Civil claims other organisations (other than police) – especially claims arising from childhood sexual abuse or other sexual assault

Examples of claims in this category include:

Civil claims against a local authority for abuse by LA staff in children’s homes
Civil claims against a school for sexual abuse by teacher / other staff
Civil claims against other organisations for sexual assault eg youth club, gym committed by their staff

For a list of specialists in child abuse claims against local authorities and other public bodies (not police) see Association of Child Abuse Lawyers.

Funding a solicitor to take on a case

Legal aid

Where the claim is against a public authority for abuse committed by a member of staff, legal aid may be available, however this will not include negligence claims.

Where the civil claim is in relation to a sexual offence, legal aid is available under paragraph 39 Schedule 1 LASPO, which includes negligence claims, and claims that are not against public bodies, for example claims against private schools, gyms, and claims against perpetrators. Solicitors may not be familiar with paragraph 39 so it is worth mentioning this if your case comes within this description.

You will need to find out if you qualify financially for legal aid. If you live with a partner, their finances will also be assessed as part of yours.

“No win no fee” agreement

If you do not qualify for legal aid, in some cases if your claim is clearly strong, you may be able to find a solicitor to take the case on a “no win no fee”. However you should be aware that this is more limited than legal aid, and you may still have to pay for court fees, expert fees and other fees which are not for the legal work. If a solicitor agrees to take a case on this basis they will explain the arrangements to you.

Many abuse claims are only for a personal injury, such as assault and psychiatric damage, and in this case you are protected from having to pay the other side’s costs if you lose, under special rules that apply only to personal injury claims. This enables your solicitor to represent you more easily than in other “no win no fee” cases.

Finding a solicitor

Gov.UK legal aid lawyers search engine
This is a directory of all solicitors with a legal aid contract around the country – enter the town or postcode and tick “claims against public authorities”.

Chambers & Partners Directory
For the most highly regarded solicitors search the Chambers and Partners Directory of top ranked firms and individuals doing a search on UK ‘Personal Injury: mainly claimant’. The Directory includes solicitors both with and without legal aid contracts.

If you qualify financially, a solicitor will only be able to obtain legal aid for a civil claim if they can show the Legal Aid Agency that the evidence is strong enough that there is more than 50% chance of winning the case. They will also need to show that the amount of compensation you will be likely to receive is high enough to justify the level of legal costs involved.

You can try to find a solicitor for a “no win no fee” case in the same way as for a legal aid case (see above), using the Gov.UK legal aid search engine or Chambers Directory, because the same solicitors do both legal aid and “no win no fee” cases.

You can also search on the Law Society website which includes all solicitors, whether they have a legal aid contract or not. Obtain a list of solicitors in different areas of law from the Law Society using “Find a Solicitor” – search by area of law (personal injury) and location.

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