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13 August 2021
Issue: 7945 / Categories: Legal News , Legal aid focus , Profession
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NLJ this week: Lack of trust at heart of legal aid failures

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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

mfg Solicitors—Deborah Bufton

mfg Solicitors—Deborah Bufton

Law firm boosts residential property team with new associate appointment

Flint Bishop—Russell Bainbridge

Flint Bishop—Russell Bainbridge

Flint Bishop lands corporate partner from Knights amid Sheffield growth drive

Bird & Bird—Huw Edwards

Bird & Bird—Huw Edwards

Bird Bird appoints expert tech patent litigator as new partner in London

NEWS
The Law Society RFC Festival of Sport returns next month, bringing together legal and financial services professionals for one of the sector’s largest annual sporting events
Legal aid deserts leave almost one in four without adequate access to justice
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has warned solicitors and law firms that using artificial intelligence does not alter their professional obligations, amid concerns over inaccurate legal material and client confidentiality
From forgotten interest claims to case-management appeals, a string of procedural developments offers useful—and occasionally cautionary—lessons for practitioners

Jonathan Fisher KC highlights that it now accounts for around 40% of criminal offences, with roughly 70% involving technology, and argues that the UK cannot simply prosecute its way out of the problem. Detection, investigation and prosecution all require improvement, while different fraud types demand tailored responses.

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