As a criminal defence lawyer specialising in youth court work, I must address the now much-quoted mantra in Carolyn Regan's letter that higher quality is often no more expensive than average quality (see [2007] Gazette, 26 July, 16). All that means is that good lawyers are seriously underpaid for what they do.


The Legal Services Commission (LSC) pays most youth court work in the form of standard fees and, from October, all police station work too. Nothing extra has been allowed in the standard fees for the extra time that these cases take compared to cases involving adults. Indeed, in that small proportion of cases (most often involving vulnerable defendants) that are particularly lengthy and fall outside standard fees, the LSC has axed payments for travel and waiting time.



It should be obvious that children appearing before the youth courts are often seriously damaged by their life experiences to date, and a great deal of care and attention must therefore be given for any meaningful output. Trust and confidence needs to be established and maintained with the child and each step in the procedure explained in a way that they understand. That is before any effective preparation of their defence can even begin.



Youth court law is far more complex and time consuming. Since the introduction of special measures, most of the prosecution evidence is by way of achieving-best-evidence videos that must be watched with the child face-to-face. As a result, if prepared properly, these cases take far longer.



Nothing extra is paid by the LSC in standard fee cases, while in non-standard fee cases the payment scheme only encourages the lawyer to avoid any work - when I spend four hours travelling to and from Feltham Detention Centre to represent a child, my firm will not be paid for that travel time. In practice, I will usually have little more than an hour with the child before their concentration is exhausted.



Therefore, five chargeable hours of my time will produce profit costs for my firm of £52.55. That equates to an hourly rate of £10.51. How much quality do you expect at that price?



Greg Stewart, GT Stewart Solicitors, London