South West London Law Centres (SWLLC) is an independent registered charity providing specialised legal advice and assistance covering Wandsworth, Merton, Croydon, Kingston-upon-Thames, Richmond-upon-Thames and Sutton in South West London.
Our vision is a future where people who cannot afford a lawyer:
South West London Law Centre's mission is to fight injustice, inequality and poverty. We’re a society that believes in justice and compassion, with laws designed to protect us and help us build a life that’s good. But inequality means that we can’t all use these laws equally. Without the free or low-cost legal services our charity provides, many people we help would be locked out of accessing justice, because they can’t afford a lawyer.
Our clients are on low incomes, zero hours contracts and/or benefits. 50% are disabled or have long-term ill health, including mental health conditions, or are caring for someone who does. 57% of clients come from a BAME background. Many of our clients come to us facing crisis and destitution. We offer legal advice and representation to those on low incomes.
We undertake legal casework and representation in the social welfare law fields of community debt, employment, immigration, housing, public law and welfare rights.
We provide emergency assistance and representation through a duty solicitor scheme for housing possession cases at Croydon, Wandsworth and Kingston County Courts.
We run weekly pro bono clinics for initial advice and assistance.in a wide area of consumer/small claims, crime, employment, family, housing, immigration and personal injury.
We are accredited by Lexcel, OISC, Legal Services Commission and we operate on a not-for-profit basis. We are funded through a mixture of legal aid; grants and donations. We assist over 6,000 people per year.
Amongst the results we achieve that make us proud of what we do are:
