header-logo header-logo

No fat left to chew

03 July 2009 / Carol Storer
Issue: 7376 / Categories: Opinion , Legal aid focus
printer mail-detail

Raw economics, not lack of dedication, will force lawyers to consider their commitment to legal aid,
says Carol Storer

This year the Legal Aid Practitioners Group (LAPG) celebrates its silver jubilee. It might have been hoped that we would have disbanded by now. Twenty five years ago, when the Memorandum of Association was drafted, who would have thought that advancing and improving the provision of legal aid in England and Wales and the remuneration of legal aid practitioners would have needed so much time spent on it?

It seems to us that this summer and autumn are a watershed for practitioners. In the past, practitioners have continued because of their dedication to asserting and enforcing their clients’ rights and their belief in the importance of delivering legal aid work to clients who are often socially disadvantaged. Now, margins have been cut and bureaucracy continues to take up valuable time which could otherwise be used to deliver services. Management of contracts is always more time consuming when the profit margins are low and senior staff

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

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
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
Artificial intelligence may be revolutionising the law, but its misuse could wreck cases and careers, warns Clare Arthurs of Penningtons Manches Cooper in this week's NLJ
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
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
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
back-to-top-scroll