Court challenge granted over legal aid rates
Legal Cheek and LexisNexis (£) continue coverage of the Law Society’s judicial review challenge against the government, which the High Court granted permission to be heard last week.
The application was made after the government failed to fund criminal defence solicitors adequately by increasing their rates by the minimum 15%, as recommended by Lord Bellamy’s Independent review on criminal legal aid.
Law Society President Lubna Shuja said: “The High Court’s decision to grant us permission to bring a judicial review challenge against the government is a significant and positive step forward in our fight to safeguard the future of the criminal justice system.
“We would encourage the new Lord Chancellor to reconsider his predecessor’s refusal to engage with us in some form of Alternative Dispute Resolution and to address our concerns without the need for continued intervention from the Court.”
LawCareers.Net also covers our data which shows the criminal justice system will lose more than 2,000 duty solicitors in the next five years.
Law Society President Lubna Shuja said: “Our projections show the widescale collapse of duty solicitor schemes across England and Wales is ever more likely. Combined with more police officers and cases, this is creating a perfect storm in criminal justice that’ll affect victims of crime, witnesses and society as a whole.”
Crown Court delays
President Lubna Shuja speaks to Bristol Live and Times of Bristol about delays in the Crown Court.
There were more than 62,000 outstanding Crown Court cases between October to December 2022, with 908 outstanding in Bristol – a raise of 7.6% in the same period in 2021.
"Our justice system is seen thoughout the world as a beacon of excellence. It is not, it is very, very far from that,” she said.
"We know that criminal defence solicitors are leaving this work in absolute droves because they can't afford to continue doing it. There has been no increase in rates for legal aid since the early 1990s and they are not sustainable any more."
Housing legal aid crisis
Pulse 1 Radio and Greatest Hits Radio cover the housing crisis in Leeds, which many families in desperate situations.
It cites our warning about the lack of legal aid and details our legal aid desert research which found that 25.3 million people do not have access to a local housing legal aid provider.
Read about our legal aid deserts
First woman Lord Chief Justice
World IP Review (£) reports that Dame Sue Carr was appointed the first woman Lord Chief Justice in England and Wales – the first woman in the history of the role dating back to the 13th century.
Law Society President Lubna Shuja said: “We are delighted to hear this news and congratulate Dame Sue Carr on her appointment as the first ever woman Lord Chief Justice.
“This is a historic moment and I hope will lead to further progress on women’s representation within the judiciary.
“Only around a third of judges in our courts are women, with even fewer in the senior judiciary. We need to see this improve. This momentous appointment is a sign that times are changing.”
WFH cybersecurity risks
Irish Legal News, Scottish Legal News, Infosecurity Magazine and IBI Times report that GCHQ’s cyber defence arm, home working puts law firm’s confidential data at risk.
Law Society President Lubna Shuja said: “It is vitally important that solicitors and law firms, whether large or small, are aware of the cyber threats they face and take steps to safeguard their systems.
“This new report from NCSC is a timely intervention that will be an essential resource for our members, providing information, practical guidance, and tools to help the legal sector protect the sensitive data it holds against cyber attack.”
Climate Crisis Charter
According to Legal Cheek, eight top commercial law firms including Bates Wells, Clyde and Co, DLA Piper, DWF, Gowling WLG, Mishcon de Reya, Osborne Clarke and Taylor Wessing have signed a charter outlining a set of common principles to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
“Our recently released climate change guidance sets out how solicitors and law firms can continue to be at the forefront of responding to the challenges of climate change,” said Law Society President Lubna Shuja.
Customer reviews
The Gazette reports that lawyers appear to be warming to the use of online reviews as a means of attracting clients, but a pilot run by legal regulators has highlighted the absence of meaningful comparators.
We back efforts to increase information on the quality of customer service and pointed out that the profession has worked hard to meet new transparency requirements in recent years.
President Lubna Shuja added: “It remains difficult to develop meaningful benchmarks across a diverse range of practice areas which can provide a useful indicator of what quality service should look like across the whole sector.”
Real-world effect of SRA’s increased fining powers
Law Society President Lubna Shuja writes in the Gazette about the real-world effect of the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s increased fining powers.
“The SRA consulted on proposals to increase its fining powers for firms and individuals from £2,000 to £25,000 last year. The Law Society strongly opposed the SRA’s fining powers being increased to £25,000. We raised concerns about how and when the regulator would exercise the new fining powers if granted.
“Despite our opposition, last July the Ministry of Justice raised the SRA’s fining powers to the maximum proposed.
“Greater concerns have been raised due to the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill. The bill includes further scope for the SRA to issue unlimited fines against solicitors and firms caught up in economic crime.
“While there is an internal separation between the SRA’s investigation and adjudication functions, there is unease about the reality of that separation and the independence of those carrying out these functions within the SRA,” she said.
SRA business plan and budget
Today’s Family Lawyer covers our response to the SRA’s 2023-2024 business plan and budget, which proposes a 12% budget increase.
Law Society President Lubna Shuja said: “The SRA propose a significant increase in their budget. Given that many firms are facing inflationary pressures, it is vitally important that the SRA is focused on efficiency savings and costs are controlled to avoid unnecessary pressure on the practising certificate fee.”
Also worth a read:
- Lawyers fined power fake ChatGPT cases – Legal Futures
- Refugee applications rejected despite ‘safe and legal routes’ – Guardian
- New suspect in Stephen Lawrence murder – BBC News
- Titan disaster: Owner was on ‘predatory’ quest for endorsement – Times (£)
- Pride: Senior execs share their coming out stories – FT (£)