Norfolk Community Law Service
Fellow: Hana Suzuki
NCLS is a limited company (Reg. No 3524607) and registered charity (Reg. No 1069066) originally established in 1980.
Our purpose is to identify unmet legal need in Norfolk and to work with partner agencies to provide free services to meet that need. We aim to provide access to justice and equality and particularly target our services at disadvantaged & vulnerable groups e.g. offenders, migrant workers, people with mental health issues and physical disabilities.
Our current services include –
- twice weekly free legal advice drop in service at our Norwich office – employment, family & general advice; also at Cromer and Great Yarmouth
- debt advice for offenders and other vulnerable clients
- welfare benefit appeals and representation at Tribunal
- advice for victims of domestic abuse
- advice on residency status & entitlement for EEA Nationals as well as support for welfare benefit appeals;
- discrimination advice and representation
- rent arrears mediation for City Council housing tenants
- family court support for private child contact matters
NCLS is the lead agency for the Norfolk Community Advice Network (NCAN), a network of voluntary agencies, statutory authorities and private solicitors.
We have 19 members of staff and 130 volunteers including 63 solicitors who advise clients on our behalf as well as 50 law students, mainly from the University of East Anglia, who support the delivery of all our services and represent clients at Welfare Benefit Tribunals.
We are delighted to have been awarded a second Justice First Fellowship by the Legal Education Foundation. The Trainee Solicitor will undertake a range of placements in house, where they will be supervised by NCLS qualified advisers and volunteer solicitors and undertake advice, casework and representation in areas of law including debt, employment, family, general, immigration and welfare benefits. These will be supplemented by short term secondments to both the Norwich Shelter office to gain experience of housing law as well as secondments to private practice to ensure full compliance with the training requirements of the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
The Trainee will also spend an average of one day a week at the NCLS office developing a specific project aimed at improving access to justice.
For further information, visit our website.
