Legal Services Commission loses aid case

The Legal Services Commission has conceded funds for three firms to provide free legal help, after the enterprises threatened to take the body to court.

Subsidies have gradually been reduced and cases previously receiving government support if plaintiffs could not afford to pay a lawyer - such as personal injury - have given way to a pared-down service, with many outfits losing their right to offer free legal help earlier this year.

Outcry among professionals saw the Legal Services Commission challenged on its decision to award contracts to little more than half of existing aid providers, with two firms in London and one in Leeds the latest to win their cases, Inside Housing reports.

However, offering such support may nonetheless prove to be financially untenable, as Michael Paget, executive committee member of the Housing Law Practitioners' Association, commented: "I don't think a lot of firms are going to find it viable to work under a contract anyway."

Government proposals to cut rates of pay by ten per cent will "severely affect [firms'] profit", the legal service expert claimed, implying free assistance may be difficult to find in future.

Published by Rose Orlik