Legal aid focus

Chris Pamplin analyses a case of cracking brinkmanship

With pressure mounting on public spending, legal aid is a likely victim of significant cuts. Politicians blame lawyers for inflating demand and increasingly desperate lawyers make pleas for quality and access to justice that are likely to fall on deaf ears. Something, everybody agrees, needs to be done—but nobody can decide what that something might be.

The Bar got record numbers of delegates for its annual conference. Over 400 paid to attend this year’s event which had the theme of access to justice. The Bar’s success is somewhat in contrast to the Law Society. It has quietly buried its annual conference in the face of member apathy.
Those attending the Bar conference got the usual balance of general keynote speakers and more specialist sessions. Desmond Browne QC gave the usual bullish presentation as the current chairman of the Bar.

In its 60th year, the legal aid scheme, in common with the rest of the public sector, has to live within its means.

Complexities of legal aid system blamed for payment errors

Let us remember the names of the reviewers and researchers of legal aid since 1997: Sir Peter Middleton, Frontier Economics, Matrix Consultancy, Lord Carter of Coles, the (hapless) in-house Fundamental team and now Sir Ian McGhee. As Labour came into office, it asked a retired banker what to do. As it seemed likely to leave, it asked a former civil servant the same question.

Fixed fee figures represent a 40% cut to hourly rates

Family lawyers have voiced concern at a new “uneconomic” fixed fee structure for family legal aid work.

Civil & criminal systems could be separated under Ministry of Justice proposals

“Bombed—lost everything”. That was how one London Citizens Advice bureau memorably recorded the nature of the legal problems for the newly dispossessed “streams” of clients approaching the nascent service. War was declared on 3 September 1939 and the first bureau opened its doors the next day.