The Lord Chancellor, Michael Gove, has offered to suspend the latest cut to criminal legal aid fees if criminal defence solicitors agree not to continue their national boycott of legal aid work at the new rate. A second 8.75% cut to fees was introduced in July, but defence solicitors refused to accept the work, although they backed down in August as a gesture of goodwill. The Criminal Law Solicitors Association and London Criminal Courts’ Solicitors Association are considering Gove’s offer.
25 September 2015
Legal aid latest
MOVERS & SHAKERS
Browne Jacobson—Caroline Barker & Tom Walker
Browne Jacobson recruits regulatory experts Caroline Barker and Tom Walker to bolster health, government and corporates practices
Jackson Lees Group—Paul Harrison, Helen Innes & Sorcha McMullan
Partner and paralegals bolster clinical negligence team at Jackson Lees Group
Stone King—Manchester
Stone King triples Manchester footprint with office move as law firm’s rapid growth journey continues
NEWS
The Court of Appeal has overturned the convictions of five Barclays LIBOR/EURIBOR traders—demonstrating the dangers of removing jury trial from serious fraud cases, according to a solicitor acting in the case
Lawyers have welcomed the Lord Chancellor’s reverse-ferret on jury reforms, but expressed ‘serious concerns’ about the decision to exclude fraud trials
From ‘rats in the robing room’ to ‘overworked’ judges and a shortage of court staff, barristers have aired their concerns about the state of the justice system
The use of agentic artificial intelligence (AI) poses ‘significant risks’ across the justice system, public services and government, and current regulation is ‘poorly suited’ to control it, experts have warned
The solicitors’ regulator has paused controversial plans to exclude owner-managers from compliance officer roles
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