Paul Fisher shares his views on how to avert a pro bono crisis
The compliance of the legal profession with what has traditionally been understood as its moral imperative to “do good” by those less fortunate in society through the provision of pro bono legal advice is under threat. The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 and the implementation of the Jackson Reforms have become the new concerns for an anxious profession. Regardless of the merits debate, their practical consequences are clear: the community legal service fund will suffer a sizeable reduction in value and the contractual instrument designed to fill the void left by a retreating state—the conditional fee agreement—will become far less attractive as an option for funding with the end of “success fee” recovery.
Three possible means of funding pro bono institutions during this daunting phase of austerity will be addressed in this paper: compulsory “pro bono costs”, the utilisation of “indemnity costs” and payments in lieu of mandatory pro bono services.
Compulsion
Section 194 of the Legal Services Act 2007 could
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