In a special tribute in this week's NLJ, David Burrows reflects on the retirement of Patrick Allen, co-founder of Hodge Jones & Allen, whose career epitomised the heyday of legal aid
Burrows recalls the optimism of the 1970s when the ‘green form’ scheme opened up access to advice for those on the lowest incomes. That optimism, he says, has been steadily eroded by decades of cuts, from the Access to Justice Act 1999 through to Grayling’s LASPO 2012.
Yet legal aid endures in fragmentary form, sustained by firms such as HJA and occasional victories in the courts. Recent cases underline both the importance of exceptional case funding and the continuing strain on those seeking justice.
Burrows concludes that Allen’s retirement marks the end of a much kinder era, but pays tribute to his and HJA’s unwavering ethos: to help individuals assert rights and correct miscarriages of justice.
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