JL Solicitors

Immigration Legal Aid in Luton and Bedfordshire

JL Solicitors is proud to announce that we were successful with our bid to hold a legal aid contract in the immigration category.  As a result of our success, JL Solicitors has been offered a legal aid contract to offer publicly funded immigration services.

This means that we will be able to offer legally aided immigration advice and assistance to those who qualify when the new legal aid contracts start.  They are currently scheduled to start in October 2010, provided this date is not delayed again for any reason.  This will benefit not just those who live in Luton, where JL Solicitors is based, but anyone who needs immigration advice and assistance in Bedfordshire, including Bedford, Dunstable, Leagrave, Biggleswade, Leighton Buzzard, Toddington and Woburn.

We will provide a further update once the contract start date is confirmed.

NHS Staff Discounts Scheme

As a part of our commitment to serving the local community and in particular our dedicated and hard working NHS staff, JL Solicitors is now a member of the NHS247 Staff Discounts Scheme.  This means that upon proof of NHS membership, our current offers entitle NHS staff and their immediate family members to free initial consultations as well as discounted hourly rates and agreed fees.  For more information about JL Solicitors, appointments and costs please see our About Us section.

Immigration Legal Aid

The Legal Services Commission’s (LSC) bidding (tendering) process for legal aid contracts scheduled to start in October 2010 is under way.  JL Solicitors has submitted a bid to hold a contract in the field of immigration and if successful, this will enable us to offer legal aid (publicly funded) immigration legal services to the local community when the new legal aid contracts begin in October 2010 (if the start date is not delayed again).  Further news on the outcome of our bid will be posted as and when we receive it ourselves.

Launch date for new law firm in Luton

The countdown has begun and JL Solicitors will be opening its doors for business for the first time on the 5th October 2009.  Be amongst the first to receive our personal attention.  Please feel free to contact us before launch date by email via our contact page.  We look forward to being of service to you.

What is Legal Aid (Part 2)

As you may know from previous posts in this section, JL Solicitors do not currently offer Legal Aid services but we do intend to offer a Legal Aid Immigration service in the near future.

JL Solicitors would like to offer the community a Legal Aid Immigration service right now but unfortunately is prevented from doing so due to the way the Legal Aid Schemes are operated by the Legal Services Commission (LSC).

read more

What is Legal Aid (Part 1)

Legal Aid refers to money allocated by the Government to help pay for certain types of legal services when people cannot afford to pay for those services themselves.  The various Legal Aid Schemes are operated by the Legal Services Commission (LSC).  This means that people may be able to obtain either free or partially free legal assistance if they have no income, or are on low incomes, and do not have substantial financial savings or property assets.

read more

When is a solicitor not really a solicitor?

You may have heard the anecdote that it is 99% of solicitors who give the rest a bad reputation (you can laugh, we find this funny too!).

Seriously though, the solicitors’ profession has sadly suffered a decline in reputation over the years but we ask you to bear in mind that many of those who have caused this decline are not in fact qualified solicitors.  Some are unqualified legal advisors and some operate from ‘consultancy’ firms that are not law firms and are therefore not regulated as law firms are. 

read more

How to choose your solicitor

At JL Solicitors we understand that you assume that your legal advisor knows everything about the law in their field of practise and therefore most likely believe that there is little difference in who you instruct to work on your case (whether or not your legal advisor in fact knows all that they need to know is a matter for separate debate).  Assuming that adequate legal knowledge is present, you may think that the only issue is who to instruct based on the price for that service.

read more