Norfolk Community Law Service
Fellow: Mariah Simms
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.
Continue Reading Norfolk Community Law Service
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 and statutory advice agencies as well as private solicitors.
We have 15 members of staff and 130 volunteers including 63 solicitors who advise clients on our behalf as well as 52 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 appointed as a host organisation for a Justice First Fellowship by the Legal Education Foundation. The Trainee Solicitor will focus on the provision of legal advice and support for young people who are particularly disadvantaged within the social welfare system and will be working in partnership with the Mancroft Advisory Project (MAP) who provide advice services for young people aged 16 – 25.
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, supplemented by short term private practice secondments to ensure full compliance with the training requirements of the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
For further information, visit our website.
