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Getting to know LAPG’s Co-Chair – Jenny Beck KC (Hon)
Director of Beck Fitzgerald. Running niche family law firm with 25 full time staff whilst managing a small but complex caseload and actively campaigning for improvements to the family justice system LAPG role: Co-Chair What does this involve? Active engagement in all 3 arms of our work. Policy and influencing– attending meetings, drafting campaign... continue reading
The frustrations of being a Legal aid lawyer – Volume 1 by Patricia Beckett (Wilsons Solicitors)
Not a day passes when I don’t feel intense frustration about the government’s unconcealed disdain for legal aid lawyers. Legal aid lawyers are an amazing, but fast dwindling, group of human beings. No-one really just ends up being a legal aid lawyer, it’s a conscious decision the practitioner makes either when looking for a training... continue reading
Judicial Review – even when permission is refused on papers, you can always claim something! by Paul Seddon (Seddon Costs Law)
I recently received a solicitor’s instruction to prepare a claim for costs on judicial review. The solicitor mentioned that there was another JR for the same client but she understood that nothing could be claimed because permission was refused. But this isn’t the case, at the very least you can claim the issue fee and... continue reading
Getting to know the LAPG Team – Thomas Rigard-Asquith
Thomas Rigard-Asquith, double-barrelled for equality. Half my job consists in running the Management & Leadership Programme under Matt Howgate and Vicky Ling’s strict authority. Andrea Shumaker used to run this before me, so I’ve got big shoes to fill. On a day-to-day basis, this means making sure everyone is attending sessions, has the relevant materials,... continue reading
Getting to know the LAPG Team – Andrea Shumaker
Andrea Shumaker As the Learning & Development Co-Ordinator, I am responsible for running, improving, and expanding LAPGs training offerings. What do you do? Any and everything training! If you’ve taken our Legal Aid Supervision Course, Introduction to Civil Legal Aid Course, or any session of the Certificate in Practice Management Course in the last year... continue reading
Getting to know the LAPG Team – Anna Neira Quesada
Hello hello! My complete name is Anna Neira Quesada. To those of you who are wondering, no, Neira is not my middle name. One of the perks of being Spanish is that I get to have two surnames, my dad’s going first (Neira) and then my mum’s (Quesada). Revolutionary feminists, but not that much. I’m... continue reading
Getting to know the LAPG Team – Rohini Teather
Rohini Teather. Head of Parliamentary Affairs, or rather I drink tea and coffee with MPs in Big Ben as my daughter used to say. Which is more or less an accurate idea of the role. Part of my role is running the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Legal Aid which conducts independent research on Access to... continue reading
Getting to know the LAPG Team – Chris ‘Nick Fury’ Minnoch
Job Description? C.E.O of L.A.P.G, the successor to S.H.I.E.L.D (the Society of Helpful, Independent, Ethical Legal Dogooders). What do you do? I provide an environment in which my team can use their various superpowers and talents to counter the forces of HYDRA (the department within the MOJ which implements the ‘Hope Your Dispute Resolves Anyway’... continue reading
LAPG Statement on the Government’s Announcement of a Review of Civil Legal Aid
The government announcement yesterday that it will carry out a formal review of the civil legal aid system, to include independent research and analysis, is a welcome admission that so much more needs to be done to ensure that access to justice is a reality for all citizens and not simply empty rhetoric. However, we... continue reading