Dr Jo Wilding
@jowilding.bsky.social
Legal aid geek, researcher and associate professor at Sussex University, author of 'The Legal Aid Market' (Policy Press), lawyer, mum, athletics obsessive, ex clown.
What happens when you start with a hostile asylum system that sets people up to fail and then persistently degrade the legal aid system people depend on to accompany them through it, to put together the evidence in the framework of the law.
November 23, 2025 at 10:24 AM
What happens when you start with a hostile asylum system that sets people up to fail and then persistently degrade the legal aid system people depend on to accompany them through it, to put together the evidence in the framework of the law.
Reposted by Dr Jo Wilding
Today we’re proud to launch Rights of Women’s 50th Anniversary Report - a powerful reflection on legal change over the past decade.
Read the report and watch the full launch event with guest speaker Dame Nicole Jacobs, Domestic Abuse Commissioner:
www.rightsofwomen.org.uk/about-us/rig...
Read the report and watch the full launch event with guest speaker Dame Nicole Jacobs, Domestic Abuse Commissioner:
www.rightsofwomen.org.uk/about-us/rig...
50th Anniversary Report - Rights of Women
www.rightsofwomen.org.uk
November 19, 2025 at 12:11 PM
Today we’re proud to launch Rights of Women’s 50th Anniversary Report - a powerful reflection on legal change over the past decade.
Read the report and watch the full launch event with guest speaker Dame Nicole Jacobs, Domestic Abuse Commissioner:
www.rightsofwomen.org.uk/about-us/rig...
Read the report and watch the full launch event with guest speaker Dame Nicole Jacobs, Domestic Abuse Commissioner:
www.rightsofwomen.org.uk/about-us/rig...
Excellent blog and important argument by the brilliant Central England Law Centre @ce-lawcentre.bsky.social and Liz Curran on the problem of the poorest people being charged fees they can't afford for the evidence to (somewhat) ease their poverty.
GPs charging for medical evidence letters is creating a hidden barrier for people in poverty.
@ce-lawcentre.bsky.social's Emma Bates and Dr Liz Curran discuss this recent phenomenon, which is blocking access to benefits, housing and safety. 👇
@ce-lawcentre.bsky.social's Emma Bates and Dr Liz Curran discuss this recent phenomenon, which is blocking access to benefits, housing and safety. 👇
Expert blog: The hidden cost of GP letters - why medical evidence fees deepen justice inequality
Legal aid experts explore the impact of fees for medical evidence letters on the most vulnerable in society.
www.ntu.ac.uk
November 22, 2025 at 10:58 AM
Excellent blog and important argument by the brilliant Central England Law Centre @ce-lawcentre.bsky.social and Liz Curran on the problem of the poorest people being charged fees they can't afford for the evidence to (somewhat) ease their poverty.
Fascinating post by my brilliant colleague.
My latest post analyses the potential criminal liability in the UK of AI companies in light of the August report from Anthropic that its generative AI tool Claude has been used by hackers to commit cybercrimes. TL;DR: s3A CMA is a problem. open.substack.com/pub/issuesin...
New Hacking Tools: AI and Criminal Liability
Are AI companies breaking UK law by offering tools which help hackers commit cybercrime offences?
open.substack.com
October 27, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Fascinating post by my brilliant colleague.
Exciting conference in Spain next September on the role of truth and evidence in regional human rights adjudication. dissect.ugent.be/events/inter...
Abstracts by 22 December.
Abstracts by 22 December.
International conference – DISSECT
dissect.ugent.be
October 27, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Exciting conference in Spain next September on the role of truth and evidence in regional human rights adjudication. dissect.ugent.be/events/inter...
Abstracts by 22 December.
Abstracts by 22 December.
My article is featured on the front page of Laws journal (and it's free to read). It is of course about legal aid, and also about how that interacted with asylum policy in the 2022-24 period.
October 19, 2025 at 12:27 PM
My article is featured on the front page of Laws journal (and it's free to read). It is of course about legal aid, and also about how that interacted with asylum policy in the 2022-24 period.
Love the cover photo and good to see it finally in print! Chapter 18 is mine: Undocumented- Insecure Immigration Status and its Impact on Children and Young People. The book contains a huge range of contributions incl one on Palestinian youth under occupation, written before the genocide started.
October 5, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Love the cover photo and good to see it finally in print! Chapter 18 is mine: Undocumented- Insecure Immigration Status and its Impact on Children and Young People. The book contains a huge range of contributions incl one on Palestinian youth under occupation, written before the genocide started.
