Crime lawyers attack PDS pilot

The Law Society joined criminal law solicitors in a stinging attack on the public defender pilot last week, claiming the level playing field promised for private firms and the Public Defender Services (PDS) offices is a sham.

Liverpool PDS office head Richard Whitehead told the Criminal Law Solicitors Association's (CLSA) annual conference that his office deals with around 60 new cases a month.

Private practitioners said such a figure would put them out of business.

The Legal Services Commission (LSC) has always said that private firms and the PDS would be on an equal footing so as to allow benchmarking.Law Society President David McIntosh called for a fast analysis of the situation before the LSC's rocky relationship with firms suffers further.'You can't say, "we are only just starting out" forever, because how many people would be happy about paying half a million pounds for [60 files per month]?' Mr McIntosh demanded.

'There must be some effort to agree measuring criteria before this stage is reached.

Otherwise, there is a danger of a measure of mistrust breaking out again.'Richard Collins, head of the Criminal Defence Service, told delegates that the PDS will reveal lessons about the problems private practice is enduring.

'The PDS doesn't get preferential treatment, and that is a matter of fact,' he said.Delegates also voiced concerns about the threat PDS offices will ultimately pose to private firms.

Law Society Vice-President Caroline Kirby urged the LSC to think twice before going ahead with its plans for a further two offices in rural areas.

'If they lose criminal work to the PDS, then [private firms] will go out of business,' she warned.CLSA chairman Franklin Sinclair - who stepped down after three years to make way for vice-chairman Rodney Warren - complained that a further problem for criminal law firms is the uncertainty about how they are funded because of the reconciliation process.

This relates to firms which bill less than the previously calculated monthly payments they receive.'When is a standard monthly payment not a standard monthly payment?' he asked.

'When it is not standard, not monthly and - for some firms - not even a payment.'Mr Collins said the clawback procedures are fair, and the LSC had spent at least 70 million more on funding this year than it did in 2000.

Paula Rohan