LawWorks for Community Groups

FAQs

What checks do you undertake on organisations to assess eligibility?

1. Organisations must supply LawWorks with a copy of their most recent annual accounts or a business plan if they do not have annual accounts (e.g. they have not been in existence for 12 months).

2. If the organisation indicates it is a company, LawWorks looks up the company on the Companies House online register to check its entry and whether it is subject to any company law insolvency procedure.

3. If the organisation indicates it is a registered charity, LawWorks looks up the charity on the Charity Commission online register to check it is registered with the Commission and to gather other information.

4. Unless the organisation has applied to LawWorks before, the organisation must complete our online application form.

5. We also undertake an internet search on the name of the organisation and look at any website they have.  (Of course, not all organisations have a website or – if they are small –  are mentioned on the internet.)

6. It should be stressed the primary objective behind these checks is to:

- establish, as best as we can (given the limited due diligence on a client we can carry out), whether we are dealing a reputable organisation / project whose purposes LawWorks feels able to support.
- check that the organisation satisfies our eligibility criteria – see Endnote.

7. The final decision of whether to accept a client (and accordingly, responsibility for carrying out Know Your Client and anti-money-laundering checks) rests with the lawyer considering whether to accept the organisation as a client.

Endnote – eligibility criteria
We do not accept requests for help from certain types of organisations, namely:

• residents’ associations
• animal welfare organisations
• private leisure and sports clubs
• professional or trade associations
• organisations whose primary object or purpose is the promotion of religion
• international organisations whose primary focus is on benefiting communities overseas (unless they also benefit communities in the UK).

We have an internal dispute within our organisation, can we obtain legal advice from LawWorks?

This will depend on the situation. When a lawyer takes a case from us, they will be working on behalf of the group as a whole. If one member of the group is in dispute with others in the group, then this will create a conflict of interest which would make it very difficult for a lawyer to advise the group. For example, this might happen if one trustee is in dispute with another. If you have a dispute like this, we may not be able to assist you, but would try to refer you to another organisation who may be able to help.  

However, if the dispute is between the group and an individual employee of the group, the lawyer would be able to take instructions from the group as an employer.   

If you are unsure, please contact us to discuss your situation. LawWorks' telephone number is 020 7929 5601 or email lcg@lawworks.org.uk