The government released the official legal aid statistic on 13 December 2018, brining the data set up to date to 30 September 2018. Worryingly, crime expenditure and workload have both decreased. Fewer civil legal help matters have been started, continuing the trend since the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO). Mediation [...]
With Director Carol Storer OBE stepping down on 20 November 2018, LAPG's Committee has appointed a new leadership team to steer LAPG into the future. Chris Minnoch steps up to the role of CEO, with Kate Pasfield joining from Swain & Co. to take on the role of Director of Strategy. Read the full press [...]
Read Catherine Baksi's interview with Carol Storer, Remaining diplomatic in a turbulent decade, here.
Carol Storer, who in November 2018 steps down from her role as Director of LAPG after more than 10 years of service, is amongst the shortlist for the LawWorks 2018 Annual Pro Bono Awards. Carol is a finalist in the Outstanding Contribution to Access to Justice category. The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony [...]
Costs firm John M Hayes, great supporters of LAPG's work over many years, recently climbed Mount Snowden to raise money for access to justice and the London Legal Support Trust. And on top of that, they lugged up copies of LAPG's Manifesto for Legal Aid! An excellent effort by the JMH team! Read more about their [...]
Joining the Dots: Domestic abuse, civil and criminal justice and technology Crest Advisory and CGI have undertaken a partnership research project to identify ways to address the twenty-first century challenges of tackling domestic abuse across the justice system and beyond. Domestic abuse is a prevalent, high-impact crime with widespread and lasting consequences. Today in England and Wales [...]
Duncan Lewis Solicitors have successfully challenged the Legal Aid Agency’s refusal to backdate legal aid certificates, even where solicitors have made a legal aid application as promptly as possible and it is necessary to begin work in order to secure access to justice for a client before the Legal Aid Agency has granted a certificate. [...]
Bookings are now open for the LAPG Annual Conference 2018 in London on 5 October 2018. Book your place here. The conference is packed full of useful content for practitioners, practice managers and all those interested in legal aid and access to justice. Download the flyer here for the full programme. The offline booking form is attached [...]
After 10 years, Carol Storer is stepping down as Director of the Legal Aid Practitioners Group on 20 November 2018. Under Carol’s excellent directorship LAPG has made a huge contribution as a representative body, despite the difficult economic climate. With skill, energy and dedication Carol has helped LAPG to support legal aid practitioners so that [...]
The shortlist for this year's Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year awards has been announced. As always, the finalists are an incredible group of legal aid lawyers and organisations, showcasing the life-changing work of those working in publicly-funded legal advice. Read the full press release here.