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13 August 2021
Issue: 7945 / Categories: Legal News , Legal aid focus , Profession
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NLJ this week: Lack of trust at heart of legal aid failures

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Suspicious minds or stifling bureaucracy? Whatever the reasons for the Legal Aid Agency’s lack of trust in providers, the end result is often dire for those denied access to justice

’All too often the legal aid’s administrative body is a barrier to justice rather than its enabler,’ Dr Jon Robins, editor of The Justice Gap, writes in this week’s NLJ.

He laments the ‘unhealthily adversarial approach’ taken by the LAA and chronicles the struggles of Terryann Samuels, single mother of four young children, wrongly declared intentionally homeless and served an eviction order, but repeatedly refused legal aid to fight her case. 

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Jurit LLP—Caroline Williams

Jurit LLP—Caroline Williams

Private wealth and tax team welcomes cross-border specialist as consultant

Freeths—Michelle Kirkland Elias

Freeths—Michelle Kirkland Elias

International hospitality and leisure specialist joins corporate team as partner

Flint Bishop—Deborah Niven

Flint Bishop—Deborah Niven

Firm appoints head of intellectual property to drive northern growth

NEWS
Talk of a reserved ‘Welsh seat’ on the Supreme Court is misplaced. In NLJ this week, Professor Graham Zellick KC explains that the Constitutional Reform Act treats ‘England and Wales’ as one jurisdiction, with no statutory Welsh slot
The government’s plan to curb jury trials has sparked ‘jury furore’. Writing in NLJ this week, David Locke, partner at Hill Dickinson, says the rationale is ‘grossly inadequate’
A year after the $1.5bn Bybit heist, crypto fraud is booming—but so is recovery. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Holloway, founder and CEO of M2 Recovery, warns that scams hit at least $14bn in 2025, fuelled by ‘pig butchering’ cons and AI deepfakes
After Woodcock confirmed no general duty to warn, debate turns to the criminal law. Writing in NLJ this week, Charles Davey of The Barrister Group urges revival of misprision or a modern equivalent
Family courts are tightening control of expert evidence. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Chris Pamplin says there is ‘no automatic right’ to call experts; attendance must be ‘necessary in the interests of justice’ under FPR Pt 25
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