My hearing

Frennie

I need an advisor and someone to come to court with me but i don't know where to go for one in hull

poppy123456

Hi,

If your hearing date is soon then you may not be able to get a rep at this late stage, if so then a family member or friend can attend with you for support. Either way, you'll have to answer the questions yourself because they Tribunal will want to know in your own words how your conditions affect you.

If you don't have a date yet then try either welfare rights or your local law centre.

Peasmold_01

Firstly, when is the Tribunal hearing? If it less than 14 days away, then obtaining professional or semi professional help could be difficult. Secondly, what element of PIP are appealing against? Is it an increase in a certain number descriptors, or for a full review? Look for a Community Law Centre in your area, if there is one approach them, if they can they will invariably try and help. If not, if you have University, with a Law School, approach them, some final years students specialise in Social Security Law, and they may be willing to assist you. Organisations like AGE UK, are not geared up to help that much. I would further suggest you come back to the forum with more details, then perhaps the forum members may be able to provide more in-depth advise. Good Luck.

                      Man is the only animal that blushes, or needs to!

Yadnad

Peasmold_01 said:

Firstly, when is the Tribunal hearing? If it less than 14 days away, then obtaining professional or semi professional help could be difficult. Secondly, what element of PIP are appealing against? Is it an increase in a certain number descriptors, or for a full review? Look for a Community Law Centre in your area, if there is one approach them, if they can they will invariably try and help. If not, if you have University, with a Law School, approach them, some final years students specialise in Social Security Law, and they may be willing to assist you. Organisations like AGE UK, are not geared up to help that much. I would further suggest you come back to the forum with more details, then perhaps the forum members may be able to provide more in-depth advise. Good Luck.

                      Man is the only animal that blushes, or needs to!

For a start Community Law Centres are not situate in every area. If they were their workload would be so enormous that they would be turning the majority away.

To give you an example the nearest CLC in the South East is in West London. So you can imagine the number of claimants in Kent alone going to one centre some 90 miles away!
As for a Law School. Students do not specialise  at that stage. The only hope you have would come from one the lecturers. Obviously they would do this in their spare time (outside teaching). Consequently and like the Community Law Centres there is obviously a limit to the number of claimants that they can help. 

I would agree that the likes of the CAB, AgeUK and other charitable organisations are not geared up to give that one to one service. If they were they would not have the time to give the many 1,000's still in the queue wanting the same attention.
AgeUK for example will only offer advice and hand out a leaflet. They will help fill out forms, but again that can be hit or miss depending on the quality, experience etc of the advisor.

Peasmold_01

I beg to differ about approaching University Law Schools. When I was represented by a superb solicitor, courtesy of my local Community Law Centre, he had with him two final year students who were shadowing him during a week of Tribunal hearings. Their intention was to be able, if they could, to offer advice and if possible represent the claimant, as a McKenzie Friend. I also know of two University Law Schools who encourage Final Year Student to help the disadvantaged. You mention Kent, may I suggest the following.  https://www.kent.ac.uk/law/clinic/ or www.essex.ac.uk/departments/law/essex-law-clinic or https://www.sussex.ac.uk/about/community/community-features/law-clinics

There is another option, Google local solicitors who offer Pro Bono representation. A long shot, I know, but there are some very nice solicitors, with a social conscience. 

                 Man is the only animal that blushes, or needs to!

Misscleo

Tickles me how people use the words "your local".
Try finding "your local " anything.
Handy man. Solicitor = rose coloured glasses??

Yadnad

Peasmold_01 said:

I beg to differ about approaching University Law Schools. When I was represented by a superb solicitor, courtesy of my local Community Law Centre, he had with him two final year students who were shadowing him during a week of Tribunal hearings. Their intention was to be able, if they could, to offer advice and if possible represent the claimant, as a McKenzie Friend. I also know of two University Law Schools who encourage Final Year Student to help the disadvantaged. You mention Kent, may I suggest the following.  https://www.kent.ac.uk/law/clinic/ or www.essex.ac.uk/departments/law/essex-law-clinic or https://www.sussex.ac.uk/about/community/community-features/law-clinics

There is another option, Google local solicitors who offer Pro Bono representation. A long shot, I know, but there are some very nice solicitors, with a social conscience. 

