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Law Society vision for 21st century justice

25 June 2025
Issue: 8122 / Categories: Legal News , Legal aid focus , Legal services , Profession
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An ‘NHS 111’ for legal services could save the system £72m in five years, the Law Society has said

It makes the claim in its ‘21st Century Justice’ report, published this week, where it urges the government to view civil justice as an essential public service like the NHS or education. The ‘111’ for law would be a free artificial intelligence-powered tool which signposts people to the help they need.

The Law Society also urges the government to ‘fix legal aid before all skilled providers completely disappear’—increasing legal aid fees in line with inflation and creating an independent body to conduct regular reviews of fees. It cites the recent cyberattack on the Legal Aid Agency (LAA) as proof the system needs reform, highlights a lack of trust between practitioners and the LAA, and proposes simpler contracts with practitioners. Another suggestion is that the LAA introduce a dedicated email and telephone line so practitioners can check decisions on the financial eligibility of cases are correct.

The Law Society advocates a ‘single ombudsman for every major area of public life’, on the basis that the many ombudsman services confuse consumers. It suggests reforming access to ombudsman services by removing the MP access filter for Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman referrals, empowering ombudsman schemes to undertake investigations and allowing small and medium enterprises access to ombudsman services in energy and telecoms sectors to give them access to more effective redress.

Law Society president Richard Atkinson said: ‘Our report puts forward practical solutions to achieve a vision for redefining a fair justice system that works for the common good.’

Atkinson highlighted that legal aid ‘deserts’ where there is a shortage of providers have left nine in ten people without local support in some areas of law, while only a quarter of county court cases are fully digitised, causing delays.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—19 appointments

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS
In this week's NLJ, Steven Ball of Red Lion Chambers unpacks how advances in forensic science finally unmasked Ryland Headley, jailed in 2025 for the 1967 rape and murder of 75-year-old Louisa Dunne. Preserved swabs and palm prints lay dormant for decades until DNA-17 profiling produced a billion-to-one match
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
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve reports on Haynes v Thomson, the first judicial application of the Supreme Court’s For Women Scotland ruling in a discrimination claim, in this week's NLJ
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
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