Earlier this month Justice Minister Judith Collins announced additional top-up funding for community law centres over the next two years.
Her office has confirmed the Ngai Tahu Law Centre would be treated the same as other community law centres.
These centres ''will continue to be funded at their current level until the end of the calendar year 2013 and they have been advised of this'', a spokeswoman said last week.
Despite this confirmation, Ngai Tahu Law Centre staff believe their funding will be withdrawn at the end of this year, as Maori land was not considered a priority.
''Publicly the Ministry of Justice may say that we are being treated the same as all other law centres but in our recent national hui and in past verbal correspondence with the Ministry of Justice staff made it clear that Maori land is not a priority,'' centre lawyer Desiree Mahy said.
All other law centres, apart from the Ngai Tahu Maori Law Centre, had an expectation of funding until at least July 2014, she said.
''If the attitude of the Ministry of Justice towards Maori land matters does not change or if alternative sources of funding are not found, the law centre will - worst-case scenario - cease to exist some time in 2014,'' Ms Mahy said.
The centre could be forced to source funding elsewhere and charge clients, many of whom might not be able to afford to pay for the legal services, she said.
The centre offers a free service to all those who live in the Ngai Tahu area - regardless of iwi - and to Ngai Tahu people who live anywhere in the world.
''This includes non-Maori where it is in the best interest of Maori to do so.''
The Ngai Tahu Maori Law Centre was set up in 1993 by three of the local runanga, Moeraki, Otakou and Puketeraki, and worked predominantly in making applications to the Maori land court, concerning Maori land issues.
Ms Mahy said the 20-year-old centre was involved in an estimated 90% of cases of Maori land in the Ngai Tahu area and at least 50% of Maori land cases elsewhere in the country.
The centre wrote submissions on law reform affecting the community, helped individuals register with iwi, did intellectual property work and wrote leases or licence agreements. Centre staff offered for-fee mediation with a Maori focus.
The centre urged the public who wanted to retain free services to contact local MPs and government ministers, including Mrs Collins and Maori Affairs Minister Pita Sharples.
