We have endeavoured to answer your Frequently Asked Questions. If, however, there is any query that you have but you cannot find the answer below, please contact us. 

Questions:

JOINING OUR MAILING LIST OR BEING LISTED ON THE SITE

I am not a lawyer and I am not black or an ethnic minority, can I join the mailing list on BLD?

Can I join the mailing list without being a member?

What is the difference between being on the mailing list and being a member? 

When am I eligible for membership?

How do I become a member?

How do I unsubscribe after joining the mailing list?

COSTS OF GETTING LISTED AND/OR LISTING

How much does it cost to join the mailing list?

How much does it cost to be a member?

WHO IS A LAWYER?

I am a Legal Executive in England, am I classified as a lawyer?

FINDING A LAWYER ON BLD

How do I find a lawyer on the site?

ADVERTISING ON BLD

I am very interested in advertising on your site. What are your rates?

We are a charity and can ill-afford the huge costs of advertising our legal vacancies. How can BLD help us?

How do I advertise our job vacancies on the site?

We are a law firm in New York, can we become members or  advertise our job vacancies on BLD?

Can I advertise my services with BLD?

We want to change our uploaded advertisement. How do we do this?

The position has been filled and we want to delete/withdraw the advertisement. How do we do this?

I am interested in a job advertisement on the site, do I contact BLD?

PAYMENT QUERIES

How can I pay for the advertisements?

Which credit and debit cards do you accept?

PASSWORDS AND LOGIN DETAILS

I forgot my password and login details. What do I do now? 

How do I change my username and password? 

My contact/personal details have changed. How do I update them?

NEWS AND EVENTS

How do we upload our events?

We want to change details in our uploaded events. How do we do this? 

The event has been cancelled. How do we delete/withdraw it from the site?

SPONSORS AND DONORS

How do I become a sponsor? 

How do I become a donor?

JOB-SEEKERS

How do I search for jobs?

LEGAL GATEWAY

What is the Legal Gateway about?

BLD AND THE ISSUE OF COLOUR AND ETHNICITY

What do you mean by BME?

Who is a black minority ethnic person (BME)?

I am a lawyer of Chinese origin and my partner, who is of Indian origin, is also a lawyer. What has BLD got to do with us? 

I am a successful ethnic minority lawyer and achieved everything through hard work. I find this Directory insulting as it reduces my achievement to my ethnicity.

BLD’s SERVICES 

Do you only provide directory services?

BLD AND OTHER MINORITY ETHNIC GROUPS

Is BLD the same as the Black Solicitors Network (BSN)?

Answers:

A1: Yes. There is no bar to joining our mailing list. You will receive regular information about our events, news, jobs newsletters and our regular monthly newsletter which contains our renowned Lawyer of the Month feature, latest jobs, forthcoming events and our extensive articles on legal and non-legal issues. If you wish to do this, click here for our "Quick Email Only Registration". However, please note that being on our mailing list is not the same as being a BLD member.

A2: Yes. Anyone can join our mailing list using our "Quick Email Only Registration". Please click here if you wish to do so.

A3: Please see our Membership pages for full information about membership, including the benefits of membership.

A4: There is no bar to becoming a BLD member but all members must subscribe to our aims and objectives.

Individual lawyers in the UK who do not belong to any of the above categories but who subscribe to and support the aims and objectives of BLD can also be listed. Please contact us for further details.

A5: Please see our Membership pages for full information about membership.

A6: Click on the red "Login", which is at the top right hand-corner of the website. Login as normal using your username (this is your email address that is listed on the site) and password. Then unsubscribe to the mailing list and click “Update Details”.

A7: This is free to all.

A8: Please see the costs of membership.

A9: Yes. If you are a Fellow member of the Institute of Legal Executives (ILEX) with a current practising certificate. The following are also classified as lawyers in England and Wales in BLD:

• Solicitors (on the roll, whether or not practising) 
• Barristers (whether or not practising) 
• Licensed Conveyancers with full or limited licence 
• Registered European Lawyers (REL)
• Registered Foreign Lawyers (RFL)

A10: Please use the Find a Lawyer green bar at the top right hand corner of the website.

A11: Please see our rates for advertising on the site and our rates to advertise in the Black Letter Law publication

A12: Our fees are very competitive. We also have specially discounted rates for charities and the not-for-profit sector for advertising on the site.

A13: Please see our dedicated Advertisers and Recruiters pages for information about advertising, uploading ads, deleting and editing ads.

A14: Yes, by becoming a BLD member. Please see our Membership pages for full information about membership. You may also advertise any legal job vacancies—please see our dedicated Advertisers and Recruiters pages.

A15: Yes. Please see our rates for advertising on the site and our rates to advertise in the Black Letter Law publication.

