Written by: Lukia Nomikos, Programme Officer at London Legal Support Trust
2025 has been another meaningful year for the London Specialist Advice Forum (“the Forum”) and its subgroups.
The Forum, founded by LLST and funded by City Bridge Foundation, continues to bring together frontline specialist free legal advice agencies from across London. Since its establishment in 2020, it has grown into a supportive network of 240 members, providing a valued space for agencies to connect, share learning, and navigate challenges together.
At its core, the Forum offers opportunities for open discussion, knowledge exchange, peer support, and collaboration. By identifying emerging issues and solutions, members help strengthen a sector that plays a crucial role in ensuring fair access to justice. The sector-led nature of the Forum and its subgroups ensures meetings remain reflective of, and responsive to, the needs and priorities of the sector.
This year, we brought together more than 70 organisations and almost 170 individuals across our quarterly Forum meetings and regular subgroup sessions.
At our Forum meetings, we covered a wide range of topical developments and issues, including the increase in employer National Insurance contributions, proposed cuts to disability benefits, the use of AI, changes to immigration and asylum policy, the rise of the far-right, and the Employment Rights Bill – and their impact on specialist free legal advice agencies and the people they support. We welcomed speakers from across the sector, including advice agencies, membership and network bodies, funders, and other stakeholders.
Our June and December meetings were held in person and followed by sector socials – a chance for people to catch up, exchange ideas informally, and take a breather in what has been an otherwise demanding year.
Our subgroups also continued to provide vital spaces for focused discussion and shared learning.
The Legal Aid Billing subgroup, led by the Public Law Project and ATLEU, met six times and proved especially valuable after the Legal Aid Agency was forced to shut down its systems in May following a cyberattack. At a moment of real uncertainty, the group offered a place for practitioners to support one another and to hear directly from – and give feedback to – the Legal Aid Practitioners Group in a dedicated session on this issue.
The Community Care subgroup convened twice and continued to be a useful space for exploring legal trends in community care law and ways to improve networking and collaboration among practitioners. Highlights included presentations on issues surrounding integrated care in health and social care services, successful campaigns to challenge discriminatory local authority policies, and the use of AI tools to help people navigate the complexities of health and social care.
The Apprentices & Trainees subgroup, led by University House (Legal Advice Centre), continued to act as a supportive peer space. Through informal in-person meetups, apprentices and trainees shared SQE revision tips, discussed workplace challenges, and explored career pathways.
In October, we opened recruitment for new members of the Forum Steering Group. We were delighted to receive far more applications than expected – a clear sign of the sector’s enthusiasm for contributing to the development of the Forum. The selection process is still underway, and we look forward to welcoming new members from 2026.
There’s no denying that 2025 has been another tough year for the free legal advice sector, with its continued funding pressures, rising demand, workforce challenges, and a difficult policy landscape. Yet throughout the year, several messages came through strongly across our meetings: the importance of collaboration, peer support, knowledge exchange, and celebrating the “small wins”. These are exactly what the Forum and its subgroups provide a space for, and what is needed to strengthen the efficiency and resilience of the sector.
Would you like to be part of this supportive network in 2026? You can find out more and sign up to join the Forum and/or its subgroups here.