My new research report with @wearelapg.bsky.social shows legal aid practitioners spend a quarter of their working day, on average, on non-chargeable tasks essential to the running of their legal aid cases or contract: www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/legal-a...
Legal aid lawyers spend quarter of day on unpaid work
Landmark research reveals hidden and non-chargeable cost of managing cases and contracts.
www.lawgazette.co.uk
September 30, 2025 at 9:41 AM
My new research report with @wearelapg.bsky.social shows legal aid practitioners spend a quarter of their working day, on average, on non-chargeable tasks essential to the running of their legal aid cases or contract: www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/legal-a...
This firm actually only had 2 people accredited to do asylum legal aid work, and set up 7 new offices doing asylum cases (for a total of 8). They closed 2,580 cases in one year, which is clearly impossible if those 2 people are actually doing the work. Contract now withdrawn, but only after
Immigration law firm making £1.7m in legal aid loses contract over standards
Thousands of asylum seekers left without lawyers after firm took on thousands of cases with just five solicitors
www.theguardian.com
September 15, 2025 at 11:24 AM
This firm actually only had 2 people accredited to do asylum legal aid work, and set up 7 new offices doing asylum cases (for a total of 8). They closed 2,580 cases in one year, which is clearly impossible if those 2 people are actually doing the work. Contract now withdrawn, but only after
'We don't have the luxury of despair. The global bargain around sanctuary and the global commitment to sharing responsibility are being undermined.' 122 million ppl displaced by conflict, 2/3 stay in neighbouring countries. We have to raise voices for sanctuary:Vicky Tennant of UNHCR, at EARC conf.
September 10, 2025 at 10:05 AM
'We don't have the luxury of despair. The global bargain around sanctuary and the global commitment to sharing responsibility are being undermined.' 122 million ppl displaced by conflict, 2/3 stay in neighbouring countries. We have to raise voices for sanctuary:Vicky Tennant of UNHCR, at EARC conf.
200K Hong Kongers arrived in UK on safe legal routes and most people barely noticed. A tiny number arrive on small boats and things melt down. Safe legal routes not the whole answer but an important part. EARC Eastern Arc Sanctuary Solidarities conference.
September 10, 2025 at 9:47 AM
200K Hong Kongers arrived in UK on safe legal routes and most people barely noticed. A tiny number arrive on small boats and things melt down. Safe legal routes not the whole answer but an important part. EARC Eastern Arc Sanctuary Solidarities conference.
New article just published- 'The Shifting Sands of Legal Aid Deserts: Access to Justice for Asylum in 2022–24', in a special issue of Laws on refugee protection, edited by the brilliant @raawiyah.bsky.social @apowelllaw.bsky.social and Ruvi Ziegler. Free to read: www.mdpi.com/2075-471X/14...
www.mdpi.com
September 4, 2025 at 12:46 PM
New article just published- 'The Shifting Sands of Legal Aid Deserts: Access to Justice for Asylum in 2022–24', in a special issue of Laws on refugee protection, edited by the brilliant @raawiyah.bsky.social @apowelllaw.bsky.social and Ruvi Ziegler. Free to read: www.mdpi.com/2075-471X/14...
Here's (part of) the problem with treating legal aid as a market. One firm bids (successfully) for contracts in immigration law in several advice desert areas. Begins taking on 2,797 cases in year to 31 March 2025, so it no longer looks like a provision shortage in those areas. (No newer data yet).
August 28, 2025 at 12:13 PM
Here's (part of) the problem with treating legal aid as a market. One firm bids (successfully) for contracts in immigration law in several advice desert areas. Begins taking on 2,797 cases in year to 31 March 2025, so it no longer looks like a provision shortage in those areas. (No newer data yet).
Great to see the brilliant McIntoshes in the Guardian, arguing for the right to funded legal representation for the Windrush Compensation Scheme. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025... Please sign their petition (link in the article) if you haven't already.
‘It’s about justice’: the couple pushing for legal aid for Windrush scandal claims
Home Office behaviour has convinced Hetticia and Vanderbilt McIntosh that only experts lawyers can change system
www.theguardian.com
August 7, 2025 at 9:15 AM
Great to see the brilliant McIntoshes in the Guardian, arguing for the right to funded legal representation for the Windrush Compensation Scheme. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025... Please sign their petition (link in the article) if you haven't already.
