What Parity is not
Parity is deliberately narrow. Knowing its boundaries is part of using it well.
Not legal advice
Parity gathers facts. It does not:
- give legal advice,
- assess the merits of a case,
- recommend a strategy, or
- act as a decision-maker.
It names a broad domain and produces a factual record. The caseworker advises.
Civil matters, England & Wales only
Parity covers civil matters within England & Wales. Anything outside that jurisdiction is out of scope.
In scope
The legal areas Parity handles:
- Employment
- Housing — private rented (non-social)
- Contract & consumer
- Property & neighbour
- Debt & enforcement
- Negligence / injury — information-gathering only
Out of scope (politely redirected)
When a matter falls outside what Parity handles, the assistant does not take it on — it redirects the client to more appropriate help. Excluded areas include:
- Criminal
- Family
- Social housing
- Immigration
- Mental capacity / Court of Protection
- Judicial review
- Anything outside England & Wales
Rather than leaving the client stranded, the assistant names some next steps:
- emergencies → 999 (and 101 for non-emergency police),
- specialist legal help → the Law Society's Find a Solicitor service,
- general guidance on rights → Citizens Advice.
It also offers to summarise what the client has told it, so they can take that to another service. These are the default suggestions, given in plain text rather than as links — a clinic can customise its own assistant, so the wording may differ.
For the full domain list, see Domains. For the client's view of all this, see What clients see.