Solicitors Attack Parliament Over Reform

Tue, 27 Mar 2007

The Lord Chancellor has been threatened with legal action by the solicitors’ profession unless he responds within two weeks to the concerns over planned changes to the £2 billion legal aid scheme.

Lord Falconer of Thoroton was sent a letter by The Law Society of England and Wales that addresses the solicitors concerns about the reforms, which they say have been "largely ignored".

Last week saw around 1,000 solicitors attend a demonstration outside the Houses Of Parliament. They hope that the reforms will lead to lawyers being given fixed-price contracts, and law firms having to compete to win contracts for legal aid work .

However the result will mean hundreds of law offices having to close, reducing access to justice for the most vulnerable groups in society, according to lawyers .

The first step of the reform programmne will include solicitors being asked to sign a new contract by April 1.

The letter to the Lord Chancellor, signed by Andrew Holroyd, vice-president of the Law Society, read, "We consider that there is a significant issue of unlawfulness about it which merits consideration by the courts."

Not all Law firms are on board, as Bindmans &Partners, a leading legal aid firm, issued a statement saying that it would not sign the contract .
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