Solicitors affiliation policy
In supplying a list of affiliated solicitors, UK Lesbian and
Gay Immigration Group intends to provide its users with access
to good quality legal advice and assistance.
1. UK Lesbian and Gay Immigration Group (UKLGIG) as an
organisation does not provide immigration advice. It signposts
to solicitors’ firms that are affiliated to the Group. UKLGIG
refers enquiries to this list of affiliated solicitors if advice
is required. In order to be listed on the website, solicitors’
firms pay an annual affiliation fee set from time to time by
UKLGIG.
2. In order to be considered for affiliation, solicitors’ firms
must initially meet at least one of the following criteria:
• The firm, or an individual within the firm, is listed in the
latest or previous edition of the Chambers Guide to the Legal
Profession as a leader in immigration law,
• The firm employs at least one person who is an Immigration Law
Practitioners Association course trainer,
• The firm employs at least one person who is accredited as a
senior caseworker or above under the Immigration and Asylum
Accreditation Scheme.
If a solicitors’ firm meets one of these criteria, UKLGIG will
decide whether or not to invite them to affiliate. The Group
reserves the right to decide if a firm is invited to affiliate.
A firm is more likely to be accepted if it is proposed by a firm
already listed.
3. UKLGIG shall choose a selection of individual solicitors from
the affiliated list to attend the monthly general meetings and
to operate the weekly legal helpline. Any advice given by the
solicitors at the meetings or on the helpline is given by the
individual solicitor on behalf of his or her firm on a pro-bono
basis and not on behalf of UKLGIG.
4. If any UKLGIG volunteer, employee or Executive Committee
member receives a written or verbal complaint concerning an
affiliated solicitor, the complainant should be advised to put
their complaint in writing to the solicitor. If the complaint is
not resolved, the complainant should be advised of their right
to complain to the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors and
asked to send UKLGIG a copy of the complaint made. UKLGIG will
send a copy of the complaint to the solicitor.
5. If an affiliated solicitor becomes the subject of a formal
complaint to the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors by a
UKLGIG user, the Group will forthwith withdraw the invitation to
answer the legal helpline and attend monthly general meetings
and remove that solicitor’s firm from the website and the
affiliated list pending determination of the complaint (any such
decision to be ratified at the Executive Committee meeting).
If the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors upholds the
complaint, the UKLGIG will terminate the affiliation of the
solicitor’s firm.
If the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors dismisses the
complaint, UKLGIG will discuss, at its next Executive Committee
meeting, whether to invite the solicitor to re-affiliate and, if
applicable, to attend the monthly general meetings and answer
the helpline.
The complainant should be advised of the action taken by UKLGIG.
6. If UKLGIG becomes aware of an issue concerning an affiliated
solicitor or firm that has the potential to reflect badly on the
Group, e.g. poor or incorrect advice, overcharging, unnecessary
work, homophobia or rudeness, UKLGIG will take appropriate
action. Such action will be at the discretion of UKLGIG and
could include raising the matter verbally and/or in writing with
the individual or firm involved, withdrawal of the firm from the
website and/or any other action that the Group considers
appropriate depending on the nature and severity of the issue.
Such decisions will be at the sole discretion of UKLGIG.
UKLGIG reserves the right to make judgements on the quality of
service provided by solicitors’ firms and where there is any
doubt, the Group will always act in the best interests of its
users and the reputation of the Group.
7. If UKLGIG removes a solicitor from the website, it will
refund to that solicitor a proportion of their annual
affiliation fee calculated on a pro rata basis from when they
were removed, e.g. if 5 full months of their affiliation is left
to run, they will be refunded 5/12ths of their annual fee.
8. No affiliated solicitor will partake in any decisions made
by UKLGIG as part of this policy.
Policy Agreed: 16th July 2002
Last Reviewed: 18th March 2008
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