Solicitors have united in slating Legal Services Commission (LSC) plans to introduce competitive tendering in criminal defence work - and even one of its own commissioners has joined in the call for the proposals to be dropped.

Some 300 firms and practitioner organisations responded to the LSC consultation, which closed last week. One of the responses came from top London firm TV Edwards, whose senior partner is Anthony Edwards, an LSC commissioner and professional head of the Public Defender Service.


TV Edwards' response complained that the proposals would scupper firms' business plans and fail to prevent uneconomic bids, warning: 'The introduction of [the plans] represents a considerable threat to the existing market and to firms who trade for the sake of clients rather than purely for the sake of profit.'


It called instead for a system based on the current civil legal aid regime, but with objective criteria and a minimum bidding limit of £200,000.


Rodney Warren, director of the Criminal Law Solicitors Association, acknowledged that changes were needed, but said: 'I would like to be a fly on the wall when the LSC discusses these proposals, given that even its own commissioners do not believe they are workable.' He said the LSC should address the fundamental problems of frozen rates and onerous bureaucracy.


Angela Campbell, president of the London Criminal Court Solicitors Association (LCCSA), agreed: 'This shows that everyone is singing from the same hymn sheet.'


LCCSA's response said: 'The economic case for tendering is at best weak. It is widely acknowledged that the project may fail and in these circumstances we consider it unwise to proceed without first testing the potential problems by means of further research and a pilot.'


The Law Society said it was concerned about quality being compromised by low bids, the lack of new entrants once established firms had been pushed out, and the LSC's seeming lack of appreciation of the specific needs of black and ethnic minority firms and clients.


The LSC has said it is ultimately committed to rolling the plans out nationally.


Contract design and remuneration director Karl Demian indicated that, although it was aware of practitioners' concerns, it would forge ahead and publish its new proposals in the summer.