The community legal advice services suppliers list aims to help communities find legal advisors to deliver a range of services related to renewable energy projects.
To join the legal advice services suppliers list, suppliers must be:
- provide links to The Legal 500 recognition;
- be willing to engage with communities and respond to invitations to tender;
- be able to demonstrate experience on at least three relevant projects.
Please note: the suppliers listed meet the requirements detailed above but are not endorsed or recommended by Local Energy Scotland.
Where community groups need to get legal advice and contact one of the providers on the list, or another firm of solicitors, it’s worth keeping the following in mind.
- Before a solicitor’s firm can agree to take on a new client or instruction, they will first need to ensure that they are free to act. The firm will do a ‘conflict check’ to make sure that they don’t act for other parties who are involved in that instruction. Community groups may be asked to provide some additional details as this stage.
- If the community group is a new client and the firm is free to act, there will then be an onboarding process. This will involve providing certain information to the firm, and possible identity verification checks for individuals in the community group.
- Once established as a client of the firm, the scope of work and fee will be agreed. The firm will issue a letter of engagement which will set out the work, and terms and conditions under which they will carry out that work, on behalf of the community group.
- Once the above steps have been undertaken, the firm will be able to then proceed on the detailed advice.
Please note: the above is an indicative process and may vary from firm to firm. Some firms can carry out online checks, but others may require physical presence to complete the client onboarding process, particularly to complete an identity verification.
Legal advisors wishing to be added to the list, please visit our application page.