Criminal lawyers rap contracting proposals

By Sue Allen

Criminal practitioners have warned that legal aid contracting could ring the death knell for law firms, which will be expected to do more work for less pay under proposed contracts with the Legal Services Commission published this week.

According to Rodney Warren, a member of the Law Society's access to justice working party, the new contract arrangements might be the final straw for firms which are already 'embattled financially' due to years of pay freezes.

Criminal Law Solicitors Association secretary Stephen Wedd said that while the first half of the draft contract

documentation showed how firms would receive more money, the second half set out how firms would have to do more work.

'If I believed that the profession would stand or fall together on this issue, I would call them to stand together and say this is one step too far.

These contracts could make or break criminal practices,' Mr Wedd said.

Examples of changes to existing pay arrangements will see firms paid on an hourly rate, not on a standard rate, for police station telephone advice.

Stand-by fees for duty solicitors on call will also cease.

Richard Collins, head of criminal defence services at the Commission, said that whilst he could understand the profession's concerns, any changes in remuneration rates which resulted in savings would be 'fed back' into the profession.

Under the new contract regime, work will be restructured into five categories at the end of which firms can submit bills: investigations, proceedings, appeals, prison law and associated Community Legal Service work - for example, judicial review arising from a criminal case.

Firms will receive structured payments over 12 months, subject to reconciliation at the end of the year.

More rigorous quality standards have also been incorporated into draft criminal contracts following the publication of research by Warwick University law professor Lee Bridges, who led the research into criminal contract pilot schemes.

Prof Bridges said that, despite all pilot firms being franchised, there were 'enormous inconsistencies' in the quality of service being provided.

He added that the lack of a 'level playing field' in the quality of work being done by firms might risk good firms being under-bid on price by poor quality firms, even though they were also franchised.

From April 2001, only firms holding a criminal contract will be entitled to conduct publicly funded cases.

The deadline for comments on the draft contract papers is 31 October.