Generation gap

From where is the next generation of legal aid lawyers going to emerge? That was the blunt question being asked at last week's Legal Aid Practitioners Group conference.

And it is a question that could stymie both the Legal Services Commission and government ministers.Few are better placed than LAPG members to assess the grassroots situation of state-funded legal work.

And the whispers are that while the two-year-old civil contracting system is still floating, the future prognosis is not good.

The equation is this: contracting has eliminated the cross-subsidy provided by private paying areas of practice.

Therefore, legal aid firms face low incomes but high overheads to meet the strict standards rightly insisted on by the commission.

Even with a recession looming, the earnings and opportunities offered by commercial firms of all sizes are going to be much more attractive to the brightest entrants to the profession.

Ultimately, for even the strongest social conscience, the expediency of financial and career advancement will win out.The atmosphere hanging over last week's conference was rife with mistrust between practitioners and the commission.

Ministers must realise that they ignore the provision of state funded legal services at their peril.