Criminal legal aid contract
Gazette and New Law Journal cover our reaction to the Legal Aid Agency’s announcement that it will introduce 10-year flexible criminal legal aid contracts.
“A ten-year contract will give firms more certainty, helping them to make longer term decisions. They will also only have to go through the bureaucracy and stress of a tender process once a decade,” said Law Society president Nick Emmerson.
“That stress will be reduced because a mistake in their application will simply mean they have to redo the application, rather than meaning they are locked out of the system for several years as is presently the case.
Pensions and divorce
Karen Dovaston, chair of our Family Law Committee, spoke to FT Adviser (£) about pensions and divorce.
“The more education around pensions, the better. Time and time again I come up against clients who just feel a pension is too complicated to bother with when they are getting divorced,” she said.
AI in legal education
Yorkshire Legal News mentions our roundtable discussion on the role of technology in the profession, as the piece analyses the use of AI in legal education.
Diversity and inclusion
Immediate past president Lubna Shuja speaks to Asian Voice about diversity and inclusion in the legal profession.
Admissions ceremony
The Times (£) reports that a Law Society admissions ceremony will take place in Cardiff in July.
Helpline
Daily Mail, This is Money, Times (£) and Daily Express mention our ethics helpline in a piece about a solicitor who misused law firm funds.
Also worth a read:
- Prisoners could be freed up to 70 days early to ease prison overcrowding – BBC
- Prosecution of rapists and sex offenders hampered by court backlogs – Times (£)
- Prison governors estimate 1,000 criminals released early – Telegraph (£)
- MPs hit out at lobbying against the Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation Bill – Legal Futures
- Research claims Chambers using blind recruitment are less diverse – Legal Cheek
- Labour vows to ban fire and rehire – Guardian