The front page of the Gazette last week referred to the action by two law firms against the Legal Services Commission (LSC) (see [2007] Gazette, 8 November, 1). The firms are claiming damages for financial loss as a result of the unified civil legal aid contract. The Law Society advised any firms wishing to make a similar claim that they should do so before the time limit for such claims expires.


The experience of most legal aid practices is that action against the LSC will not be productive.



Unfortunately, the likely outcome of the present approach to legal aid by the government and the LSC is that there will be a flood of practices ceasing to do publicly-funded work. They will simply diversify to other fields of work that will enable them to pay their staff salaries.



The disaster is that, some 50 years after its inception, the legal aid system is reducing to a residual form of help to a shrinking minority of people. There is still a vast number of people who need legal aid. They will just not be able to get it.



Tim Daniel, Daniel & Harris, London