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The LEF gets underway
The LEF entered into its new existence at a time when legal aid has to find new ways of funding itself. We need innovative and collaborative approaches to ensuring that access to justice is open, as one of the key aspects of the rule of law, to the many people who cannot pay for legal advice from private sector law firms but who no longer receive public funding. We also need new systems to cope with the many people who will enter the courts without formal representation.
It is clear that there will be no return to the levels of direct government financial support offered in the past to those who could not otherwise afford access to the law. It is equally clear that new structures must fill the resultant void. This will require greater flexibility and innovation from government – a closed purse does not excuse government’s absence from the arena. Equally, new thinking on ways to deliver services must come from funders and the organisations which they fund.
We recognise that there are many experienced grant funders who already provide support in these areas. As a newcomer, the LEF is very keen to work with them to ensure that we provide the most effective support possible. The LEF has little past experience and a small infrastructure and would welcome contact and interaction with those who have greater experience and knowledge.
Our early experience is that legal education, if looked at in its broadest sense, can play a role in meeting these new challenges. We welcome enquiries from organisations with new ideas, collaborative ideas or simply existing needs which have a legal education element that can be met in new ways.
Our first window for grant applications is October this year (the deadline is 15 October 2013) and the second will be May next year (the deadline is 15 May 2014). Our criteria are set out both in this article and on our website. Please do get in touch through our website if you are thinking of making an application. We are happy to talk informally to potential applicants.
Background
The LEF officially launched in July 2013 following the sale of the University of Law to Montagu Private Equity at the end of November 2012.
The LEF is a long-standing charitable organisation with a Royal Charter. It was best known previously for its principal asset, the College of Law. The college was the UK’s leading professional legal education provider and this status was recognised when it was awarded university status just before the sale last year.
Two years ago the trustees undertook a major strategic review of the legal education market and the opportunities and challenges which it offered. They concluded that, while the University of Law had great potential, it was more likely to realise that potential in the private commercial sector because of the need for ongoing investment and the challenges thrown up by an increasingly competitive higher education market.
The strategic review resulted in the sale of the University of Law last November to Montagu Private Equity. The charity adopted its new name, the Legal Education Foundation, and began its new existence in January this year.
The first grant recipients
The LEF has published the criteria that it will apply when considering grant applications on its website. Its principal requirement is that applications must relate to the promotion of legal education. This is a much wider remit than might first be thought and encompasses public legal education and access to legal education as well as formal academic and professional legal education. The breadth of the LEF’s activities is best illustrated by the organisations that it has supported so far. It made a series of small grants earlier this year to announce its new existence and to signpost interested parties to the areas where it hopes to be active. These grants were to the following:
•Advocacy Training Council (training advocates to deal with vulnerable witnesses).
•Galleries of Justice (using historical legal buildings to teach children, particularly from less advantaged areas, about law).
•British and Irish Legal Information Institute (BAILII, providing free access to law reports on the internet).
•Law Centres Network (training those who provide legal advice for those who are unable to pay for it).
•LawWorks (videos to train those who support, promote and encourage a commitment to pro bono work).
•Pathways Phase 3. The LEF established, in its College of Law days, the Pathways to Law programme which helps school children to understand what is offered by a legal career and to take the first steps towards that career through a university education. The LEF has committed £1.2 million to this programme over the next three years.
LEF’s new chief executive
Matthew Smerdon will join the LEF at the end of October as its chief executive. He has worked in the foundation sector since 2004 when he joined The Baring Foundation as deputy director. Since 2008, his focus has been on supporting social welfare legal services, initially in relation to how advice organisations can maintain their independence from government, and latterly focusing more squarely on how the sector can adapt to the new environment. Much of this work has been done in partnership with other UK foundations and City law firms such as Comic Relief, Unbound Philanthropy and Allen & Overy. Matthew is also an adviser to the Panel on the Independence of the Voluntary Sector and, in September, he was appointed as a member of the Civil Justice Council.
Guy Beringer said: ‘We are incredibly fortunate to attract someone of Matthew’s calibre. One of our key aims is to achieve collaboration between funders and also among our grantees. His experience and vast knowledge in identifying and assessing important projects and working with grantees will ensure the foundation’s contributions help us attain our broader goals of improving the legal education sector and its impact on society.’
Grant criteria
•Innovation in the structure and delivery of teaching at academic and professional level.
•Filling gaps in the provision of legal education at academic and professional level.
•The development of public and civic legal education.
•The advancement of mobility and diversity initiatives which provide access to employment in the profession.
•Thought leadership and research related to the development and structure of academic and professional legal education.
It is important that intending applicants look at this before considering whether to apply for a grant.