Reposted by Dr Jo Wilding
Hello UK friends - please, please could you sign this petition against the job cuts at my place of work - 1 in 4 us will be out of a job by August next year if we don't stop the cuts. And once you've signed it, please share. We need your help! www.change.org/p/stop-mass-...
Sign the Petition
Stop Mass Redundancies at Lancaster University – Hold Senior Management Accountable
www.change.org
July 30, 2025 at 7:14 PM
Hello UK friends - please, please could you sign this petition against the job cuts at my place of work - 1 in 4 us will be out of a job by August next year if we don't stop the cuts. And once you've signed it, please share. We need your help! www.change.org/p/stop-mass-...
Also today - My new article for the Conversation on why funded legal representation is absolutely necessary for the Windrush Compensation Scheme, and other redress schemes for state harms.
theconversation.com/windrush-sca...
theconversation.com/windrush-sca...
July 30, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Also today - My new article for the Conversation on why funded legal representation is absolutely necessary for the Windrush Compensation Scheme, and other redress schemes for state harms.
theconversation.com/windrush-sca...
theconversation.com/windrush-sca...
My article, co-written with Dr Hannah Selby, is now available open access (ie free to read) in the Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law. 'Overwhelmed by the general demand for Advice: a picture of the not-for-profit legal advice sector in the 2020s'
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
‘Overwhelmed by the general demand for advice’: a picture of the not-for-profit legal advice sector in the 2020s
This paper analyses a dataset of 560 applications from 350 organisations in the UK (though mostly England and Wales) for funding from the Access to Justice Foundation over a 17-month period, as a m...
www.tandfonline.com
July 30, 2025 at 4:13 PM
My article, co-written with Dr Hannah Selby, is now available open access (ie free to read) in the Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law. 'Overwhelmed by the general demand for Advice: a picture of the not-for-profit legal advice sector in the 2020s'
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Ben Jennings on starvation in Gaza – cartoon www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Ben Jennings on starvation in Gaza – cartoon
Hamas sends a ceasefire proposal to the Israeli government as famine threatens Palestinians’ lives
www.theguardian.com
July 25, 2025 at 8:06 AM
Ben Jennings on starvation in Gaza – cartoon www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Israel is, without doubt, committing genocide in Palestine.
The UK government needs to 1) stop all arms sales and all other financial, political and military support for Israel: 2) do everything in its power to prevent this continuing and 3) recognise Palestinian statehood asap.
Now, before one
The UK government needs to 1) stop all arms sales and all other financial, political and military support for Israel: 2) do everything in its power to prevent this continuing and 3) recognise Palestinian statehood asap.
Now, before one
July 24, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Israel is, without doubt, committing genocide in Palestine.
The UK government needs to 1) stop all arms sales and all other financial, political and military support for Israel: 2) do everything in its power to prevent this continuing and 3) recognise Palestinian statehood asap.
Now, before one
The UK government needs to 1) stop all arms sales and all other financial, political and military support for Israel: 2) do everything in its power to prevent this continuing and 3) recognise Palestinian statehood asap.
Now, before one
Reposted by Dr Jo Wilding
The reckless and illegal killing of civilians waiting for lifesaving aid in Gaza must end.
No one should have to risk their lives seeking food, water or medical care.
No one should have to risk their lives seeking food, water or medical care.
July 21, 2025 at 6:58 PM
The reckless and illegal killing of civilians waiting for lifesaving aid in Gaza must end.
No one should have to risk their lives seeking food, water or medical care.
No one should have to risk their lives seeking food, water or medical care.
Reposted by Dr Jo Wilding
Hetticia McIntosh, one of the Windrush claimants who took part in our research, has started a petition for funded legal representation for Windrush Compensation applicants: url.uk.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/kKkyCKQ50C...
If you need persuading to sign, our report is at justice.org.uk/people-need-...
If you need persuading to sign, our report is at justice.org.uk/people-need-...
Sign the Petition
Fund Free Legal Representation for Windrush Compensation Claims
url.uk.m.mimecastprotect.com
June 20, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Hetticia McIntosh, one of the Windrush claimants who took part in our research, has started a petition for funded legal representation for Windrush Compensation applicants: url.uk.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/kKkyCKQ50C...
If you need persuading to sign, our report is at justice.org.uk/people-need-...
If you need persuading to sign, our report is at justice.org.uk/people-need-...
