Developing a mixed funding model for free legal advice

This project will explore potential creative and supplementary funding models to ensure a sustainable future for the legal advice sector.

Why this project is important

The legal advice sector supports the most vulnerable in society.  Funded through private, public, and charitable funding, its funding model is widely agreed to be in crisis. This has a widespread impact on access to justice and the provision of safety nets of support, affecting wellbeing and life chances. Current research focuses on increasing legal aid funding for individual cases, but there is a gap in addressing the broader work the sector does, including public education, dispute prevention, triaging, and providing advice outside of legal aid.

What it will involve

The research team aim to answer eight key questions to provoke and inform evidence-based debate about enhanced funding models:

1. What funding schemes exist internationally?
2. What are their characteristics?
3. What income do they generate over time?
4. How do they facilitate access to justice for the disadvantaged?
5. Which are suitable candidates for transplantation or customisation?
6. What factors might prevent the effective adoption of a scheme?
7. What are the possible costs and benefits of each scheme?
8. How might they impact on legal service provision, financial markets, and regulatory frameworks?

The interdisciplinary study will include interviews with advice sector representatives; a review of international schemes, academic literature, and grey literature; and six in-depth case studies. Each stage of research will be informed by stakeholder engagement workshops involving jurisdictional experts, lawyers, advice providers, financiers, regulators, insurers, economists, and academics.

How it will make a difference

Engagement with policy makers and practitioners is a key part of the project. Findings will be disseminated through:

• An open access database with details of international schemes.
• A formal assessment framework for evaluating the efficiency and effectiveness of schemes
• Policy briefings.
• A national end-of-grant conference.
• Online talks, information sessions, and publications in academic and practitioner journals.
• A social media campaign including blogs and podcasts.