Innovation is not just for large firms

Think innovation and what comes to mind is often a combination of complex elements based on volume business. Technology-driven processes, big throughput, and pyramid structures involving senior lawyers supervising armies of paralegals. Access to justice occasionally gets thrown in but it tends to be as a by-product of these clever arrangements.

Now think again. Castle Park Solicitors, the first charity-owned law firm to have become an alternative business structure, has just launched an 'access to justice' package for clients on benefits. It doesn't do anything fancy. Advice is provided by solicitors, and prices are pitched at what they reckon is affordable for the client base and at a level sustainable for the firm.

As a solicitor, you might worry that, to be personally manageable, getting involved with 'ethical' organisations requires huge levels of selflessness or private income. Here again, that need not be the case. When the Leicester-based firm opened in May, it advertised for an immigration solicitor, offering an annual salary of £30-34,000. It may not sound much to a trainee starting with a US firm in the City but in the legal not-for-profit sector, it's not bad.

Castle Park is not a big lean machine trying to bid for large legal aid contracts. It simply couldn't. But in a world where firms are struggling with legal aid cuts and not-for-profit agencies are forced to look at options that were once a no-go area, such as charging for services, initiatives such as its access to justice package is innovation.

Its members are astonishingly honest about the venture. They hope to generate surplus income that will help fund their owner, Community Advice and Law Service (CALS), a legal charity offering social welfare advice and representation. But they are open about the obstacles they face. They are moving into uncharted territory. They're not sure their rates are right, and they are the first to acknowledge that some of the features in their scheme may not work - eligible clients can choose to pay in arrears by setting up monthly £55 standing orders, but even that can be challenging for individuals on £71.70 a week's employment benefits.

At the time CALS started reviewing options, charities weren't allowed to charge for services - now they can - so it went down the ABS route, setting up as a community interest company. It's a configuration that a few not-for-profits started looking at as soon as funding cuts appeared on the horizon. Rochdale Legal Enterprise has a similar connection with the Rochdale Law Centre. And as far back as two years ago Islington Law Centre set out on its own ABS path. It's a tortuous process. The Castle Park team were frustrated by the time it took, and Islington's application is still being processed.

The cuts have already claimed the lives of several law centres and not-for-profits but the sector has proved remarkably resilient and inventive. It will be tough for Castle Park, but they sound as though they're going to try damn hard. Good luck to them.

Jean-Yves Gilg is editor of Solicitors Journal

jean-yves.gilg@solicitorsjournal.co.uk