Help with Employment and Discrimination Law
The Law Centre is a non-profit, specialist charity providing expert advice, casework, and representation for employees and workers facing employment and discrimination law issues. Our primary focus is on Employment Tribunal proceedings.
As a small, independent charity with demand exceeding our capacity, we operate strict case acceptance criteria and access processes.
Note: We recommend reviewing our information on Settlement Agreements and Alternative Sources of Help for pre-litigation support.
- Employment Law Legal Advice Clinic
Our clinic offers confidential, one-off, ad-hoc advice on any employment or discrimination law question. We particularly welcome enquirers who are already involved in Employment Tribunal litigation.
Clinic Schedule & Booking
- Frequency: Every other Monday.
- Format: We run one in-person clinic at the Law Centre and one telephone clinic per month.
- Access Needs: If you have specific access needs, you may request your preferred venue (in-person or telephone).
- To Book: Call 020 7538 4909.
Important Booking & Advice Details
- Booking Order: Slots are booked on a strict first-come, first-served basis until capacity is reached.
- Seeing an Adviser: On the night, you will be seen in the order you booked. However, some clients may be given priority if they were not seen at a prior clinic due to adviser capacity.
- Preparation is Key: To get the most out of your session, please provide specific questions and all relevant documents/evidence prior to the clinic.
- Time Constraints: Our lawyers read your documents ahead of time. However, new documents cannot be read during the clinic itself as other clients will be waiting. Your ability to receive full advice may be compromised if necessary documents are not provided in advance.
- Follow-Up Advice: If you return for follow-up advice, it is unlikely you will see the same adviser. Please provide all necessary information and evidence during the screening process for each new clinic booking.
- Full Casework / Representation in the Employment Tribunal
Due to our limited resources, we do not offer casework support until Employment Tribunal proceedings have officially begun.
A. Free Services (Subject to Capacity)
Our criteria for accepting free casework and/or representation include:
- Your case is being heard at the East London Employment Tribunal.
- Your case does not include an allegation of discrimination.
- The prospects of your case succeeding are sufficient to justify the use of our limited free resources
B. Fee-Paid Services
If you do not meet the free service criteria, we may be able to offer casework/representation under alternative funding arrangements, such as:
- Legal expenses insurance
- A No Win No Fee agreement
- Self-funding
These arrangements may be suitable if:
- Your case is in another Employment Tribunal (e.g., South London, Central London, or Watford).
- Your case involves discrimination, but you are not eligible for legal aid (e.g. your income and assets are above the thresholds for eligibility).
- Your case has sufficient prospects of success and the value of your claim is proportionate to the likely outcome.
To request casework support, please complete our Casework Contact Form.
- Representation at Preliminary Hearings (Duty Advice)
We offer limited representation for individuals with preliminary hearings before the Employment Tribunal.
What We Help With:
This targeted assistance is designed for crucial stages, such as:
- Administrative hearings (e.g., setting the case up for final hearing).
- Determining preliminary issues (e.g., disability status).
- Defending applications for strike-out or a deposit order.
- Applying for orders (e.g., disclosure, default judgments).
Acceptance Criteria
We have widened the scope of this scheme to potentially include cases with discrimination allegations and/or those in other Employment Tribunals.
- All cases sit in a queue managed via our online contact form.
- Acceptance is determined by our capacity relative to your hearing date and your position in the queue (determined by when you complete the form).
- Crucially, this representation is for a very limited duration, related only to the Preliminary Hearing.
Once this limited assistance is delivered, further services will only be offered if you meet our general casework criteria or have another means to fund your case.
To request representation at a Preliminary Hearing, please complete our Contact Form.