Courts facing lawyers’ protest crisis

Oct 30 2007 by Vicky Anderson, Liverpool Daily Post

MERSEYSIDE’S criminal justice system is set to be thrown into chaos as solicitors prepare to defy Government reform of their pay scales.

Law firms across the region are refusing to sign a new contract which will mean a fixed hourly fee for lawyers representing defendants on legal aid.

That could mean a massive shortage of solicitors available to take on new criminal cases, if the dispute cannot be resolved by the New Year, legal experts warned last night.

The knock on-effect is likely to be a serious clogging-up of prisons, police cells, magistrates courts and Crown Courts, as clients struggle to get legal support. Lawyers from around 25 Mersey firms who are opposing the new contract are to stage an unprecedented march in protest at the reforms tomorrow, to coincide with the sign up deadline. They claim the new terms, set by the Legal Services Commission, will slash their income by up to a quarter, as well as affecting the availability and standard of service for their clients.

The nationwide contract will introduce a new fixed hourly fee for solicitors attending cases in police stations, instead of the current flat rate which takes into account unsociable hours.

Last night, criminal solicitor John Ballam, chair of Liverpool Law Society’s criminal law committee, said colleagues feared many legal aid solicitors could risk going out of business if the new contracts came into force. Mr Ballam, a partner at Wirral firm Ballam Delaney Hunt, said that in turn would affect the human rights of those accused of crimes, if their access to legal advice and representation was delayed or restricted.

“Some years ago, this government said they wanted to improve access to justice for everyone – it is quite the opposite now,” he said.

“They are saying that legal aid is costing too much and they are trying to squeeze it to reduce costs.

“This is going to result in a legal aid desert and the most vulnerable people, in great difficulties, are going to find it difficult to find a lawyer prepared to work for them.

“Refusing to sign will leave people without assistance in police stations and will clog up the police station system and the court system – ultimately creating injustice. It is unacceptable, uneconomic, and unwieldy.

“It may well be that many people who do not sign up to this cannot continue in business after January 14 – it will end up with very few solicitors doing legal aid.

“Lawyers don’t get a good press, but legal aid lawyers are not fat cats, and many firms, if they carry on, will go out of business. Some firms will be losing up to 20% to 25% of their income, with overheads still going up.

“Human rights are going to be affected, the courts are going to be clogged up, and clients will lose out, at the end of the day.”

The new scheme is due to come into effect in January next year, and criminal lawyers are obliged to sign up to the scheme by the deadline of 4pm tomorrow.

The 25 objecting Merseyside firms are in last-ditch advisory talks with the Law Society to decide further action. Members in Liverpool are planning to march to the offices of the LSC in Cavern Walks on Wednesday to protest. Criminal lawyers in Manchester, Bristol, Sheffield and Birmingham are also refusing to sign.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice said: “These new fixed fee schemes are important because they will allow us to help more people within the existing resources by paying lawyers for outputs rather than by the hour.”

The affected lawyers will meet with the Liverpool Law Society to consider what steps to take next.

Mr Ballam added: “We are standing firm and all gathering together in the hope we can get some improvement on these terms.

“Beyond that, for me, the bigger problem is that people’s rights are going to be affected.”

vickyanderson