Legal Aid department being downsized by over a third
dv | 05.11.2008 14:14 | Other Press | Social Struggles | Workers' Movements
"The GMB national officer Rehana Azam said: "This is very disappointing news for the Legal Services Commission staff and for people seeking legal aid." "
Legal Services Commission to axe 600 jobs
The Times - November 5, 2008
Frances Gibb, Legal Editor
Some 600 officials could lose their jobs as part of cost-cutting at the Legal Services Commission (LSC), the body which runs the £2 billion legal aid scheme.
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http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article5089130.ece
Comments
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Saving money
05.11.2008 16:26
Lawman
They already have
06.11.2008 03:35
Haven't you heard of fixed fees? They mean solicitors can now only afford to take on very simple civil cases on legal aid. The legal problems the poorest and most multi-shafted people have over housing, immigration, benefits, employment etc.are usually the most complex. As a result, many conscientious, hard-fighting, solicitors are simply dropping out because they know they can't do a proper job for the fixed fee. That's not because they're greedy, it's because they'd simply go bust otherwise. They were getting paid bugger all for legal aid work even under the old system. That's why it's now well nigh impossible to get a competent legal aid solicitor in these fields in most areas.
In urban areas where many poor people live, a handful of big legal aid "factories" have set up doing "volume casework" to exploit the new system by alleged "economies of scale". That means crap work and don't give a toss, often done by inexperienced people not sufficiently specialised in their fields, who're pissed off and looking for another job.
The cuts in CLS staff are a consequence of all this crap and are unlikely to make it any worse than it is already. Not so many people needed to dish out a pittance of a fixed fee, regardless of how much work is really needed to solve problems and get good results.
Stroppyoldgit
About right
08.11.2008 16:40
Pinkolady