Mr Grayling said taxpayers` money is being used for „unnecessary legal matters“ that could be dealt with by the prison service, such as the category of prisons in which a prisoner is held. Nevertheless, they were able to apply for around £500,000 in legal aid. They received the payments because their assets have been frozen and they cannot be taken into account in the valuation of a suspect`s assets until prosecution is initiated. Since then, the tuition fee ceiling in England has been raised from £3,225 to £9,000 a year, and significant cuts have been made to civil and criminal legal aid. The situation is even worse in the case of legal aid. After concerted opposition (see page 58), then-Lord Chancellor Michael Gove cancelled a major overhaul of the market last year and suspended a second 8.75% fee cut. As noted elsewhere, other important reforms are currently being consulted and it is possible that the reduction will be reinstated. We believe that concern for social mobility in the workplace and the long-term viability of publicly funded criminal law advice and representation should be at the forefront of politicians` concerns. At Young Legal Aid Lawyers, we share the Lord Chancellor`s vision of a legal profession that is truly open to everyone, regardless of background. Over the past few months, we have examined the state of access to the profession – and the particular challenges faced by aspiring lawyers and young lawyers – to build on our previous reports on social mobility and diversity. Our latest study examines access to the legal profession in an era of austerity and shows that there are still significant barriers for lawyers who want to work in the legal aid field, which we believe can only be overcome with urgent action by government, regulators and employers.
The overrepresentation of fee-paying high schools in the legal profession is partly reflected in our members: 20% of respondents reported attending private or fee-paying high schools, while 54% attended comprehensive schools and 17% attended public or free secondary schools. Almost all of our members (98.5%) are either college graduates or current students. The problems caused by ever-increasing course fees and inadequate compensation are exacerbated by the need for unpaid work experience. Our survey found that 74% of respondents had gained unpaid legal work experience. Almost one-third of respondents (29%) used family ties to gain paid or unpaid work experience. The QC, which benefited most from criminal legal aid in 2010/11, is a lawyer representing people accused of multi-million pound tax fraud. Cardiff-based John Charles Rees received £554,152. Lawyers have criticized other plans to let them compete for certain legal contracts in the future.
The raid follows outrage that former refugee Asil Nadir received more than £1 million in legal aid while renting a £23,000 London residence at trial for stealing £28.8 million from his Polly Peck empire in the 1980s. Fat-Cat lawyers who enrich themselves with criminal legal aid cases are expected to cut their fees by nearly a third, according to plans unveiled yesterday. Other criminals who exploited the legal aid system included gangster Terry Adams, who received £4.7 million, and the Connors family, owners of trailer parks that kept homeless drug addicts and alcoholics as virtual slaves. The Lord Chancellor launched a new attack last night on well-paid lawyers who have enriched themselves thanks to legal aid. Lord Irvine of Lairg said that last year 35 lawyers received between £270,000 and £575,000 in legal aid for criminal work. The Criminal Bar Association, which represents lawyers, says legal aid can involve several years of work and include VAT. Bills are paid by the government when a file is closed. „It`s not uncommon for criminal lawyers to be mentioned in the news. They have been at the forefront of denigrating the public media for the past two decades, and Tony Blair`s label of lawyers as „big cats“ in 2001 has been lurking ever since. To most people, the idea of lawyers striking may seem absurd. Nevertheless, people still confuse publicly funded work (legal aid) with privately funded work. Mr Grayling said: „We have an excellent legal aid tradition and one of the best legal professions in the world.
But we must not turn a blind eye to the fact that legal aid is still too expensive. So why do we work in legal aid? „I believe in access to justice for all. I work with people who, because of their situation, come into contact with public institutions and services that make them more vulnerable to social injustice,“ said a YRAL member. „More than anyone else, they need good legal representation, but they are less able to afford it.“ Judges and hospital consultants have very responsible tasks. The lives of many people depend on their professionalism. Yet nearly 1,000 lawyers earned more from legal aid last year than hospital consultants are paid,“ he said. A residency test will be introduced to prevent legal aid from going to immigrants who have lived in the UK for less than a year. And prisoners are denied legal aid unless the case concerns their sentence. „Following the ongoing industrial action by railway workers, lawyers working in the field of legal aid are investigating a long-standing dispute over their lack of remuneration. Members of the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) – a body representing all practising lawyers in England and Wales – rejected a proposal for a 15% pay rise by the government following an independent review of criminal justice assistance, arguing that it was simply not enough. Lawyers involved in legal aid early in their careers only have an average salary of £12,200 after expenses, room rent, office clerks` fees, taxes, insurance and travel. It couldn`t be further from the „big cat“ image shown above.
Another currently earns £8.75 an hour part-time and pays £7.50 an hour for childcare – depending on income support, child tax credit and housing allowance to survive. If that`s what it means to some politicians and news organizations to be a „big cat“ legal aid lawyer, our members have the right to feel neglected. What`s next? Successive cuts to publicly funded legislation have undoubtedly had a chilling effect on the next generation of legal aid lawyers. We call on the government to recognize the need for a new generation of lawyers to ensure that a sustainable legal aid system is in place during the LASPO review. „We need to open up our legal system so that it uses all the talent available in our society.
