High Court victory tempered by questions over future progress
The family legal aid tendering round was “unfair, unlawful and irrational”, the High Court has ruled.
The judgment, delivered last week by Mr Justice Moses, quashes the outcome of the recent tender round, under which firms bid against each other for a share of available legal aid work. The result, due to be implemented next week, would have seen the number of firms contracted to supply family legal aid cut from 2,400 to 1,300.
Family law firms that had a contract with the LSC prior to the tendering round will now continue for an as yet unspecified time.
The Law Society brought the judicial review, R (Law Society) v Legal Services Commission, after lawyers warned the cuts would lead to a legal advice shortfall among many members of the public.
A jubilant Linda Lee, president of the Law Society, said the court win was a victory for “thousands of families”. The tendering round “would have translated into thousands of people facing grave difficulty in obtaining justice—ordinary
