Community Law Wellington and Hutt Valley is a free community legal service with a Wellington office in Te Aro. The website says the fastest way to get advice is to come into a session, and that advice is prioritised by legal urgency rather than first come, first served. Sessions run on weekdays, covering WINZ benefits, family, tenancy, employment, refugee and immigration matters, general legal advice, and advice for women. The website says advice can be given by phone or email if someone is unwell or self-isolating. It also says people usually wait a few weeks between filling in a form and receiving advice. For an urgent request where a person cannot come in, the reception number is 04 499 2928. The office moved to Level 2, 50 Manners Street, and reopened there in July, the website says. Outreach clinics run in Strathmore Park, Upper Hutt, Naenae, Newtown and Wainuiomata.
Reviewers praise the helpful staff and the team of lawyers. One says the free courses on wills, tenancy and WINZ, offered for koha, are well run, and that a Saturday course looked after its participants well. Another waited two hours, only to be told the office had run out of time, even though they arrived at opening. Open Locally lists 14 other lawyers within a kilometre.