AdsFoundation Free Legal Advice Clinic Terms and Conditions

The Adam Bojelian Foundation CIC Free Legal Advice Clinic (’AdsFoundation Clinic’) is provided in association with the Law Works Clinics Network.

PLEASE NOTE THAT TO ENABLE US TO FOCUS ON OTHER WORK THE CLINIC WILL CLOSE PERMANENTLY FROM TUESDAY 23RD JANUARY, 2024. IF YOU REQUIRE ADVICE AFTER THIS DATE, PLEASE CONTACT ANOTHER LAW WORKS CLINIC OR YOUR LOCAL CITIZENS ADVICE SERVICE.

1. The AdsFoundation Clinic is a completely free service funded and provided by the Adam Bojelian Foundation CIC.
2. Advice can only be given at a clinic and appointments must be made using the AdsFoundation Free Advice Clinic booking form.
3. Please note that this is a ONE-OFF service: we are only advising you at your single pre-arranged appointment and we are unable to provide you with on-going legal advice or representation.
4. All advice is provided by experienced advisors with expertise in the relevant areas of law, rights and ethics.
5. Appointments can be booked using the AdsFoundation Free Legal Advice Clinic booking form on the AdsFoundation website.
6. Appointments will be available on Mondays throughout the year, excluding Bank Holidays and excluding all Mondays in August and December.
7. Appointments last a maximum of 45 minutes. Please arrive at your appointment promptly, as if you are late, we will still have to end 45 minutes after the time your appointment was scheduled to start.
8. Appointments are available by Zoom, TEAMS and telephone. For those who can get to York city centre we can also arrange face to face appointment, but these will take a bit longer to organise.
9. Once received, your booking form will be read by an experienced advisor who will consider whether your concern is one we can help you with. If it is, you will be contacted by us to confirm the date, time and location of your appointment and details of any further information we need. When appropriate you will also be sent the Zoom or TEAMs link to access your appointment.
10. Prior to your appointment, if having read your form, we think there are documents you may have which it would be helpful for us to see, we  will ask you to send them to us by email at [email protected] in advance of your appointment. Please send to us by the Thursday before your appointment at the latest, if you can.
11. If you are unable to attend or need to change the time of your appointment, please contact us as soon as you can do so. If you miss your appointment and do not tell us in advance that you will not be attending, we may not be able to offer you another appointment for some time.
12. If when we review your booking form it is clear your concern is outside our areas of expertise or you need on-going legal support or advocacy we will signpost you to third-party organisations who we hope will be able to help you.
13. The AdsFoundation Clinic is based on confidentiality. All details of your case remain confidential to your volunteer advisor. AdsFoundation Clinic keeps case files for a period of six years from our contact with you, after which the files are destroyed.

On the day of your appointment

1. If your appointment is by Zoom or TEAMS and you have difficulties logging on to the link provided at the start of the appointment, please email us at [email protected] to let us know and we will reply by email.
2. If your appointment is by telephone, we will phone you at the agreed time on the telephone number you provided to us. If there is no reply we will phone again after 10 minutes. If we still do not get a reply we will email you.  We will not leave a message on your phone.
3. You will be asked at the start of your appointment to confirm that you have read and understand the letter we will send you setting out these terms and conditions and if you agree to this terms. If you do not understand anything in the letter, please let your advisor know at the start of your meeting and we will be happy to explain things further.
4. You will be seen by an experienced volunteer advisor with expertise in the relevant area of law, who will discuss with you the information you have already provided to us and any additional information raised during your appointment.
5. The advisor will then explain the relevant law and ethics related to your concern and discuss with you steps you can take next to hopefully resolve your concern.
6. Once you receive this advice, the service offered by AdsFoundation Clinic will finish.
7. As mentioned above, if the advisor thinks you need on-going legal support or representation we will sign post you to a third-party organisation which we hope will be able to assist you further.

If you are unhappy with the service

We hope that you will be satisfied with the service that AdsFoundation Clinic provides. If you have any complaint about the way your case is handled, however, speak directly to your advisor, or email us at [email protected]. A copy of our client complaint procedure will be sent to you if we receive a complaint.