Changes to Legal Aid in England and Wales

Without wishing to sound cynical or callous M2B, i am sure the government care more about saving the money that about the welfare of the Proletariat, ie us!

The Lord Chancellor said that for many people they could use "no win no fee" in alot of cases, not necessarily meaning family law but in general, thus washing his hands of responsibility it seemed to me.

Chris

On the bright side - well, slightly brighter - I see the government is considering increasing the hourly compensation rate for LIPs from £9.25 (set in 1995) to £16.50 or even £20.

chris75 wrote:

Without wishing to sound cynical or callous M2B, i am sure the government care more about saving the money that about the welfare of the Proletariat, ie us!

The Lord Chancellor said that for many people they could use "no win no fee" in alot of cases, not necessarily meaning family law but in general, thus washing his hands of responsibility it seemed to me.

Chris

'no-win no-fee' or CFAs (Conditional Fee Agreements) have been around for 10 years. They were part of the governments brief to allow access to justice by allowing solicitors to take a risk on cases and obtain a 'success fee' on the costs of those cases that they win which would offset the cases that they lose.

It may seem like a vehicle to allow spurious claims but a solicitor will not take on a case with no/little merit as s/he will lose and not get paid.

CFAs cannot be used in all proceedings including family proceedings as costs do not 'follow the event' in the same way as in civil proceedings.

I attended a costs conference last week where Lord Justice Jackson was speaking. He was tasked with reviewing the costs landscape as it currently stands and prepare a package of proposals for the government to implement ( 2.5Mb PDF report ) – the idea being that there would be more 'access to justice' and a simpler system of costs which was also much fairer than the current system. The replacement package is very detailed and appears to redress the balance although whether the government will implement it in full is another question.

As far as family proceedings go – it is business as usual. If you can't afford to pay and you do not qualify for public funding, you will have to act in person.

Charles

*Bump*

Why the "bumps?" is it someone's birthday? It's quite active as it is.

Since it is, another offset to this is that marrying couples may be encouraged to take out an insurance policy to cover costs of divorce which is alarming and not very romantic when indulging upon a marriage. Sad really isn't it?

I can just imagine some of the new adverts we may see on TV....

Go Compared, wed aware'd, don't be caught, when in court, be prepared, if you have siblings and want the best things you will thank your stars that you went with Go Compared.... lol

Wish my son had gone compared - it would have saved me a few bob !