Crowd Funding for Justice

Over the summer a non-practising UK solicitor launched “CrowdJustice“. It is a funding platform through which people can combine to build support for and share costs of taking legal action for issues that effect their community.

It is run by a team of lawyers and volunteers based in London.

The Case Owner sets a deadline and funding target for the amount needed to offset the costs. Only when the target is met are the pledges collected and paid to the lawyer’s trust account.Crowd Justice charges a fee if a case is successfully funded.

Cases recently funded or currently in the funding phase include: opposition to highrise development overlooking public space, liability of the military for death or injury from “friendly fire” due to basic training failings; wrongful criminal conviction.

The mission statement of the founder says: “We founded CrowdJustice because we think that accessing the courts shouldn’t be for those who can afford it. We believe there is enormous power in community that can be harnessed to achieve legal change.”