Defendants have been left unrepresented in courts after solicitors across the country voted not to take new cases at “derisory” rates when the second tranche of 8.75% fee cuts was introduced at the beginning of July, according to reports in Counsel magazine. The protest action followed a ballot of two special interest groups, the Criminal Law Solicitors’ Association and London Criminal Courts Solicitors’ Association, whose members voted overwhelmingly to refuse new cases after 1 July.