A London firm specialising in mental health law is to slash its caseload in protest at the ‘punitive’ rates paid under the government’s fixed-fees scheme.

Kaim Todner said this week it had given notice to the Legal Services Commission on 1 September that it would not take on any more cases in its north London office, which carries out three-quarters of its mental health work.

‘Highly vulnerable people are in danger of being unrepresented,’ partner Richard Charlton, who is also chairman of the Mental Health Lawyers Association (MHLA), has warned.

Charlton said that the fees regime in force since January discriminates against difficult cases. ‘We do a lot of high-profile, serious cases where people are sent to secure units. This is paid at the same rate as dealing with someone who comes in off the street,’ he said. Overall, he claims payments have fallen by more than 30%.

Carol Storer, director of the Legal Aid Practitioners Group, agreed that mental health practitioners are suffering disproportionately under the new scheme. ‘We see it as a major, major problem. It’s an unrealistic fee structure.’

The commission said it was ‘disappointed’ at Kaim Todner’s decision. In a statement, the LSC said that London has 40 quality-assured mental health legal aid providers and that, following an agreement with the Law Society, rates had recently increased by up to 5% - ahead of other sectors. A spokesman said: ‘Other providers continue to build sustainable businesses based on publicly funded work.

‘The LSC will work with Kaim Todner in order to ensure that disruption to current clients is minimised and they continue to have access to quality-assured legal advice. Kaim Todner’s clients should contact the firm for further information.’

Charlton dismissed the 5% increase as a ‘drop in the ocean’ as the average cost of cases is double that of the fixed fee received.