Could it be that a new legal aid row is set to break out - over the very term 'legal aid'? Ever since the Legal Services Commission (LSC) rebranded itself and cast off the bad old days of the Legal Aid Board in 2000, there have been attempts to ditch the term in favour of less needy phrases, such as 'legal help and representation'.

But nobody took any notice and the Legal Aid Practitioners Group didn't want to rename itself, so the LSC gave up in late 2001 and confirmed that 'legal aid' was once again the official terminology.

However, in reply to a written Parliamentary question last week, Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) minister David Lammy talked about 'public funding (formerly legal aid)'.

The LSC tells us that so far as officials are concerned, 'legal aid' is still acceptable and is interchangeable with 'public funding'.

A DCA spokeswoman added that 'public funding' is often used in responses to Parliamentary questions on civil legal aid because the money comes out of the Community Legal Service fund.

The term 'legal aid', she insisted, has not been abandoned.

Nonetheless, perhaps an Obiter-organised competition for a suitable new name would be in order.