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NLJ this week: Lack of trust at heart of legal aid failures

13 August 2021
Issue: 7945 / Categories: Legal News , Legal aid focus , Profession
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Suspicious minds or stifling bureaucracy? Whatever the reasons for the Legal Aid Agency’s lack of trust in providers, the end result is often dire for those denied access to justice

’All too often the legal aid’s administrative body is a barrier to justice rather than its enabler,’ Dr Jon Robins, editor of The Justice Gap, writes in this week’s NLJ.

He laments the ‘unhealthily adversarial approach’ taken by the LAA and chronicles the struggles of Terryann Samuels, single mother of four young children, wrongly declared intentionally homeless and served an eviction order, but repeatedly refused legal aid to fight her case. 

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Gibson Dunn—London partner promotions

Gibson Dunn—London partner promotions

Firm grows international bench with expanded UK partner class

Shakespeare Martineau—six appointments

Shakespeare Martineau—six appointments

Firm makes major statement in the capital with strategic growth at The Shard

Myers & Co—Jess Latham

Myers & Co—Jess Latham

Residential conveyancing team expands with solicitor hire

NEWS
One in five in-house lawyers suffer ‘high’ or ‘severe’ work-related stress, according to a report by global legal body, the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC)
The Legal Ombudsman’s (LeO’s) plea for a budget increase has been rejected by the Law Society and accepted only ‘with reluctance’ by conveyancers
Overcrowded prisons, mental health hospitals and immigration centres are failing to meet international and domestic human rights standards, the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) has warned
Two speedier and more streamlined qualification routes have been launched for probate and conveyancing professionals
Workplace stress was a contributing factor in almost one in eight cases before the employment tribunal last year, indicating its endemic grip on the UK workplace
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