Application for assistance

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What is this form?

This form is to apply for legal assistance from LawWorks, which is a pro bono legal service connecting volunteer lawyers to people, charities, and businesses who need legal help.

We give free legal help in limited situations. To be eligible, your problem needs to be something that fits our expertise, capacity, and policies.

We assess each application individually in order to determine if we can assist. We prioritise helping people and organisations that are most in need.

IP Pro Bono

If you are applying for assistance through IP Pro Bono, then under Application Type below please select Individual (if the application is for yourself) or Organisation (if the application is for a business).

When describing your issue, please provide the full details of the relevant IP right:

If your application relates to a patent, please state the registration number, the title of the patent and details of the owner.
If your application relates to a trade mark, please identify the mark, details of the owner, whether or not it is registered (include registration number), date of registration or first use and frequency of use.
If your application relates to a design, please identify the design, details of the owner and/or creator, whether or not it is registered (include registration number), date of registration or date of creation and date of first sale (if applicable).
If your application relates to copyright, please identify the work, details of the owner and/or author, date of creation, when it was first disclosed and date of first sale (if applicable).

Please give IP Pro Bono a minimum of 3 weeks' notice of any hearing date or deadline from the date all of the information needed to assess your case is sent to us (unless there are exceptional circumstances).

The dispute or case, including meeting deadlines in correspondence or court proceedings and attending hearings, remains your responsibility at all times.

Please make sure you attach the following documents, including any email correspondence, with your application:

Details of the relevant IP right e.g. a copy of the patent, registered trade mark, registered design or details of unregistered trade marks, design rights or copyright;
Letters or opinions from solicitors, barristers, attorneys or other advisers;
Key correspondence with any other person(s) involved, or their attorneys;
If seeking help with an appeal, a copy of the judgment being appealed;
If seeking help about a contract or formal document relating to IP, a full copy of the contract or document.

Please put your documents in date order and provide a list of them at the front.

Please note, IP Pro Bono will communicate by email or telephone. Please check your spam folder if you have one and add lawworks.org.uk to your ‘safe senders’ list.

What happens next?

After an application is submitted, you will get a confirmation email. We may call or email you asking for more information before we determine whether we can assist you.

We aim to acknowledge applications within 7 days, however it may take longer over holiday or busy periods. If there are any urgent upcoming deadlines, we may not be able to assist beforehand.

By submitting this form, you certify that the information in this application is, to the best of your knowledge, true, accurate and complete, and you understand that any decision to refer a case to a volunteer attorney for assistance is taken on that basis. Assistance is not guaranteed at any stage.

Agreement

I understand that this is an application only, that I am making a request for assistance, and until LawWorks indicates that legal assistance will be provided, no client-solicitor relationship is created.

I have read and agree to the Privacy Policy *

Yes No

Application Type

Type of applicant *

Do you have authority to submit this application on behalf of this organisation and share their information? * We are only able to communicate with people who have authority to make a legal enquiry on behalf of an organisation. That means that you must either be an Executive Officer/CEO, Chairperson or board member(s) of your organisation, or someone who is authorised by any of those people to make an enquiry on behalf of the organisation. Do you have authority to submit this application on behalf of the help-seeker and share their information? * We are only able to communicate with people who have authority to make a legal enquiry on behalf of the help-seeker.

Yes No

Do you give permission for us to share this application request with other pro bono providers or other organisations if we cannot help you?

Yes No

If you were sent to this form by another organisation, who referred you?

Information about the help-seeker

Has the help-seeker applied for or received assistance from LawWorks before?

Yes No

Help-seeker's name *

Help-seeker's date of birth *

Help-seeker's email address

Help-seeker's phone number

Help-seeker's address

Help-seeker's locale

Is the help-seeker receiving a main benefit from welfare/social security?

Yes No

How many people are in the help-seeker's household? Household includes help-seeker, partner and dependents.

Does the household own their primary place of residence?

Yes No

Estimated value of home *

Estimated mortgage remaining on home *

Cash, savings and term deposits

Estimated value of other assets Do not include household chattels or family car. Please include family trust, other land, boats and other vehicles.

Estimated value of other debts Do not include the mortgage on the family home or money owed on family’s main car.

Information about your organisation

Has the organisation applied for or received assistance from LawWorks before?

Yes No

Organisation name *

Organisation email address *

Organisation phone number

Organisation address

Organisation website

Organisation company/business number

How many employees does your organisation have (salaried and freelance)?

Organisation locale

What is your organisation's annual revenue? * We ask this to see if you are eligible for free legal assistance.

How should we contact the organisation? E.g. do not call directly, during work hours only, prefer email, etc.

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Information about you

Have you applied for or received assistance from LawWorks before?

Yes No

Full Name *

Date of Birth *

Email Address *

Phone Number

Address

Relationship to help-seeker

Your relationship to the organisation *

Locale

Pronouns

What are your pronouns?

Do you want to tell us anything about how we should contact you? E.g. any safety issues, language/capacity issues, contact through guardian/social worker etc. Please outline any details on how we should contact you or the help-seeker, keeping in mind the safety of the help-seeker. E.g. any safety issues, language/capacity issues, contact through guardian/social worker etc.

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On average, how much money have you earned per month over the last 12 months? * We ask this to see if you are eligible for free legal assistance. We try to help people who need it most.

Are you receiving a main benefit from welfare/social security?

Yes No

How many people are in your household? Household includes you, your partner and dependents.

Does the household own their primary place of residence?

Yes No

Estimated value of home *

Estimated mortgage remaining on home *

Cash, savings and term deposits

Estimated value of other assets Do not include household chattels or family car. Please include family trust, other land, boats and other vehicles.

Estimated value of other debts Do not include the mortgage on the family home or money owed on family’s main car.

Do you need an interpreter? Do you or the help-seeker need an interpreter?

Yes No

Which language is required?

Information about the assistance required

What has happened/what is the issue? *

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If known, what are the areas of law? *

If known, what jurisdiction applies to the legal issue?

If other parties are involved, please provide their names. Other parties are the people on the other side of the legal issue (eg. a person or business they have a dispute with).

If related parties are involved, please provide their names. Related parties are the people on the help-seeker's side of the legal issue (e.g. another family member experiencing the same issue, a business owned by the help-seeker).

What help is needed from a lawyer? * E.g. general advice, assistance negotiating with someone, writing a legal document, representation in a court or tribunal etc.

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What is the outcome you are hoping to achieve? What is the outcome the help-seeker is hoping to achieve?

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Are you receiving assistance with this issue from another legal assistance organisation? Is the help-seeker receiving assistance with this issue from another legal assistance organisation?

Yes No

Are there any upcoming court date or hearing, or any other deadlines? Please note that if there are any urgent upcoming deadlines (within 2 weeks), we may not be able to assist beforehand.

Relevant Date *

Relevant Date Description *

Upload any related documents (e.g. letters received)

Max file size: 10 MB. Max total attachments: 5
Allowed file types: pdf, doc, docx, jpg, jpeg, png, rtf, xls, xlsx, txt, csv, msg, eml, mp4