ELIPS volunteers provide support in the form of one-off advice on the day of the clinic. In the current climate, we are not able to offer representation at hearings.
Please email elips [at] elaweb.org.uk (elips[at]elaweb[dot]org[dot]uk) if you are interested in volunteering for the ELIPS online clinic or if you would like more information.
As a volunteer, you are able to sign up for a morning (0900-1200) or afternoon (1300-1600), or for the full day. Virtual appointments are booked on the hour, meaning that you will see a maximum of 6 clients in one day. There is no preparatory or follow up work to do following your stint for the clinic.
ELIPS has received full approval from HMCTS to be a permanent scheme. It also has the support of the judiciary and has been endorsed by the President of the Employment Tribunals, Barry Clarke.
"The pandemic has presented many challenges to the Employment Tribunal system and to the employment law community. Both are in the forefront of maintaining the rule of law in respect of a national workplace that has undergone the greatest disruption of the last 70 years. Both have been compelled to embrace remote ways of working to support the administration of justice. ELIPS was crucially important in normal times, but is even more important now, as workers and employers alike wrestle with the manifold legal challenges caused by that disruption. ELA deserves praise for finding an online home for ELIPS during the pandemic, which will help provide clarity to those whose lives have been changed so dramatically by an event entirely outside their control. I am grateful to ELA and its members for their continued commitment to the provision of pro bono advice during such challenging times."
Judge Barry Clarke | President | Employment Tribunals (England & Wales)
A note about insurance under the ELIPS scheme
Barrister volunteers must be tenants at a set of chambers. They will volunteer under the auspices of Advocate.
In terms of insurance, self-employed volunteers will be covered by their own insurance under the Bar Mutual Insurance Fund scheme. Advocate is able to offer insurance to some employed barristers. The direct access licence is offered to both self-employed and employed barristers.
Solicitors who volunteer for ELIPS are covered by insurance put in place by LawWorks.
Please read SRA Professional Indemnity Insurance Rules Waiver