                 Man is the only animal that blushes, or needs to!

Been there and got the t shirt. For a start the Sussex and Essex Universities are way out of my zone. Too far to travel - Brighton takes about 90 mins to get there and Essex is over 2 hours away.
As for Kent University (in Canterbury - about 2 miles from where I live) one of their lecturers represented me at a tribunal years ago in a dispute about the correct level of Council Tax benefit I should have been receiving. It was brilliant having him next to me. I hardly said a word and came out £3000 better off!!

So with PIP in 2013 that was first port of call only to be told that they no longer deal with benefit issues involving local people. All of their time is now spent dealing with asylum claims and defending cases of people being ejected out of this country. Locally we have a very large detention centre where the 'residents' need professional free legal representation.

Yes students do get involved and do shadow cases - I had one for the above tribunal. But they do not get involved professionally on their own with the claimant.
 
I have yet to find a practicing solicitor have a social conscience around here. In fact my son in law is a practicing solicitor who lives locally but unfortunately cannot help as welfare benefits is not one of the subjects he knows much about.

Peasmold_01

Google what you require, and add your post code. Or allow your Google account to automatically locate you. That usually brings up whatever you require within a reasonable distance.
With reference to Yadnad's response to my post re University Schools of Law  The answer was not necessarily relevant to your situation, but a general comment in response to a post by another member of the forum. 

Frennie

 Thank you x

mikehughescq

I’ve no idea where this 14 days stuff comes from. Even at this late stage literally anyone of Citizens Advice, independent advice centre, law centre, local authority welfare rights or TUC centre will be able to dictate a draft of a letter requesting a postponement in order to secure representation. They may not be able to appear on the day at short notice (like I say, 14 days is just a random figure plucked out of the air) but they’ll certainly be able to assist.

I’ve equally no idea why threads like this never mention this most obvious of options. 

Need to be clear about advice from law schools. They’re not affiliated to any national advice groups and some areas have used their existence to replace properly funded advice and representation. There are sound ideological reasons for not encouraging that at all. A law student as a Mackenzie friend is no more use than a well meaning friend. They will have zero knowledge of social security law; usually don’t have up to date resources and nil knowledge of the appropriate procedures. The numbers which do this are few so it’s hardly worth mentioning but it should be opppsed in my personal view.

Peasmold_01

Approaching CAB, Local Council Welfare Rights, Law Centres has been mentioned before. And as with your comments regarding Schools of Law, they, similarly. can be very inconsistent across the country. 

I have no idea where you live, but access to 'properly funded advice centres' is not universal across the country. Properly funded? By whom? Local Authorities are cutting back on anything they deem unnecessary.. (Take a look at Nottingham) CAB, I would not call their expertise Universal. Read some of the comments on this forum. TUC Centre? If you live in a rural part of the country you have about as much chance of finding a TUC Centre as finding 'Gold in them there hills.' 

When I suggested contacting University Law School, I made it clear, FINAL YEAR STUDENTS. I also mentioned that, from my experience and others, that some students actually shadow solicitors when they attend Tribunals, training for the day when they qualify. A McKenzie friend does not have to be legally trained, agreed. However, talking to and receiving advice from someone who has an interest in the law (A Law Student) and having access to a lot more information in relation to the intricacies of the various Social Security Acts, than the man in the street, must be of some value. They may even be able to steer the person seeking advice towards a solicitor, who may offer Pro Bono advice.

When a man is drowning, he will clutch at straws. 

Man is the only animal that blushes, or needs to!

Yadnad

Peasmold_01 said:

However, talking to and receiving advice from someone who has an interest in the law (A Law Student) 

I assume that you mean 'a' law student and not an 'A' level student?
Then are you suggesting someone who is in uni studying law as opposed to someone who already has a degree in law and is now on the next step of the ladder to becoming a qualified solicitor as a student of law at a law college? 

