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Evolution not revolution?

24 November 2010 / Adam Makepeace
Issue: 7443 / Categories: Opinion
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The net result of government plans to wipe £350m off the legal aid budget is an attack on the welfare of some of the most vulnerable members of our society

A reduction in legal aid funding need not spell disaster, says Adam Makepeace

The net result of government plans to wipe £350m off the legal aid budget is an attack on the welfare of some of the most vulnerable members of our society and it will be up to those of us working in the sector to rise to the challenge if we want to preserve our clients’ access to justice. We can argue at the margins about a cut here and there or we can find ways to continue to give our clients the voice they deserve in the legal system.

A significant facet of the impending legal aid revolution will be an acceleration of the consolidation of legal aid businesses. However, the Law Society’s recent successful judicial review of the Legal Service Commission’s (LSC) family law bid tender process (which heralded an overnight

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Weightmans—Emma Eccles & Mark Woodall

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NEWS
The landmark Supreme Court’s decision in Johnson v FirstRand Bank Ltd—along with Rukhadze v Recovery Partners—redefine fiduciary duties in commercial fraud. Writing in NLJ this week, Mary Young of Kingsley Napley analyses the implications of the rulings
Barristers Ben Keith of 5 St Andrew’s Hill and Rhys Davies of Temple Garden Chambers use the arrest of Simon Leviev—the so-called Tinder Swindler—to explore the realities of Interpol red notices, in this week's NLJ
Mazur v Charles Russell Speechlys [2025] has upended assumptions about who may conduct litigation, warn Kevin Latham and Fraser Barnstaple of Kings Chambers in this week's NLJ. But is it as catastrophic as first feared?
Lord Sales has been appointed to become the Deputy President of the Supreme Court after Lord Hodge retires at the end of the year
Limited liability partnerships (LLPs) are reportedly in the firing line in Chancellor Rachel Reeves upcoming Autumn budget
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