Solicitor issues free legal advice warning

The court system in Wales could be "clogged up" by cuts to the free legal advice budget, a leading solicitor has claimed.

Recently the BBC reported that Michael Imperato, president of the Cardiff and District Law Society, said that the changes could result in certain instances where simple hearings could be dragged out for as much as 60 times longer.

"When you have a litigant in person, it's often a much slower process, everything has to be explained to them, and so you find a hearing which between two solicitors may take five minutes to sort out, could take five hours," he said.

In addition, Mr Imperato said that cuts to free legal advice could result on an underclass who will be unable to pay for professional help.

Furthermore, shadow justice secretary Sadiq Khan has spoken out against legal aid cuts, saying that they will have the biggest impact on those who are poorest.

Published by Hannah Carr