Family Help: Solicitors criticise scheme offering lump sums for all work up to court hearing

A voluntary pilot scheme that will see family lawyers paid a lump sum for all work up to a court hearing - with a massive premium for claims that settle - will make some cases 'untouchable', family solicitors warned this week.


The Legal Services Commission (LSC) will run the Family Help pilot in September in seven areas which formed part of the FAINs (family advice and information networks) pilot.


Under the current proposals, solicitors with two years' or more experience will receive a lump sum of £1,100 if a case settles or £280 if it does not settle, for all work up to the settlement or court hearing. For lawyers with less than two years' experience, the payment will be £740 for a case that settles and £185 otherwise.


Christina Blacklaws, chairwoman of the Law Society's family law committee, said: 'The pilot will cover all private family matters apart from domestic violence. That could involve five or six court hearings, but you still get paid the lump sum.


'It means there is an enormous premium on settling the case before it goes to a court hearing. Counsel's fees and disbursements will fall outside the lump sum, so there will be no incentive for solicitors to do their own advocacy, even though that is often in the best interests of the client.'



She added: 'The pilot is voluntary, and I hope solicitors will not take part.'


David Emmerson, legal aid committee chairman at Resolution, said: 'The pilot will reduce bureaucracy, but the fees look spectacularly low - in fact they look as though they have got a decimal point missing.


'It will mean certain cases will not be touched, for example those involving clients from ethnic minorities, because those cases take more time.'


He added: 'The pilot is expected to last at least 12 months, and what cannot happen is that there is nothing done in relation to remuneration during that period for family lawyers.


'The LSC must inject cash into family firms, to stop the exodus from family work. Too much damage will be done to the family legal aid structure before the conclusion of the pilot.'


Richard Miller, Legal Aid Practitioners Group director, added: 'There is a real danger that this will create a perverse incentive, because if a case does not settle immediately, the lawyer may go straight for the court. Otherwise, they will receive a very small sum for all the extra work [of trying to get a settlement], if they do not succeed.'


An LSC spokesman said the pilot was designed to achieve the early and amicable resolution of family disputes wherever possible, remove incentives to litigate and reduce bureaucracy. The scheme will run in Cardiff, Lincoln, Nottingham, Mansfield, Stockton, Hartlepool and Newcastle.