A lot has been said about the Legal Services Commission (LSC) in recent weeks and it was a shame to see many law firms lose their contracts to handle legal aid family law work as a result of it.
It came as no surprise to us that the LSC caused uproar amongst these firms, particularly as the review did not seem to follow a sensible structure in many respects. The High Court decision that the LSC’s family law legal aid tender was illegal has at least gone some way to setting the matter straight and we hope that the Law Society’s review will draw a similar conclusion, not only for the sake of the firms involved but for those who need their assistance and who would benefit from the implementation of a more straightforward legal aid process.
The LSC is currently considering the verdict and there is the possibility of an appeal, which would no doubt prompt further dissatisfaction amongst the 1,100 firms affected by the changes to the £2.2 billion legal aid scheme.
We are interested to see how this will play out in the coming months and can only hope that the decision, which has been described as ‘unfair, unlawful and irrational’ by two judges, can be altered to suit the needs of the firms and individuals concerned.