About LawWorks#
LawWorks is a charity that works to widen access to justice through free legal advice, connecting volunteer lawyers with people who need them. Its first aim is people who are not eligible for legal aid and cannot afford a lawyer; its second is small not-for-profit organisations, which it matches with pro bono lawyers for one-off problems such as a lease or a constitution. It says about 15,000 volunteer lawyers and more than 300 clinics help some 45,000 people a year, and its Welsh arm, LawWorks Cymru, supports clinics across Wales.
How to use the clinic finder#
LawWorks does not advise individuals itself: its FAQs say that if you contact it, all it can do is direct you back to the clinic search. The clinic finder searches by town or postcode, by area of law, including family, child, domestic violence, housing, immigration and welfare benefits, and by method: face to face, phone, email or online. Each clinic page sets out who it serves, its opening times and how to book. Many are run by universities and law schools, with students supervised by solicitors.
Clinics generally give free initial advice, usually in an appointment of 30 minutes to an hour; some go further, with form filling, casework or representation. Before searching, LawWorks suggests checking whether legal expenses insurance covers you and whether you qualify for legal aid on GOV.UK.
Family law clinics and a child's name#
LawWorks publishes nothing on names, but one clinic listing shows where they come up. The Suffolk Family Support Clinic, run by Suffolk Law Centre for people who live or work in Suffolk, lists among the orders its volunteers can advise on an order to change a child's surname, alongside child arrangements, specific issue, prohibited steps and parental responsibility orders. Other family clinics in the finder cover similar ground.
That is the territory where free advice is worth having. A child's change of name needs everyone with parental responsibility to agree; without agreement, GOV.UK says a court decides, after you have tried to agree. Specific issue orders explains the application, and LawWorks' guide to going to court without a lawyer points to Support Through Court for practical help on the day.
When you do not need a lawyer at all#
For your own name, you rarely need legal advice. Anyone aged 16 or over can make an unenrolled deed poll with GOV.UK's free wording, signed before two adult witnesses (do I need a solicitor to change my name?). LawWorks also runs Free Legal Answers, an online service giving short written answers to questions from people on low incomes in England and Wales, on topics including family law, which can help with a single point you are unsure about.
This page describes what LawWorks publishes on its own website, read on 26 October 2026. LawWorks has not reviewed it, and listing a charity here does not mean it recommends this handbook or any deed poll service.
