‘Social welfare law is at the core of the legal aid concept,’ argues the human rights lawyer Michael Mansfied QC. ‘Legal aid is about providing safety nets. We are looking at those people who cannot look after themselves because they haven’t got the wherewithal be that financially, physically or mentally. For that safety net to
Barristers should consider ‘the ultimate weapon’ and threaten strike action over legal aid cuts and delays to their payments, argued the chairman of the Criminal Bar Association last week. A new survey of over 1,600 CBA members found almost nine out of 10 respondents (89%) were willing to take direct action. Speaking at the group’s
‘Wicked’ is the word that Lord Bach returns to in relation to the legal aid Bill. Taking social welfare law out was ‘a wicked thing to have done’, says the peer who has led the opposition attack on the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill in the House of Lords. ‘It is an attack
Today sees the launch of LegalVoice, a new online magazine for all professionals committed to access to justice – the day after the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders (LASPO) Act 2012 received Royal Assent. See below. LegalVoice is an online magazine about ‘access to justice’. It is aimed at legal aid law firms,
The leading civil liberties firms Deighton Guedalla and Pierce Glynn merged today. ‘We are merging because we admire each other’s work,’ commented Jane Deighton, a founding partner of Deighton Guedalla is now director of the new firm. Deighton Pierce Glynn (as the new firm is called) will – in its words – ‘retain the ethos
TICKETS AVAILABLE: The Prisoners Advice Service is having its annual debate later this month at the City law firm Lovells. It is part of the JusticeGap series and the second time PAS has teamed up with www.thejusticegap.com. You can read a conversation between Jonathan Aitken and Frances Crook promoting last year’s debate in the Guardian
Click here to find out more about the London Legal sponsored Walk next month (May 16)
Ministers backed down on controversial plans to make it harder for victims of domestic violence to claim legal aid; but otherwise refused to bow to all but three of the 11 amendments. On Tuesday night MPs debated the amendments made to the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill during its passage through the
‘Cost’ was the single most common cause of complaints from clients about their lawyers, according to a new report published Legal Ombudsman. It found that in ‘20% to 25%’ of all its investigations consumers felt they had been ‘over-charged, confused, or surprised’ at the costs. The legal ombudsman Adam Sampson warned lawyers that they ‘must
