A pay dispute with the Government has led to solicitors warning of ‘disruptive action’. This comes as a result of pay for legal aid work. In an article published by the Law Society Gazette, it outlines where legal aid solicitors, especially Criminal Solicitors are hoping to get to in terms of pay recommended The Bellamy legal aid review.
The Law Society of England and Wales put forward a warning with the body representing the solicitors stating the case has escalated. It is ‘near inevitable’ that industrial action will take place as the Government refuses to grant the requested 15% raise in fees for any sort of criminal defence work.
Over the past month, barristers have been working hard to agree on the acceptance of a new pay offer put forward by the Government. This ended long-term strikes put in place by the Criminal Bar Association (CBA).
However, there were fears in the last month that the new deal would prompt an upheaval in solicitors. This came after the Law Society stated that the dispute concerning legal aid funding was ‘far from over’. The funding for criminal cases which is put into place when a defendant can’t afford their own representative continues to be a stressful topic.
Since the original agreement was made, further stress has been added. The escalation of action that is predicted amongst many law firm owners is on the brink of taking place. With the Government continuing to refuse the minimum 15% increase as requested, tensions are high.
On Thursday, Lubna Shuja, the president of the Law Society, said: “An escalation of action by law firm owners is near inevitable given the Government’s baffling refusal to implement our demands for the bare minimum 15% increase for criminal defence solicitors, which was recommended by their own review.
“The Government caved into barrister strike action but is refusing to give parity to solicitors who kept the wheels of justice turning during that strike. This has angered and galvanised the solicitor profession.
“Some criminal law solicitors are now considering forming a union to organise direct action. They have seen that this Government does not listen to reason and that direct action gets results.”
She went on to describe solicitors as the “backbone of the criminal justice system” and added that many solicitors are “leaving the profession in droves because they are not being treated fairly and equally. If nothing is done to stop those remaining from leaving, the court backlogs will continue to grow, access to justice will be denied to many, defendants will not be prosecuted and talk of being ‘tough on crime’ will be nothing but empty promises”.
Finally, she stated “If the Government doesn’t give solicitors parity when their full response to the review is published later this month, we will advise our members that there is no viable future in criminal legal aid work.”
At the beginning of this week, owners of several law firms with at least 150 legal aid contracts met to discuss the crisis taking place. Today, there are fewer contracts and duty solicitors than ever before. This has significantly increased the quantity of professionals available to step in and do the job.
The current Lord Chancellor Dominic Raab was not in agreement with the deal struck with the Criminal Bar under his predecessor, Brandon Lewis. In so much he has now declared that the striking Bar did not behave responsibly, and he is now under pressure to find the £50m to honour the agreement.
Should the pay rise not be granted, this will cause an abundance of implications. Law firms will have “no choice but to cease to undertake work that is financially unsustainable for their practice, potentially leaving vulnerable defendants without the benefit of legal representation”, the group said.
The government has declared that they are “Now investing £1.2 billion a year into criminal legal aid and will announce further uplifts for solicitors and plans to reform crown court fee schemes in due course.”
As a legal recruiter and a specialist in Criminal Defence legal aid work, I have personally seen how these cuts over a period of 10 years, have affected Criminal Defence work. It is in my opinion, an attack on our guaranteed freedoms, and free legal representation in the event of an arrest.
It is easy to convince the average law-abiding citizen that the chances of being wrongfully arrested are one in a million, however, this is a fundamental right in a country that guarantees our freedoms. If our solicitors and barristers are not funded, this right can no longer be guaranteed.