The Society of Asian Lawyers (SAL) has advised its members not to bid for contracts when competitive tendering is introduced for criminal legal aid work in London if they feel the process is unfair - and said it will support members in judicial review actions if they do decide to bid and are unsuccessful.

However, SAL chairman Sailesh Mehta emphasised that the decision on whether or not to bid was a matter for individuals.


Mr Mehta warned that the current proposals would have a disproportionate effect on ethnic minority firms, which make up 46% of criminal law practices in London, according to Legal Services Commission (LSC) figures. Some 48% of small London criminal law specialist firms are owned or controlled by ethnic minority lawyers.


Mr Mehta said: 'This is a matter for the individual firms, but if they feel [the bidding process] is unfair, then our advice is not to bid. If the process goes ahead, there will be a possibly unlawfully disproportionate effect on Asian firms, which could see hundreds of firms closing down.


'We have been taking QC advice on judicial review action and will lend our support to any firms that do not succeed in gaining contracts and want to launch a judicial review. The difficulty is the [lack of] transparency with which the whole process will be conducted. I expect there could be a number of judicial review actions; if anyone loses their livelihood, they are bound to challenge the method by which it occurred.'


The competitive tendering process is scheduled to begin in April next year, with contracts coming into force from the following October.


The SAL said that 'rumours abound' that large criminal law practices are doing 'secret deals' with the LSC, which is perceived to have an agenda to cut out smaller suppliers.


An LSC spokesman said it had met the Association of Major London Criminal Law Firms along with other representative groups as part of the consultation process. They were not negotiating meetings, he stressed.


The spokesman said the LSC is 'committed to maintaining a diverse supplier base with contracts awarded in an open and transparent way'. To ensure that competitive tendering will not disadvantage ethnic minority firms or clients, the LSC recently announced plans to commission independent research into any possible impact of its proposals.