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Legal aid focus

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The good news is the government has announced a civil legal aid review. The bad news is it won’t report until 2024.
Far from a bold initiative, the announcement of a distant & unfunded review of civil legal aid is an abdication of government responsibility, says Roger Smith
Members of the public across the three main parties support legal aid, research has shown.
Lawyers have welcomed the ‘long overdue’ review into civil legal aid, but expressed concern about the timescale and called for immediate action to prevent collapse.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) plans to recruit up to 1,100 judges and tribunal members and 4,000 more magistrates in 2022-23, according to its annual report and accounts for 2021-22.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has announced that the government will be undertaking a review looking into ways to better the civil legal aid market through improving the sustainability of the legal aid system for people facing civil and family legal issues. 
One solicitor had a piece of air conditioning fall on their head at a magistrate’s court in Manchester, while another solicitor reports from a London Crown Court that ‘everything is falling apart… ceilings leak, toilets leak… mould everywhere’.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) recently launched (under the previous Lord Chancellor) a ‘one-stop shop’ online information tool offering key statistics on prisons, probation and the courts. 
The Ministry of Justice’s ‘one-stop shop’ for data is a promising start, but nowhere near a finished result, says Roger Smith
Criminal law solicitors could follow the Bar’s example and down tools following justice secretary Dominic Raab’s final response to the Independent Review of Criminal Legal Aid.
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MOVERS & SHAKERS

mfg Solicitors—Deborah Bufton

mfg Solicitors—Deborah Bufton

Law firm boosts residential property team with new associate appointment

Flint Bishop—Russell Bainbridge

Flint Bishop—Russell Bainbridge

Flint Bishop lands corporate partner from Knights amid Sheffield growth drive

Bird & Bird—Huw Edwards

Bird & Bird—Huw Edwards

Bird Bird appoints expert tech patent litigator as new partner in London

NEWS
The Law Society RFC Festival of Sport returns next month, bringing together legal and financial services professionals for one of the sector’s largest annual sporting events
Legal aid deserts leave almost one in four without adequate access to justice
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has warned solicitors and law firms that using artificial intelligence does not alter their professional obligations, amid concerns over inaccurate legal material and client confidentiality
From forgotten interest claims to case-management appeals, a string of procedural developments offers useful—and occasionally cautionary—lessons for practitioners

Jonathan Fisher KC highlights that it now accounts for around 40% of criminal offences, with roughly 70% involving technology, and argues that the UK cannot simply prosecute its way out of the problem. Detection, investigation and prosecution all require improvement, while different fraud types demand tailored responses.

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