Legal aid solicitors shocked by pay snub

The Lord Chancellor, Lord Irvine, has refused to give legal aid solicitors a pay rise this year, the Gazette has learned.

In a letter to practitioner groups, the Lord Chancellor's Department (LCD) said it did not accept that there was a recruitment and retention crisis, and is freezing civil and criminal rates owing to a general lack of resources.

There is likely to be an overspend on public funding this year and a continuing cloud over next year's budget, it added.

The letter said that neither Lord Irvine nor junior minister Baroness Scotland would be available to discuss the issue, but that LCD officials would be in touch.

Extra money will be targeted at four areas of need.

An already announced 15% premium will be introduced for members of the Law Society's family law panel, plus grants towards the cost of accreditation for specialist panels.

There will also be a consultation on how the Legal Services Commission (LSC) can provide support for training contracts.

The letter formally confirms increased mileage rates for criminal law solicitors, bringing them into line with civil rates.

Law Society President David McIntosh said the news is a 'great disappointment' and called on Lord Irvine to reconsider.

He said: 'The invaluable publicly funded work done by so many solicitors is now under serious threat and leaves many firms with tough decisions to make.'

Rodney Warren, the chairman of the Criminal Law Solicitors Association, said practitioners would be 'astonished and angry' after receiving just three pay rises in 11 years, particularly as the announcements on mileage rates and the family panel were old news.

'The Lord Chancellor has had a huge increase in salary and there is no suggestion that he will forgo it,' Mr Warren said.

'LCD and LSC staff have had pay rises too, and all the while experienced legal aid solicitors are earning less than teachers and newly qualified police officers.

'The LSC and LCD wish to press ahead with change, and improvements and modifications to the contracts have relied on the goodwill of the profession.

One wonders now how long this goodwill will last.'

Legal Aid Practitioners Group chairman David Emmerson said: 'Many of the best and most committed firms, having been encouraged by pay increases last year, were awaiting the announcement on rates this year before deciding whether to continue with publicly funded work.

That decision has now been made for them'.

By Paula Rohan