Natalia Paz Carrasco Luengo

Since the LASPO reform in 2012, the vast majority of UK citizens have been left without free legal advice, which has left citizens struggling to navigate complex legal processes and effectively advocate for their rights. 

This has led to citizens being inactive, or pursuing more conflictive or ineffective courses of action. The consequences these situations have had are very damaging for users, and for the system, which at the moment doesn't have the system capacity to absorb the demand. Where we can see more clearly, this problem today is in Family Court in Child access arrangements cases.

For my final project, I asked, 'What can design do to improve support for citizens that can’t afford legal advice in the justice system, in the UK?'. More specifically to my case scenario, 'How might we design a service that guides separated parents (litigants in person), so they can act productively and efficiently take action for themselves?'

Clarify is an early guidance service for separated parents, on the verge of taking legal actions, which aims to help them understand and identify the best path forward, and access the advice they need accordingly. 

First, the platform enables separated parents to self assess themselves, by allowing them to reflect and understand the dimensions of their problems, create priorities and choose a resolution pathway, which can be either legal or non-legal, to resolve their custody and living arrangements issues. 

Then it creates a profile for them that enables them to access the support available, such as legal advice and help with applications, among others; communicate better their situation to the legal adviser, saving time and emotional distress, and sharing a selection of their reflections with the other parent, so as to start collaborating in a productive way.