Litigation funder set up to deliver 'wider social change'

A new litigation funding body has been set up to support actions that could help change the law ‘for wider public good’.

Law for Change is a community interest company established by former City partner Stephen Kinsella, David Graham, founder of Changing Ideas, a charity that supports ideas addressing social injustice and human rights, and Charles Keidan (pictured above), whose own legal challenge resulted in the law being changed to extend civil partnerships to all couples.

The team says the organisation has been created to use the law as a tool to deliver wider social change, increase access to justice, clarify the rights of underrepresented groups and bring lasting reforms.

Speaking to the Gazette ahead of Law for Change’s official launch this evening, Kinsella said: ‘We’re here to support cases in the wider public interest or that benefits an important class of people who otherwise would struggle to get their rights defended.’

Law for Change has already backed several cases, including a High Court challenge to the government’s controversial Rwanda asylum policy. It also provided indemnity against costs in civil rights organisation Liberty’s legal challenge against the Metropolitan Police over the force’s Gangs Matrix database. ‘In short, we could not have done it without their support,’ Liberty lawyer Lana Adamou said in the press release.

On the Rwanda case, Kinsella acknowledged that opinions are divided on whether individuals should be allowed to come and settle in the UK. ‘We’re not taking a position on whether they should be able to. There should be due process to establish whether they do have that right,’ he told the Gazette.

Law for Change does not think about a case in terms of winning or losing, he added. ‘The case goes to court. It is properly heard by the court. The court gives its verdict. There is proper judicial scrutiny. I do not look at a verdict and think the law on that is wrong – the general answer to that is to run a proper campaign to get the law changed. What we’re doing is making sure it is properly considered by the judge and everyone knows where they stand.’

Kinsella describes Law for Change as a ‘funder of last resort’ for applicants such as law firms and not-for-profit organisations struggling to get their case over the line. The organisation is reluctant to fund claims where the claimant is well funded or has the capabilities to cover their own costs.

Applications will be reviewed by three of the team's 30-strong volunteer panel of legal experts before the founders make a final decision.

Law for Change will be officially launched this evening at an event hosted by law firm Kingsley Napley.