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NGO & voluntary sector litigation
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| All our solicitors work closely with specialist NGOs in our key areas of work: we see this as an essential part of enabling groups and individuals to use the law to promote and protect their rights and to check the behaviour of public bodies who may be acting unlawfully. |
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We can provide initial advice for free to an organisation on any potential judicial review claim and are happy to discuss providing training or briefings on the legal issues we specialise in that affect specific groups or the voluntary sector as a whole. Our solicitors have represented many organisations in judicial review proceedings as claimants and as interveners (a process by which an NGO with specialist knowledge and expertise can intervene to assist the court in a particular case dealing with a specific issue, an important tactic in strategic litigation on policy issues with a wider impact).
We have specialised in cases affecting the voluntary sector for many years, including a number of successful challenges to substantial funding cuts (such as the London Councils case in 2011), which have seen grants to large numbers of projects reinstated or extended. Our wide experience of strategic casework enables us to assist NGOs in using the law as a campaigning tool in their wider work. Clients have described how they never felt on an equal footing with their public sector funder until they were represented by us.
We also take a large number of referrals from local and national voluntary sector organisations, as well as providing advice, representation and training directly to the organisations themselves. We have recently worked with a wide range of groups in a variety of ways, including Southall Black Sisters, Oxfam, RNIB, Advice UK, Inclusion London, ALLFIE, Medical Justice, Detention Action and the Women’s Resource Centre. Our work has included bespoke workshops, briefings, as well as advice and casework for the organisations and/or their service-users.
The leading solicitor for NGO & voluntary sector litigation is Louise Whitfield.
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