Raw economics, not lack of dedication, will force lawyers to consider their commitment to legal aid,
says Carol Storer
This year the Legal Aid Practitioners Group (LAPG) celebrates its silver jubilee. It might have been hoped that we would have disbanded by now. Twenty five years ago, when the Memorandum of Association was drafted, who would have thought that advancing and improving the provision of legal aid in England and Wales and the remuneration of legal aid practitioners would have needed so much time spent on it?
It seems to us that this summer and autumn are a watershed for practitioners. In the past, practitioners have continued because of their dedication to asserting and enforcing their clients’ rights and their belief in the importance of delivering legal aid work to clients who are often socially disadvantaged. Now, margins have been cut and bureaucracy continues to take up valuable time which could otherwise be used to deliver services. Management of contracts is always more time consuming when the profit margins are low and senior staff have to work out how to deliver a service
