Working with us

Making Legal Support Accessible

Our priority is to support emerging or unfunded groups and movements who are working to support social & racial justice.

We are a non-profit organisation. Our priority is to support those who often face barriers to accessing legal advice. Thanks to grant funding, we can provide our services at low or no cost to many of the people we work with. When we do charge, your contributions help us subsidise support for communities who need it most.

We’re always open to a conversation about how to resource the legal support you need.

  • No funding yet? We’ll still look for ways to support you.
  • Secured funding? If you’re setting up or incorporating your organisation (for example, becoming a charity, CIC, or another legal form), we may discuss a contribution to cover our time.

We will always be transparent about any costs and up front with you about whether we need to charge for our time. As a guide, you can expect the following:

First HourAlways free for all community groups – this will include a call with Samara, Keya or another consultant to discuss your needs, provide any initial advice or answer any questions in the time we have.
Unfunded GroupsWe have been grant funded to provide legal support for social and racial justice organisations, and we can usually find ways to support you with the legal advice you might need, if we have the relevant expertise.  
Funded GroupsWe know that being funded can mean different things for different organisations (levels of funding, core funding, future funding, timescales etc.) we will have an open & honest discussion with you about your ability to contribute financially in a reasonable way.

In some instances, we will ask for a financial contribution depending on the extent of the support needed. E.g. follow-up calls after an initial free call, or supporting you with a full charity registration or bespoke governance models. We are open to exploring mutual learning, collaborative projects and open exchanges of information in lieu of purely financial contributions.

We will always take a pragmatic approach to financial contributions, as a general indication we would ask for between £90 – 130 per hour – depending on the size and resources available to your organisation, or will agree an amount that feels sustainable and fair for you.
WorkshopsWe offer workshops for funders, grantees of funders and other community groups.  We will always take a pragmatic approach to financial contributions. There is a sliding scale of costs depending on the size and resource of the organisation. As a general indication we would ask for between £350-650 from community organisations/community resourcing groups, depending on the size of the group and the length of the workshop.

For workshops for funders (for example where we are working with a funder board/committee/staff, or with a cohort of a funder’s grantees) or service providers (e.g. lawyers) – we would ask for between £1350 – £2600, or agree an hourly rate with you.

We aim to disrupt/dismantle traditional lawyer client dynamics. Therefore, with every project we aim to collaborate and share learnings which contribute to a shared sense of community.

When considering our fees, we take a responsive approach informed by our research with grassroots organisations. The variables we consider when agreeing your contributions, are:  

  • Level of funding
  • Duration/time/resources required from us
  • Size of organisation
  • Complexity of the work

As an indication of our approach, groups that have worked with us have been comfortable offering the following:

  • An individual setting up a charity: £0
  • An individual setting up a collective: £0
  • A legal workshop for migrant and refugee community members: £0
  • A legal workshop set up by an umbrella organisation for their community members: £350
  • A funded community group incorporating a new legal entity: £650
  • A group of individuals with funding for legal advice to set up a collective legal structure: £1200
  • A funded, fiscally hosted group with a legal budget to set up a charity: £3000

Please note, we’re not able to support on urgent or time-sensitive matters. Due to capacity, funding and regulatory constraints, we also can’t advise in contentious or litigious situations, or engage in conflict-resolution based processes.