A16: Login using the red bar on the top right hand corner of the website. Login as normal using your username (this is your email address that is listed on the site) and password. Then choose to manage your ads and make the amendments from there.

A17: Login using the red bar on the top right hand corner of the website. Login as normal using your username (this is your email address that is listed on the site) and password. Then choose to manage your ads and delete from there.

A18: No. Please contact the advertiser directly. Please do let the advertiser know that you saw the ad on BLD.

A19: You can pay securely online. You may also pay off-line by BACS, Telegraphic Transfer or by cheque made payable to “Totally Management Ltd” or “BLD”. Where payment is not made online, your advertisement cannot be viewed until the payment has been cleared through our account.

A20: We accept all Visa and MasterCard credit cards. We also accept the following debit cards: Maestro (UK issued only), Visa Electron, Visa Debit and Solo.

A21: Click on the red "Login", which is at the top right hand corner of the website. Click on the link: "Forgotten Password". Insert your email address that is listed on the site and "Submit". Your password will be sent to you immediately.

A22: Login using the red bar on the top right hand corner of the website. Login as normal using your username (this is your email address that is listed on the site) and password. Then update your details and remember to click the "Update" button.

A23: Login using the red bar on the top right hand corner of the website. Login as normal using your username (this is your email address that is listed on the site) and password. Then update your details and remember to click the "Update" button.

A24: If you are a BLD member and your event is relevant to the BLD aims and objectives, we would be happy to upload the event for you. Please send the following information to technicalhelp@onlinebld.com stating:

1.    The name of the event

2.    The date of the event

3.    The starting time

4.    The end time

5.    The address of the event

6.    Details of the event, i.e. summary of what the event is about and relevant booking information

Attach any relevant document that contains the information.

A25: Please email technicalhelp@onlinebld.com with the changes to the original information you had provided.

A26: Please email technicalhelp@onlinebld.com giving the details of the event you want deleted/withdrawn.

A27: Please view our sponsorship pack here. If you still require further information please contact us.

A28: Please view our sponsorship pack here. If you still require further information please contact us.

A29: Go to the Careers and Talent Management pages and within these pages you can view the latest jobs. By using the Advanced Job Search feature, you can also carry out job searches by listing specific criteria of the job you are seeking, such as a specific word, the practice area, the sector or job type.

A30: The Legal Gateway Scheme provides access to an array of career development opportunities, such as mentoring, workshops, work placements and events. The scheme benefits lawyers, trainee solicitors, pupil barristers, undergraduates, postgraduates and paralegals as well as schoolchildren and others considering or pursuing legal careers. The scheme includes the Legal Launch Pad (LLP) programme, the Today’s Children Tomorrow’s Lawyers (TCTL) programme and our dedicated mentoring programme called Make a Difference Be the Difference. Please see our Legal Gateway pages further.

A31: BME stands for black and minority ethnic. BME is sometimes referred to as BAME.

A32: In BLD a black minority ethnic person is someone who falls into any of the following groups: 

• Asian or Asian British - Bangladeshi
• Asian or Asian British - Indian
• Asian or Asian British - Pakistani
• Asian or Asian British - Any other Asian background
• Black or Black British - African
• Black or Black British - Caribbean
• Black or Black British - Any other African background
• Chinese
• Chinese - Any other Chinese background
• Mixed Ethnic Background – White and Asian
• Mixed Ethnic Background – White and Black African
• Mixed Ethnic Background – White and Black Caribbean
• Mixed Ethnic Background – Any other Mixed Background
• Other Ethnic Group - Other

A33: Everything! “Black” as used in BLD is generic and covers all non-whites. Our aims and objectives, the images used and our publicity are consistent with this usage.

A34: Most successful lawyers, no matter what their race, creed or colour, achieve their success through sheer hard work. BLD is a positive action to try to redress evident imbalances. In fact, successful ethnic minority lawyers profiled in BLD will showcase the breadth and wealth of experience of black and ethnic minority lawyers. Lawyers featured in our "Lawyer of the Month" can be positive role models and an inspiration to the younger generation that they can be whatever they want to be if they have what it takes. In short, that the glass ceiling can be shattered and the sky is the limit, no matter the shade. 

A35: At BLD, we offer extensive services, other than the Directory listing itself as the cornerstone of everything we do is to highlight and promote diversity in law. Do view extensive services here.

A36: No, we are not. However, we highlight and promote the BSN and their work as part of our fundamental aim of highlighting and promoting diversity in law. We do the same for other organisations, such as the Society of Asian Lawyers (SAL), Society of Black Lawyers (SBL), the Association of Muslim Lawyers (AML) and the British Nigerian Law Forum (BNLF)