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Wilder Coe
Latest Solicitors News - January 2010
Government caps the number of family legal aid cases
A change in government policy is reportedly forcing Family legal aid lawyers to turn away people seeking legal advice.
Resolution, the national organisation of family lawyers, says solicitors are being told they can only take on a specific number of legal aid clients - and that once that quota is used up they will have to turn people away.
Historically legal aid firms have been able to request a review of the number of cases they were permitted to deal with. However, this arrangement has now been halted, and some firms with unused quotas are being asked to allow them to be reassigned to other firms.
Resolution has written to Lord Bach, Minister for Legal Aid, to ask for an urgent meeting to protect the family legal aid network.
The policy is affecting clients such as domestic abuse victims and parents who face losing contact with their children. Resolution says that the number of family legal aid practices has already fallen radically from 4,500 in to under 2,700 in the past eight years.
