The Law Society are asking solicitors to talk to their clients and help strengthen their campaign to improve access to justice for everyone. They are looking for real life stories – people who can talk from their lived experience of facing challenges with access to justice. These personal stories help audiences empathise and understand why a particular issue is important.
These stories could offer insight into the consequences of an underfunded justice system and help push policymakers to strengthen access to justice.
What is The Law Society looking for?
We are looking for people with lived experiences that shed light on problems in the justice system. Court buildings are crumbling. Cases are heavily delayed. State-funded legal advice is harder to access.
Many people’s lives have been derailed as they wait far too long for justice. They may be denied the legal help they are entitled to.
We hope to talk with people who are willing to speak about their lived experiences of challenges with the justice system.
How would these cases be used?
Your clients could help journalists show their readers or audience members why failures in the justice system should matter to all of us. Journalists want to give a human voice to the issues they cover and often look for personal stories. By speaking to the media about their lived experiences, your clients could reach the public and policymakers, and play an important role in educating others and pushing the government to improve the justice system for everyone.
Could my clients remain anonymous when sharing their legal issues?
Yes! Where there are important legal or safety reasons for confidentiality, we would ask the journalist to anonymise your client. They have extensive experience in keeping cases anonymous so that no particular individual or organisation can be identified – either directly or through jigsaw identification.
We would support your client throughout the process if that were what they wanted, and with their permission we would also hope to talk to you to better understand the legal issues involved.
What are the next steps?
If you believe you have a client that might be interested in sharing their experience of challenges in accessing justice, please reach out to the Law Society’s press office at case.studies@lawsociety.org.uk or 020 7320 5764.
Please do get in touch if you have any questions about how we work.
Your client can also contact the Law Society directly to find out more or fill out this short form. A member of the press team will contact them for a confidential talk through their story and to answer any questions they may have for us.
If they decide they want to take the next step, we will talk them through what is involved and make sure they are making an informed decision. We may ask to speak to their solicitor if they have one.