Telephone grants of advice and assistance

You can grant advice and assistance (including a diagnostic interview) over the telephone. However, you must still satisfy yourself that your client is eligible.

If you are not meeting your client in person then you must explain the terms of the declaration to them and obtain their verbal consent to its terms.  You may then select the ‘client not present and agrees with the declaration terms’ option within Legal Aid Online.

You must also ensure that you submit the online advice and assistance application within 14 days of beginning to give advice and assistance.

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