The UK lawyers giving valuable advice to Ukrainians fleeing conflict

Thousands of Ukrainians are urgently seeking information and advice about asylum, family reunification and other visas to remain in or come to the UK.

In the UK, over 400 volunteer lawyers are helping to provide timely information and advice. Ukraine Advice Project UK was set up in February by UK immigration lawyers Jennifer Blair, Miranda Butler, Simon Cox, Alex Piletska and John Vassiliou with support from CJ McKinney of Free Movement, to help people fleeing Ukraine access basic legal advice.

DLA Piper is supporting the Ukraine Advice Project, with our lawyers drawing on experience from a similar project to provide legal information to Afghans in 2021. Our pro bono team, working closely with the legal tech team, has set up an inbox and a secure platform to receive and manage requests for assistance. The project has received nearly 700 queries in a week. Our lawyers are providing information about legal routes to the UK and triaging complex queries to specialist immigration lawyers.

CJ McKinney from the Ukraine Advice Project said: “Thank you to DLA Piper, who are working alongside the hundreds of immigration lawyers who have already signed up to provide pro bono advice to Ukrainians and others fleeing the war. DLA Piper's resources and experience coordinating a similar initiative for Afghan refugees will allow many more people to access desperately needed legal help and advice on UK visa and asylum options”

Olivia Clark, Senior Associate and manager of the UK pro bono practice, said: “Thousands of Ukrainians in the UK require access to high quality legal information and advice. It’s important for us to be supporting the Ukraine Advice Project and for the the pro bono community to be stepping up at this time.”

To request advice, or to volunteer with the project, please contact projectu@dlapiper.com. Find out more about the project and how the volunteers can help here.