Sector News

Lawyers Volunteering for the Arts

Lawyers Volunteering for the Arts are looking to work with arts organisations who would otherwise not be in a position to afford legal advice and might have suitable issues or projects that would benefit from free advice from a qualified solicitor.

They are interested in helping organisations active in any aspect of the cultural sector, including abstract, conceptual and performance art, visual arts, and performance arts such as music, dance and theatre.

Posted: 10/03/2022


Any size of group – large or small, will be considered. We are trying to target our support at the arts groups that can least afford legal advice so we have income limits around the same as those set by LawWorks (the solicitors national pro bono organisation).

If your income is higher but you are struggling to pay for legal advice, we’d be happy to discuss your situation in more detail in case there is anything we can do to help (for example – restricted income of any amount may not be treated as income when we consider eligibility).

At the moment we have access to volunteers with expertise in:

Contracts: What does this contract or agreement mean (and should we sign it)? What sorts of issues do we need to cover in our contracts? Is our draft contract suitable for use? Can you advise us on how to negotiate some amendments to a form of contract we are being asked to sign?

Intellectual Property (IP): How do we protect our IP? Someone is using our IP and we don’t know what to do. Can you help us draft some terms governing the ownership of IP for a project we are planning in conjunction with other artists/ groups?

Employment: We’re about to employ someone for the first time, what do we need to know? Is this person an employee or a self-employed freelancer? Can you help us draft a grievance policy? Can you review our existing policies in case we left anything out? Another organisation is about to take over a contract that we were previously carrying out – what should we do about our employees who were working on that contract?

Joint Ventures: We’re thinking of working on a project with another organisation, what legal issues should we be aware of? We want to submit a joint funding bid, can you help us understand what agreements we need to produce governing the relationship?

Legal Structures: What is a charity? Should we set up a charity / social enterprise  / company? How do we convert from our existing structure to a different structure? Can someone review our draft articles of association?

Real Estate: What does this lease mean? Is there anything in the lease we need to be aware of before signing it? Can you help us negotiate some amendments to our lease? We may be unable to continue paying rent on premises due to funding cuts or other problems, can you advise us on our liabilities and options?

Dispute Resolution: We won’t be able to meet our obligations under an existing contract – what should we do? We’re having a disagreement over a bill, can you give us some initial advice to try and resolve the issue?

Mergers & Acquisitions: We’re thinking about merging with another organisation – what sorts of issues should we be considering?

Find out more about how to apply for legal advice online


"Just to say a huge thanks ... I am looking forward to progressing with this project thanks to your support, advice and guidance"

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