New defender office infuriates solicitors

Law Society Council members rounded on the Legal Services Commission over its treatment of criminal law solicitors last week, accusing it of trying to cut funding even further and extending the public defender scheme without informing the firms that will be affected.

Tempers flared after the council meeting heard that plans for a sixth public defender service office in Pontypridd, south Wales, had been finalised without the knowledge of local solicitors.

The office will be set up as a 'satellite' of the PDS's Swansea operation, and is likely to comprise two solicitors and an accredited representative, plus administrative staff.

Graham White, council member for Hertfordshire and chairman of the Society's criminal law committee, said solicitors had been 'kept in the dark until it was a fait accompli'.

Simon Mumford, council member for south Wales, complained that even the local law society had been unaware of the plans.

'[The LSC] cannot start opening new offices up hither and thither and calling them satellites,' he argued.

'Solicitors in the area are very angry about it.'

An LSC spokesman said it had been open with the Law Society about PDS policy.

'However, we do not consult with the Law Society on operational decisions about the set-up and management of individual offices,' he said, adding that he was not aware of plans for more offices.

Members at the council meeting also slated the LSC's new police station costs scheme, launched last month with the promise that it would be cost-neutral.

But council members said it would involve reducing duty solicitors' rates for out-of-hours attendance, travelling and waiting.

Rodney Warren, chairman of the Criminal Law Solicitors Association (CLSA), suggested that the upshot would mean the changes only being cost-neutral for the LSC itself.

Speaking after the meeting, Legal Aid Practitioners Group director and council member Richard Miller said firms' calculations were showing that at best they would break even, with some estimating losses of up to 20%.

'So far, we haven't found the winners who, theoretically, must be out there somewhere,' he said.

The LSC spokesman said there was no evidence to suggest that the proposals would either increase or decrease firms' income overall, and that it had not seen any figures indicating losses of 20%.

However, Mr White indicated that the proposals would contribute to the current recruitment crisis.

He said he suspected the LSC agenda will mean driving more private practitioners out of criminal defence work in the face of unfair competitive advantage of the public defender offices.

Paula Rohan