Legal Aid

Representative bodies for solicitors in Scotland have agreed to an £11 million package that increases fees for legal aid lawyers in Scotland and supports the country’s court recovery programme. The Scottish government offer, accepted by the Law Society of Scotland and the Scottish Solici

Lawyers in Aberdeen have brought an end to industrial action as a “demonstration of collective goodwill” and ahead of an increase to the legal aid budget, the Press and Journal reports.

Almost £3.4 billion will be invested across the justice system in 2023-24 to fund front-line services, provide continued support for victims and witnesses, and to tackle the causes of offending, the Scottish government has announced. The funding represents an increase of £165 million or

Donald Findlay KC earned the most from legal aid in 2021-22, figures from the Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB) show. The grand old man of the Scottish legal profession returned to the top of the table having dropped to ninth place in the previous year. He made £382,000 from legal aid in 2021-2

There was a significant recovery in most areas of legal aid activity in 2021-22 following the substantial drop the previous year, according to the annual report of the Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB). The total cost to the taxpayer of providing legal assistance was £118.2 million in 2021-22.

The Law Society's new president has said criminal lawyers should refuse work for which they are not properly remunerated as they demand a 15 per cent increase in legal aid fees, in line with barristers. Lubna Shuja's appointment comes as solicitors have been offered a nine per cent rise, despite hav

Thousands of Scotland’s most deprived families are facing the prospect of representing themselves in court thanks to a chronic shortage of civil legal aid firms. New analysis by the Law Society of Scotland shows that the 139 most deprived communities in Scotland, resident to around 100,000 peo

The vast majority of criminal defence solicitors in Edinburgh have suffered mentally and physically from the work they do. A survey by the Edinburgh Bar Association (EBA) found that 87.5 per cent of members agreed that their role as a criminal defence solicitor has had a negative impact on their men

A proposed rise in legal aid fees is a step in the right direction, but further action is urgently needed to resolve the long-term crisis in the sector, the Law Society of Scotland has said. Following discussions with the Law Society, the Scottish government has proposed an £11 million increas

The Edinburgh Bar Association (EBA) has accused the Scottish government of mischaracterising the dire legal aid situation as the result of market forces. Legal affairs minister Ash Regan had claimed that the decline in numbers of criminal legal aid lawyers was a natural response to the drop in prose

A new initiative to expedite the resolution of summary cases will short-change defence lawyers, without extra pay. The Summary Case Management pilot, which begins today, seeks to reduce the number of unnecessary hearings at summary level, which contributed to over 400,000 witness citations last year

English solicitors could be given more advocacy rights under UK government plans to break the barristers' strike, according to reports. The Daily Mail quotes a government source as saying ministers "are looking to give more solicitors higher rights of audience to broaden the work they can do, increa

Criminal barristers in England and Wales have voted overwhelmingly for an indefinite strike in a major escalation of their campaign for higher legal aid pay. After a two-week ballot by the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) in which 2,273 people voted — significantly more than either of the two pr

Legal affairs minister Ash Regan has made what she claims is a “substantial and credible offer” of support to legal aid practitioners amid a bizarre claim that Scotland has "finest legal aid system in the world". A "robust" package of support was set out by Ms Regan in a letter to the se

Solicitors in London are refusing to take on cases for defendants accused of assaulting emergency workers and harassment in a legal aid row with the UK government. Defence lawyers in the capital have already refused burglary cases on the basis legal aid fees are inadequate.