difficult to afford expensive legal fees are given an opportunity and are not prevented from filing claims.

However, we recently came across a case where a lady was presented with a legal charges bill towards costs nearing five thousand British Pounds by her legal firm after her personal injury claim was denied by a court. The bill was presented to her despite her proceeding with a `no win, no fee’ type of agreement. She was shocked to receive such a bill. The firm had agreed to these terms after taking out an ATE or after the event insurance on her behalf to cover the legal costs. This lady was under the impression that all the financial risks had been protected against. Upon investigation, it was discovered that this legal firm had not followed some conditions that it had formerly agreed to with this person and her insurer. They proceeded with the case despite being certain that there was less than even half a chance of being successful. When the case was lost, the insurance company declined to pay out. Consequently, the legal firm then tried to harass this client to pay for the mistakes that the firm had committed. The lady was mighty upset as she was quite clear that she would not have to pay anything even if she had lost the case. She was extremely worried about how she would be able to settle this bill. She approached the Legal Ombudsman online for help and they were able to resolve the dispute. Compensation after a accident or injury can help the victim with medical treatment. They managed to get the legal firm to honour their agreement and absorb the costs of their fees.

It is to be noted that such types of contingent costs agreements are common in litigation cases that involve claims of personal injury and disputes concerning wills and probates, but they are not allowed in family law and criminal cases. In any case, a client has to be very cautious to go through the fine print before entering into such types of contracts with a legal firm. The cost agreement of each lawyer may be unique despite being subject to rigid legislation. There are few things to be conscious of before entering into a contingent costs agreement.

The concept of `winning’ a case is defined broadly as a successful outcome after a court judgment. It may include a settlement for a far less amount than what was claimed. The `fees’ will generally relate to the professional charges of a lawyer and will not include all disbursements that are associated with litigations costs like court fees or an expert’s charges. When a case is lost, the client need not pay the lawyer’s professional fees but will have to pay the legal costs of the defendant. It has to be remembered that an agreement of the contingent cost type will not make litigation totally free of any charges. Clients have to be aware also of the fact that lawyers are allowed to charge an `uplift’ fee that can go as high as twenty five per cent of the legal costs and not disbursements. This increases the final amount that is paid to them in case of a successful result. This uplift fee is a compensation for the lawyer to assume the risk that a claim may fail without any fees being paid out.

As with any type of agreement, clients have to consider its contents judiciously and seek clarification before entering into a contract with a legal firm.