As the Black Solicitors Network (BSN) and Society of Asian Lawyers (SAL) prepare to take the Legal Services Commission (LSC) to court next week over the implementation of the government's legal aid reforms, three other judicial review actions against the LSC have come to an end.


The Law Society withdrew its proposed action in relation to the LSC's proposals for very high cost cases (VHCC), after the commission provided it with information that it required in relation to those plans.



Chancery Lane had originally called for the implementation of VHCC panels to be delayed pending further consultation and a race equality impact assessment.



Law Society chief executive Des Hudson said: 'The Law Society is pursuing a robust litigation strategy to hold the LSC to account and to require them to produce information that we all need if we are to understand the impact of their planned reforms.



'We are pleased the LSC has produced the information that we required and that we have now achieved our objective; however, it is extremely regrettable that the LSC did not produce this earlier.'



Mr Hudson added that the Law Society was continuing its scrutiny of the proposals and decisions made by the LSC, and would continue to ensure it was held to account.



Actions started by two separate groups of solicitors in Kingston-upon-Hull and Portsmouth over the LSC's proposals on payment for work done in magistrates' courts were both rejected at first instance this week. Solicitors in the two areas claimed the payment regimes were unfair and would have caused them losses.



Meanwhile the action brought by SAL and the BSN, challenging the LSC's failure to carry out a full race equality impact assessment of the changes to implement Lord Carter's proposals, is expected to be heard on 18 July.



Catherine Baksi