header-logo header-logo

Decade contracts for legal aid as maximum term increased

08 May 2024
Issue: 8070 / Categories: Legal News , Profession , Criminal , Legal aid focus
printer mail-detail

Criminal lawyers will be offered a ten-year contract when the next procurement process begins, the Legal Aid Agency (LAA) confirmed this week

Current contracts, which began in 2022, end on 30 September 2025. Bidding for the 2025 Standard Crime Contract will commence this September.

One of the changes announced is an extension of the maximum term to ten years. The LAA said it aims to give providers more certainty so they can take long-term decisions.

Law Society president Nick Emmerson said the majority of the changes introduced ‘should have a positive impact for our members’.

He said they will ‘only have to go through the bureaucracy and stress of a tender process once a decade. That stress will be reduced because a mistake in their application will simply mean they have to redo the application, rather than meaning they are locked out of the system for several years as is presently the case.’

Issue: 8070 / Categories: Legal News , Profession , Criminal , Legal aid focus
printer mail-details

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Charles Russell Speechlys—Gustina Singgih

Charles Russell Speechlys—Gustina Singgih

Corporate team in London welcomes new partner

Church Court Chambers—Maria Karaiskos KC

Church Court Chambers—Maria Karaiskos KC

Historic appointment of chambers' first female head

Wright Hassall—five promotions

Wright Hassall—five promotions

Firm announces five promotions, including new partner

NEWS
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ
Writing in NLJ this week, Victoria Rylatt and Robyn Laye of Anthony Gold Solicitors examine recent international relocation cases where allegations of domestic abuse shaped outcomes
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
back-to-top-scroll