The secret diary of a legal aid solicitor: the day-to-day story of a high street practitioner
An anonymous legal aid solicitor discusses the questions identified as being of particular interest to the Justice Committee in its inquiry into the impact of the civil legal aid changes under LASPO Act Part 1. The deadline for submissions was the end of April:
Legal aid practitioners and others have probably responded to the questions posed by the Justice Committee about the impact of the LASPO Act en masse. Whether the answers will be read or responded to is quite another matter. I well recall putting in representations against the LASPO Bill (along with many thousands of others); suffice to say that all those representations were ignored. Whether the Justice Committee has any more clout (I doubt it), we will just have to wait and see.
I suspect that many of those who responded will be saying the same thing. Sadly, there will probably be a lack of empirical evidence (save in the case of exceptional cases where, helpfully, rather a lot of hard data is available), and no doubt the government will point to the fact that the justice system has not yet collapsed one year down the line.
In a nutshell, the Justice Committee asked nine questions about the working of the LASPO Act:
•What has been the overall effect on access to justice?
Well, there has been a diminution in the ability of those wanting justice to be able to locate it or fight for it. The number of lawyers doing work under the legal aid scheme is beginning to dry up, firms are going out of business and not for profit (NFP) organisations are going bust.
•What are the trends in relation to the overall number of civil law cases being brought pre and post-LASPO?
Bit of a curve ball this, unless you have a very good database and can pull figures out of a hat. I, for one, just do not have the technology to get these figures. Suffice to say that work is slower and cases fewer.
•Have the changes led to a reduction in the legal aid budget?
Again we need figures from the Legal Aid Agency (LAA) to really answer this question in a meaningful way. I have always had very real problems with the figures advanced by the LAA as to the overall cost of legal aid. Does it properly factor in monies recovered by the statutory charge? Does it take into account the VAT elements of bills? How robust are its figures on the cost of legal aid?
•What effect have the changes had on practitioners and NFP providers?
Well, anecdotally, it would seem that we are seeing a collapse in the Law Centres® movement and many NFP providers are in trouble. The real financial bite of the LASPO Act will probably hit solicitors in private practice during the course of the current year when run-off work has been completed, Legal Help fees begin to dry up and the cuts really begin to impact on the balance sheet.
•What is the effect of the LASPO Act on litigants in person?
Well, there are a lot more. The family courts have been clogged up with families arguing over children and finances. Similarly, the county courts have a bigger than ever cohort of litigants in person.
•What is the effect of the LASPO Act on the take up of mediation?
Mediation is still very much in its infancy. The public are still blissfully unaware of what it is or how it works. There has not been a very large increase in the demand for services of this type.
•How useful is the available information and advice from all sources to potential litigants on civil legal aid, for example, the mandatory telephone gateway service?
Everyone I have spoken to who has had contact with the telephone gateway says that it does not work. Speaking to somebody in Wales, when you are in London and have a problem that may have to be resolved in a London county court, simply does not work well on the telephone and can in some cases delay matters and lead to prejudice to the client. Telephone advice may sometimes have a place but rarely replaces face-to-face advice.
•How have victims of domestic violence been affected by the new evidential and eligibility requirements?
If you are a victim of domestic violence you will be able to find one of the (very rare) solicitors that still does this work. If you are trying to pursue a children or financial claim on legal aid and seek funding because you have been a victim of domestic violence it can be difficult and indeed costly to provide the necessary medical and other evidence. I also imagine that this is something we will all be audited on in the future, and who knows what the results of those audits will be!
•Is the exceptional cases funding operating effectively?
I have not made a single application. That is because I will have to do three or four hours of unpaid work, and then have something like a three to four per cent chance of a successful application. Very few exceptional claims are granted. The LAA has a fear of granting such claims, as it knows that more will then be made. The unhappy victims of this monstrous failure of the justice system are the clients.
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LAG invites those who submitted written evidence to the Justice Committee’s inquiry to send in a summary of up to 500 words for publication in this column. E-mail: vwilliams@lag.org.uk using the message title ‘Legal aid cutsimpact statement’.