Family law solicitors fear fee shake-up

Fears are growing that family law practitioners could soon be working under the same funding regime that has caused barristers to do away with the age-old 'cab rank' rule in publicly-funded family cases, it emerged this week.Concerns have been rising since the family graduated fee scheme was put in place in May, with the unconcealed aim of cutting barristers' fees by 5%.The new scheme means that for cases started after 1 May 2001, barristers are paid according to a table of fixed fees for each stage of the case.

Barristers can only claim one payment per stage, so if, for example, they attend two interim hearings, they will only be paid for one.The Family Bar Association (FBA) has passed a rule saying that its members should be allowed to turn down publicly-funded family cases on the basis that remuneration was no longer sufficient, a blow to the cab rank principle which previously prohibited this.Peter Watson-Lee, chairman of the Law Society's family law committee, said it was worrying that a new scheme which had provided such a disincentive to take on legally-aided work could be applied to solicitor advocates in the family arena.He backed the FBA's decision, branding the new funding regime 'ridiculous'.

Mr Watson-Lee said: 'I have every sympathy with barristers, because soon they won't be able to make a living out of doing legal aid work.'A spokeswoman for the Lord Chancellor's Department confirmed that it was investigating introducing a similar scheme for solicitors.

'We are looking at current fee rates with the aim of creating a level playing field,' she said.Meanwhile, family practitioners fear that they will soon be unable to get barristers to take on publicly-funded cases.Richard Miller, chairman of the Legal Aid Practitioners Group, said he had anecdotal evidence that barristers were turning down cases, and slated the FBA for its 'drastic' action.

'From a solicitor's point of view, the cab rank rule provided vital for legally-aided clients.

Now they have lost that protection,' he said.Mr Watson-Lee backed Mr Miller's fears, and said the situation may get worse in the next few months, when fresh cases are initiated.A Bar Council spokesman defended the FBA's decision, saying: 'Barristers could be given a brief tying them up for a number of days for a very low fee, and it would have been a disciplinary offence to refuse,' he explained.But Mr Miller added: 'It is difficult to see how this is worse or more drastic than what solicitors have been going through for years.'

By Paula Rohan