header-logo header-logo

NLJ this week: Rich lawyer, poor lawyer—do some lawyers charge too much?

07 July 2023
Issue: 8032 / Categories: Legal News , Profession , Legal aid focus
printer mail-detail
129582
Some lawyers earn millions. Others struggle to get by on modest incomes. In this week’s NLJ, Sir Geoffrey Bindman KC takes issue with this imbalance of riches.

‘It has harmful consequences,’ Bindman writes. ‘The starvation of legal aid and the underfunding of the courts and their administration undermines the rule of law and the citizen’s fundamental right of equal access to justice.’

The imbalance complicates litigation costs, spinning off a whole separate sector of specialist expertise. It has been the subject of judicial concern. And no doubt clients have a view too.

Bindman explores why some lawyers bill such hefty sums, and whether they charge too much. He asks whether Michael Gove’s suggestion of a levy on City firms to help pay for legal aid should be revisited: maybe it’s time to share the proceeds? After all, high-rolling lawyers derive their status from the integrity of the profession as a whole, and without the input of the legal aid and social justice lawyer, there would be less integrity on which to base their lucrative fee. 

Read more from Bindman here.

Issue: 8032 / Categories: Legal News , Profession , Legal aid focus
printer mail-details

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Gilson Gray—Linda Pope

Gilson Gray—Linda Pope

Partner joins family law team inLondon

Jackson Lees Group—five promotions

Jackson Lees Group—five promotions

Private client division announces five new partners

Taylor Wessing—Max Millington

Taylor Wessing—Max Millington

Banking and finance team welcomes partner in London

NEWS
The landmark Supreme Court’s decision in Johnson v FirstRand Bank Ltd—along with Rukhadze v Recovery Partners—redefine fiduciary duties in commercial fraud. Writing in NLJ this week, Mary Young of Kingsley Napley analyses the implications of the rulings
Barristers Ben Keith of 5 St Andrew’s Hill and Rhys Davies of Temple Garden Chambers use the arrest of Simon Leviev—the so-called Tinder Swindler—to explore the realities of Interpol red notices, in this week's NLJ
Mazur v Charles Russell Speechlys [2025] has upended assumptions about who may conduct litigation, warn Kevin Latham and Fraser Barnstaple of Kings Chambers in this week's NLJ. But is it as catastrophic as first feared?
Lord Sales has been appointed to become the Deputy President of the Supreme Court after Lord Hodge retires at the end of the year
Limited liability partnerships (LLPs) are reportedly in the firing line in Chancellor Rachel Reeves upcoming Autumn budget
back-to-top-scroll