Legal aid focus

Go to page of 49

Reading between the lines of the government’s latest review of the civil legal aid system, Roger Smith unearths the same old fundamental problems at its heart

Solicitors are to receive a criminal legal aid rates rise while Crown Court sitting days will increase in number to tackle the still-rising cases backlog

Lawyers have hailed the first increase in civil legal aid in 30 years—an extra £20m for housing and immigration. The last funding rise was in 1996.

Duty solicitors at police stations will receive an extra £18.5m from 6 December, while legal aid lawyers at youth courts will get a £5.1m boost for the most serious cases, the Lord Chancellor Shabana Mahmood has confirmed.

It feels like civil legal aid has been in crisis forever—so is the current system simply irreparable? In this week’s NLJ, Roger Smith, former director of JUSTICE, argues that we need a radical rethink.

Roger Smith on why he believes the model of civil legal aid developed as part of the post-war welfare state is bust

Firms are continuing to abandon civil legal aid work, with 1,236 firms contracted with the Legal Aid Agency this year, compared to 1,320 last year and 1,500 in 2019-20

Roger Smith reflects on the radical vision that created law centres & left a lasting legacy

Criminal solicitors have been advised by their own professional body to consider quitting rather than ‘hanging on’ if they find criminal legal aid work financially unviable

Criminal Bar Association (CBA) chair Mary Prior KC has called on the Ministry of Justice to publish a report on the state of criminal legal aid it ‘has been in possession of’ for two months

Show

Results

Go to page of 49

E-newsletter Sign-Up

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Read All

Gateley Legal—Jack Kelly

Gateley Legal expands Midlands residential development team

Gibson Dunn—Richard Surtees

Gibson Dunn adds employee benefits and executive compensation practice in London with partner Richard Surtees

Laytons ETL—Alec Cameron

Laytons ETL appoints new partner and head of intellectual property disputes

NEWS

Read All

NLJ this week: Property cases reshape established principles

A series of recent decisions has clarified important principles across property law, from perpetuities to lease renewals and public rights over land

NLJ this week: Stress ruling raises the bar for employers

Employers cannot rely on wellbeing services alone to defend workplace stress claims after a High Court decision awarding almost £1m to an overworked employee

NLJ this week: Can Manchesterism revive access to justice?

Andy Burnham's brand of 'Manchesterism' could offer fresh thinking on legal aid and access to justice if it reaches Westminster, according to Roger Smith, NLJ columnist and former director of JUSTICE

NLJ this week: Constitutional conventions tested as power changes hands

The constitutional fallout from a change of prime minister, rather than the politics, is under scrutiny as questions arise over the limits of executive authority in a leadership transition

NLJ this week: Lawyers must become product designers

The legal profession is undergoing a fundamental shift from selling services to creating technology-enabled products, according to Professor Luke Mason, Head of School of Law at Regent's University London

Error message

Legal aid focus

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Gateley Legal—Jack Kelly

Gibson Dunn—Richard Surtees

Laytons ETL—Alec Cameron