If you are actually referring to those who are/were studying law towards a law degree, my daughter has an A level in Law (which she has never used) and my granddaughter graduated from Liverpool Uni last year with a degree in law (and now works as a carer of severely disabled children).

Neither have the first inkling in welfare law beyond the basics. It's when they become final year students at Law College in order to qualify, purely from an academic point of view, that they may well be able to offer advice.
 

Peasmold_01

That was my point. that's why I said Final Year Students, at University Law Schools. My partner studied law at a London University, now she's an artist and carer. Most University Schools of Law have some kind of 'outreach' program. It helps the students understand the intricacies of dealing with 'the man in the street', and their foibles and needs.

mikehughescq

Peasmold_01 said:

Approaching CAB, Local Council Welfare Rights, Law Centres has been mentioned before. And as with your comments regarding Schools of Law, they, similarly. can be very inconsistent across the country. 

I have no idea where you live, but access to 'properly funded advice centres' is not universal across the country. Properly funded? By whom? Local Authorities are cutting back on anything they deem unnecessary.. (Take a look at Nottingham) CAB, I would not call their expertise Universal. Read some of the comments on this forum. TUC Centre? If you live in a rural part of the country you have about as much chance of finding a TUC Centre as finding 'Gold in them there hills.' 

When I suggested contacting University Law School, I made it clear, FINAL YEAR STUDENTS. I also mentioned that, from my experience and others, that some students actually shadow solicitors when they attend Tribunals, training for the day when they qualify. A McKenzie friend does not have to be legally trained, agreed. However, talking to and receiving advice from someone who has an interest in the law (A Law Student) and having access to a lot more information in relation to the intricacies of the various Social Security Acts, than the man in the street, must be of some value. They may even be able to steer the person seeking advice towards a solicitor, who may offer Pro Bono advice.

When a man is drowning, he will clutch at straws. 

Man is the only animal that blushes, or needs to!

I work in advice so I’m fully aware of the inconsistencies. The numbers of CA and others outnumber the number of law schools offering the facility you suggest by at least 500 to 1 so comments about consistency need to be read in that context as do suggestions it might be an option. There are way more TUC centres than there are law schools offering this for example. 

A Mackenzie friend is deomonstrably statistically no more use than a friend regardless of knowledge levels. Amusingly it’s years of academic research which back that up. It improves your chances of winning to simply have anyone attend. They don’t necessarily have access to any relevant resources at all either whether final year or not and it’s simply a leap to suggest that they “must be of some value”. There’s simply no evidence for it at all. 

OT but the same sadly applies to your signature. It’s a Mark Twain quote and it’s incorrect. There is a dog which blushes and numerous animals which demonstrate embarrassment in a variety of ways

debbiedo49

  

Peasmold_01

Man is the Only Animal that Blushes. Or needs to.

Mark Twain, Following the Equator (1897)
US humorist, novelist, short story author, & wit (1835 - 1910)   

mikehughescq

And still wrong

atlas46

Hi @Peasmold_01 & @mikehughescq

For the record @Peasmold_01 quotation of the said Twain is correct.

Therefore the quotation of @mikehughescq, is incorrect.

I would add, "sarcasm is the lowest form of wit" - Oscar Wilde.

Enjoy your day.

Pippa_Alumni

Hi everyone, 

We want the community to be a safe and supportive place. Please make sure your messages respect other users’ views and suggestions, even if you don’t agree with them.

Take care to present your views tactfully and remember that humour may be misinterpreted. 

mikehughescq

Er, thanks @atlas46 but I didn't say the quoting of Mark Twain was incorrect.

I said that what the quote claims is incorrect. Thus the subsequent sentence "There is a dog which blushes and numerous animals which demonstrate embarrassment in a variety of ways." No sarcasm intended. Just a factual correction done with an explanation as to why.

Perhaps you'd like to update everyone on your complaint to my employer?

Peasmold_01

Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise. - Thomas Gray.