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The law is (still) not a level playing field

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The proper funding of our justice system, so neglected by recent governments, is a vital issue for our society and it demands urgent action, says Geoffrey Bindman KC

In his recent piece on third-party litigation funding, Roger Smith considered the intervention of a new breed of entrepreneur into the funding of litigation. He sees this as a step in increasing ‘commoditisation’ of the law—defined by Google as ‘transformation of something into an object of trade or commerce’ (‘Third-party funding—regulation needed?’ 172 NLJ 8002, p6).

In a more recent article, he has criticised the government’s delay of its ‘distant and unfunded’ review of civil legal aid as an’ abdication of responsibility’ (‘Civil legal aid: rolling down the road?’ NLJ, 20 January 2023, p6). Both issues raise the broader question: how should our independent legal profession and our justice system be funded?

Double-edged swords

The earliest lawyers in Greece and Rome were unpaid. The great Roman lawyer Cicero

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DWF—19 appointments

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Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

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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
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve reports on Haynes v Thomson, the first judicial application of the Supreme Court’s For Women Scotland ruling in a discrimination claim, in this week's NLJ
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