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15 August 2014 / Christopher Digby-Bell
Issue: 7619 / Categories: Features
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Taking a stand

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Christopher Digby-Bell applauds Chancery Lane for doing the right thing…at last!

The Law Society has been true to its members and agreed to help fund criminal legal aid lawyers’ judicial review battle with the government. A matter of some irritation for Mr Grayling no doubt, but the gamble is it might just work to force him to think again about the legal aid cuts.

No cats hiding in Chancery Lane

It’s a gamble because this government has an unfortunate reputation for being in the eye-for-an-eye business...or as Muhammad Ali used to put it: “You kill my dog, you better hide your cat.” The great thing about cats is that they don’t respond to threats, so there will be no cats hiding in Chancery Lane. Grayling may get mad, but he’ll get over it because us lawyers are just too important. We’re up there with the doctors, nurses and teachers as a member of the country’s moral elite. But we’ll have to expect that the society will be off the Ministry of Justice’s (MoJ’s) Christmas card

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