Call to end 'almost all' legal aidState funding for cases should be withdrawn almost entirely, a leading right-wing think tank has claimed.In a report published by the Adam Smith Institute, Anthony Barton - a clinical negligence lawyer at City firm CMS Cameron McKenna - said the removal of state funding would increase the use of conditional fee agreements.

In turn, lawyers would 'no longer advance doubtful cases' but would look critically at the merits.

'The legal aid system promotes incompetence,' he claimed.

'Lawyers are rewarded regardless of the outcome of the case.'Justifying his suggestion, Mr Barton pointed out that the success rate in clinical negligence claims was 90% when taken on conditional fees, but only 41% when state funded.He added that state support should only remain for multi-party actions, and public interest cases where it was directed at investigation and experts, not at taking cases through court.Patrick Allen, vice-president of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers, said he strongly believed that citizens should have effective access to courts.

In complex clinical negligence cases, state funding would continue to play a part in years to come, he said.Sue Allen