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Fig leaves & failings

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08 April 2014 / Jo Renshaw
Categories: Opinion , Judicial review , Public , Legal aid focus , Legal services , Immigration & asylum
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Jo Renshaw reports on the impact of LASPO on those rooted in publicly-funded work as part of an exclusive NLJ online series on legal aid

Sometimes it is hard to believe that a year has passed since the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) came into effect. Other times it is equally hard to remember “the good old days” pre-LASPO when you were able to pop down and actually assist the desperate client in reception with her belongings packed neatly in two carrier bags by her side.

The impact of LASPO has been so profound and so far-reaching, it is difficult to know where to start. This short piece will concentrate on the area I know best—immigration—but, as a partner of a firm which has its roots in publicly-funded work, I will also look at the impact of LASPO on our business and our prospects for survival as we face what in fact may be our most difficult challenge—the second year in.

The invisible ones

This

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