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24 November 2010 / Adam Makepeace
Issue: 7443 / Categories: Opinion
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Evolution not revolution?

The net result of government plans to wipe £350m off the legal aid budget is an attack on the welfare of some of the most vulnerable members of our society

A reduction in legal aid funding need not spell disaster, says Adam Makepeace

The net result of government plans to wipe £350m off the legal aid budget is an attack on the welfare of some of the most vulnerable members of our society and it will be up to those of us working in the sector to rise to the challenge if we want to preserve our clients’ access to justice. We can argue at the margins about a cut here and there or we can find ways to continue to give our clients the voice they deserve in the legal system.

A significant facet of the impending legal aid revolution will be an acceleration of the consolidation of legal aid businesses. However, the Law Society’s recent successful judicial review of the Legal Service Commission’s (LSC) family law bid tender process (which heralded an overnight

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Harneys—Maggie Kwok & George Weston

Harneys—Maggie Kwok & George Weston

Harneys senior leadership appointments

Freeths—Keith Browne & Jim Jordan

Freeths—Keith Browne & Jim Jordan

Freeths strengthens London Construction and Engineering practice with two strategic senior hires

Anthony Collins—Laura Moss

Anthony Collins—Laura Moss

Anthony Collins announces strategic hire to deepen skills base in the social business sector

NEWS
More than 100 teams from the legal and financial services sectors competed in five sports at the 51st Law Society RFC Festival of Sport earlier this month
Part-time status need only be an effective cause of less favourable treatment, rather than the sole cause, the Supreme Court has held in Augustine v Data Cars
Britain’s new acknowledgement that Israel’s occupation is unlawful, and accompanying settlement-goods ban and sanctions, is significant but overdue, argue Danny Friedman KC and Victor Kattan in NLJ this week
New planning fee rises, wider trade union access rights and a service-by-email trap feature in Stephen Gold’s latest Civil Way
Existing defamation law can respond to AI ‘hallucinations’, but allocating responsibility will prove harder where outputs reach users without human intervention
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