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Justice for all?

31 July 2009
Issue: 7380 / Categories: Legal News , Legal aid focus
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Legal Aid Minister Lord Bach marked the 60th anniversary of the introduction of legal aid, this week, with a pledge that vulnerable people “most in need” would get the right help at a cost that was fair to practitioners and fair to the taxpayer.

Although the director of the Legal Aid Practitioners’ Group, Carol Storer, welcomed the government’s commitment to the legal aid system she stressed that practitioners were struggling against a tide of change and cutbacks. “However hard they try to absorb changes and deliver more for less,” she says, “there does come a point when the bank balance must overrule the heart”.

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Freeths—Ruth Clare

Freeths—Ruth Clare

National real estate team bolstered by partner hire in Manchester

Farrer & Co—Claire Gordon

Farrer & Co—Claire Gordon

Partner appointed head of family team

mfg Solicitors—Neil Harrison

mfg Solicitors—Neil Harrison

Firm strengthens agriculture and rural affairs team with partner return

NEWS
Conveyancing lawyers have enjoyed a rapid win after campaigning against UK Finance’s decision to charge for access to the Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has launched a recruitment drive for talented early career and more senior barristers and solicitors
Regulators differed in the clarity and consistency of their post-Mazur advice and guidance, according to an interim report by the Legal Services Board (LSB)
The dangers of uncritical artificial intelligence (AI) use in legal practice are no longer hypothetical. In this week's NLJ, Dr Charanjit Singh of Holborn Chambers examines cases where lawyers relied on ‘hallucinated’ citations — entirely fictitious authorities generated by AI tools
The Solicitors Act 1974 may still underpin legal regulation, but its age is increasingly showing. Writing in NLJ this week, Victoria Morrison-Hughes of the Association of Costs Lawyers argues that the Act is ‘out of step with modern consumer law’ and actively deters fairness
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