CIVIL LEGAL AID CONTRACTING: black solicitors say new bid process timetable will help larger firms leave them in the cold

Black solicitors this week attacked the Legal Services Commission (LSC) for its approach to 2004 civil legal aid contracts, arguing that its tendering and timetable plans will both damage ethnic minority firms.

The Law Society-affiliated Black Solicitors Network (BSN) said the LSC contacted firms on 14 November with a form to bid for a contract.

The closing date is 5 December.

It says ethnic minority solicitors will be disadvantaged as they mainly work in smaller firms, which do not have the resources to put together a bid as quickly as larger firms.

It also says the process appears geared towards larger firms, which benefit from economies of scale.

BSN chairwoman Yvonne Brown said that if the proposals go ahead as planned, many smaller firms could be forced to close.

The group also complains that the LSC has not provided sufficient information about the bidding process.

The BSN is holding an emergency meeting at the Law Society on 27 November to discuss the issue.

LSC chief executive Clare Dodgson will attend, where network members will quiz her on what steps she is taking to ensure supplier diversity.

The LSC's own research in 2001 found that ethnic minority law firms were disproportionately affected by the introduction of contracting.

It also revealed that a higher proportion of legal aid solicitors come from ethnic minorities than the representation of ethnic minority solicitors in private practice as a whole.

Law Society chief executive Janet Paraskeva and Richard Miller, director of the Legal Aid Practitioners Group, both said they have asked the LSC to extend the deadline.

'This process has been sprung on firms very quickly and at very short notice,' Mr Miller said.

'The information that's gone out to firms has not been as good as it could have been.'

An LSC spokesman said it is giving the request to be flexible with the deadline 'careful consideration', adding: 'The LSC has a positive attitude to diversity and is committed to a fair bid process.

We will judge all contract bids equally on the information provided to us.'

Meanwhile, a north London sole practitioner has succeeded in the latest stage of her procedural battle to bring a claim of race discrimination against the LSC.

Yvonne Patterson, who is of Afro-Caribbean origin, wants to bring an employment tribunal action against the LSC, claiming she was denied contracts in four areas after an auditor allegedly treated her less favourably than white counterparts.

The Court of Appeal ruled this month that an employment tribunal does have jurisdiction to hear Ms Patterson's claim under section 12 of the Race Relations Act 1976.

The LSC said it was considering whether to appeal, adding that it 'totally refutes' her allegations.

Neil Rose