One stop hubs in every council area: golden opportunity to add a social welfare legal advice hub to every one of them, to address causes and conseqs of family poverty where there's w legal solution. Plan already mentions housing problems, so let's see housing, benefits, education early legal advice
One-stop family hubs to be opened in all English council areas
Government announces £500m project to provide single-point of access for health, education and wellbeing services
www.theguardian.com
July 7, 2025 at 8:31 AM
One stop hubs in every council area: golden opportunity to add a social welfare legal advice hub to every one of them, to address causes and conseqs of family poverty where there's w legal solution. Plan already mentions housing problems, so let's see housing, benefits, education early legal advice
So sad about the death of this incredible man, my joint head of chambers when I started pupillage @gardencourtlaw.bsky.social He gave us a brilliant and inspiring class on cross examination. I felt like an excited teenager telling him, after my first criminal trial, how I put one of his tips into
‘Simply no one better’: Prominent Black UK lawyer Courtenay Griffiths dies aged 69
‘Simply no one better’: Prominent Black UK lawyer Courtenay Griffiths dies aged 69
Griffiths, one of the first Black lawyers to achieve queen’s counsel, has been fondly remembered by colleagues
Tributes have been paid to the “legendary” defence barrister Courtenay Griffiths KC, one of the first Black lawyers to achieve the prestigious queen’s counsel status in the UK, who has died at the age of 69.
Griffiths, who was born in Jamaica, was involved in some of the most notable criminal cases of his time, including the PC Keith Blakelock and Damilola Taylor murder trials and the Brighton bombing. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
July 5, 2025 at 11:10 AM
So sad about the death of this incredible man, my joint head of chambers when I started pupillage @gardencourtlaw.bsky.social He gave us a brilliant and inspiring class on cross examination. I felt like an excited teenager telling him, after my first criminal trial, how I put one of his tips into
I wrote a short op ed for the Times Briefing section on our research on the need for legal representation in the Windrush Compensation Scheme (thanks Matilda at Byfield for getting us the slot and co-writing the article with me).
Govt needs to urgently fund legal representation in the Windrush CS.
Govt needs to urgently fund legal representation in the Windrush CS.
A brilliant piece from @jowilding.bsky.social on why #Windrush Compensation Scheme claimants urgently need funded legal advice.
Research with JUSTICE & Dechert shows disparities in outcomes with vs without representation.
To learn more:
Jo’s article: bit.ly/40uXdE4
Our report: bit.ly/4nvSr32
Research with JUSTICE & Dechert shows disparities in outcomes with vs without representation.
To learn more:
Jo’s article: bit.ly/40uXdE4
Our report: bit.ly/4nvSr32
People need legal help: The value of legal representation in the Windrush Compensation Scheme
Survivors of the Home Office Windrush Scandal are receiving drastically less compensation than they deserve. Giving them access to free legal advice can change this, finds this JUSTICE report.
bit.ly
July 5, 2025 at 11:03 AM
I wrote a short op ed for the Times Briefing section on our research on the need for legal representation in the Windrush Compensation Scheme (thanks Matilda at Byfield for getting us the slot and co-writing the article with me).
Govt needs to urgently fund legal representation in the Windrush CS.
Govt needs to urgently fund legal representation in the Windrush CS.
Reposted by Dr Jo Wilding
Windrush victims: the injustice continues
A new report has found that Windrush scandal victims got less compensation due to a lack of legal advice funding. Dr Jo Wilding, who led the report, explores why. “All I can say, and say very strongly, is that people need help. They need legal help. This…
A new report has found that Windrush scandal victims got less compensation due to a lack of legal advice funding. Dr Jo Wilding, who led the report, explores why. “All I can say, and say very strongly, is that people need help. They need legal help. This…
Windrush victims: the injustice continues
A new report has found that Windrush scandal victims got less compensation due to a lack of legal advice funding. Dr Jo Wilding, who led the report, explores why. “All I can say, and say very strongly, is that people need help. They need legal help. This is not an exercise that an ordinary man on the street, after being traumatised and having to go through what they’ve gone through in their personal lives can get their head around, filling in forms, and then the bureaucracy… and the fact for me, the fact that they don’t talk to you.”
labourhub.org.uk
June 28, 2025 at 10:23 AM
Windrush victims: the injustice continues
A new report has found that Windrush scandal victims got less compensation due to a lack of legal advice funding. Dr Jo Wilding, who led the report, explores why. “All I can say, and say very strongly, is that people need help. They need legal help. This…
A new report has found that Windrush scandal victims got less compensation due to a lack of legal advice funding. Dr Jo Wilding, who led the report, explores why. “All I can say, and say very strongly, is that people need help. They need legal help. This…