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The LAPG 2024 Annual Conference at Herbert Smith Freehills was a huge success, with over 200 people coming along. Practitioners joined us from all over England and Wales and had the opportunity to engage with officials from MOJ policy teams and the LAA, and students from 8 different universities and colleges.

Our Annual Dinner at The Folly was great too, allowing us to join friends and colleagues from across the legal aid sector.

Plenaries

Welcome: Chris Minnoch CEO of LAPG

Keynote Speech: Nicola Mackintosh KC (Hon), Director and Founder of Mackintosh Law, Co-chair LAPG

Heidi Alexander MP, Minister with responsibility for legal aid, gave a video address to set out the new government’s vision for legal aid and access to justice.

The Future of Civil, Crime and Family Legal Aid

Panel: Chris Minnoch CEO, LAPG; Richard Miller Head of Justice at The Law Society); Julie Bishop, Director, Law Centres Network; Sian Hukin, Reeds Solicitors, Young Legal Aid Lawyers

Many areas of civil, crime and family legal aid are in crisis, a point made consistently by respondents to RoCLA earlier this year and laid bare in the CLAIR report. We await word from the MoJ about next steps for RoCLA, about resolution of The Law Society’s criminal legal aid fees judicial review, and about future legal aid policy following the Autumn Budget. This panel explored what needs to happen to ensure that civil, crime and family legal aid not only survives, but is reformed to meet the needs of clients and create a viable service for practitioners.

Final Plenary – Quick-Fire Round: Bold Ideas in Bite-Sized Chunks

A selection of speakers spent four minutes explaining a great new idea, initiative or project relevant to legal aid and access to justice. 

Chair: Ro Jana, Director of Parliamentary Affairs, LAPG

  • Zachary Whyte from LCCSA – the LCSSA campaign to unionise criminal defence solicitors
  • Anna Neira Quesada, Operations Officer, LAPG and Kate Pasfield, Director of Legal Aid Policy, LAPG – The LAPG Unchargeable Time Research Project
  • Caroline Miles from Access Social Care – recently launched Community of Practice for Community Care lawyers
  • Jenny Beck KC (Hon) – the work of the National Family Justice Observatory + FLANC Family Law advice for the neurodivergent community
  • Polly Glynn, Partner/Director, Deighton Pierce Glynn – trafficking and modern slavery
  • Ro Jana, Director of Parliamentary Affairs, LAPG – update on the All Party Parliamentary Group on Access to Justice

Workshops

Risk, Regulation and Remediation

Matthew Howgate, Consultant; Vicky Ling, Consultant; Helen Fanning, Practice Manager, MJC Law

Current Trends in Family Law (Private)

Jenny Beck KC (Hon), Solicitor and Co-Founder, Beck Fitzgerald and Co-Chair of LAPG; Lisa Phillips, Barrister, Park Square Barristers

 

Public Law

Oliver Carter, Solicitor, Irwin Mitchell Solicitors; Tim Baldwin, Solicitor, Garden Court Chambers

 

YLAL Session – A Career in Legal Aid

Abbi Hart, Hodge Jones and Allen; Naomi Duckworth, Lincoln House Chambers; Myriam Naouai, Family Rights Group and Justice First Fellow; Ioana Serbanoiu, Hammersmith and Fulham Law Centre

How Well Do You Know Your Legal Aid Contract?

Matthew Howgate, Consultant; Vicky Ling, Consultant

Current Trends in Family Law (Public)

Lorraine Green, Partner, Children Panel Member, Miles & Partners LLP; Beverley Watkins, Solicitor and Partner, Watkins Solicitors; Chair: Oliver Conway, Solicitor, Oliver Fisher Solicitors

Immigration & Asylum Law

Jawaid Luqmani, Partner, Luqmani Thompson; Matthew Davies, Deputy Managing Partner, Wilson Solicitors LLP

Issues Around Vulnerability and Capacity

Diane Astin, Solicitor, Senior Lecturer in Legal Practice at Brunel University; Amy Shaw, Deputy Secretary, Civil Justice Council

 

Billing and Efficiencies

Shaun Williams, John M Hayes Costs Lawyers

Self-Care and Managing Trauma in the Legal Profession

Dr. Laura Janes, Consultant Solicitor, GT Stewart and Scott-Moncrief; Emma Trevett, Lawstop and YLAL

Current Trends in Housing Law and Legal Aid

Kate Pasfield, Director of Legal Aid Policy, LAPG; Laura Coyle, Partner and Housing Solicitor, Turpin Miller, Co-Chair HLPA; Ann Bevington, Director and Senior Solicitor, Hopkin Murry Beskine; Eleri Griffiths, One Pump Court

Crime and Prison Law Update

Zachary Whyte, Consultant Solicitor and Higher Court Advocate, Sperrin Law; Andrew Sperling, SL5 and Founding Member of the Association of Prison Lawyers (APL)

Thanks to Richard Gray for the photos

Hosted and supported by

Conference and Dinner Sponsored by