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An anonymous legal aid solicitor writes:
The client in reception had three young children. She was seeing one of our divorce solicitors about a domestic violence problem. Obviously she was in scope and qualified for legal aid. She asked for a cup of tea for herself and some juice for the children. No problem. Drinks were provided. The children were relatively well dressed but they were all thin, and they gulped their drinks down rapidly. ‘Any chance of some biscuits?’ asked the mother.
It became painfully obvious that this family was hungry. They had a very limited income and a multitude of problems. Biscuits were sent out for and the interview continued. The children sat miserably in reception while the mother gave the grim details of the violence inflicted on her by their father in an interview room.
The eldest child asked the receptionist for something else to eat. It was 11 am but, according to the child, they had not had any breakfast and the previous evening they had all had to share a portion of chips.
It is worth pausing to remember that this is England in the 21st century, and yet we were dealing with a family that could not cope financially and was unable to feed itself adequately. This is very tough stuff indeed. Yes, we did pop out to buy some sandwiches. No, we were not paid by the Legal Aid Agency (LAA) for doing this.
Unfortunately, the LAA often portrays lawyers as seeking to bleed the last possible penny out of the system. The LAA ignores what we do for free and the cost of acts of kindliness as set out above. It also ignores the amount of time we spend checking clients’ eligibility (unpaid work) and sorting out bank statements. Benefits letters and tax credit documentation are things that commercial lawyers marvel at.
Sometimes, clients’ financial affairs are so complex that it takes hours to work through them. But we do it because we have a vocation. No one does legal aid work for the money. Legal aid lawyers earn less than scaffolders or tube train drivers.
We have entered this rather specialised side of the profession not for the remuneration but because we have a genuine and earnest desire to help those who are unable to help themselves: the poor and the impoverished and, in these straitened times, the hungry.