If you have a legal problem and cannot pay for a private lawyer, you may be able to get assistance from one of our offices.

If you want a PSO lawyer to represent you, you will need to apply for legal aid. Before applying, we recommend getting legal advice.

In order to get legal advice and apply for legal aid, you can make a booking to attend any of our legal advice clinics which are free.

It should be noted that the PSO can only offer legal representation to clients who meet the eligibility criteria of our pdf Means and Merits test (298 KB) to determine:

• If you are financially eligible for representation under our means test
• If you have a legal problem which meets our guidelines as set out under the Public Solicitor’s Act
• The likelihood of your case succeeding
• The benefit you might gain in the case compared to the cost of us providing assistance
• The nature of your case.

If you are unsure about whether you meet our eligibility criteria, it is still strongly recommended that you apply. However, if you need one-off legal advice, you do not need to apply as we provide one-off free legal advice and minor assistance which does not require you to apply for legal aid.