Legal Aid and the Future of Access to Justice

This open access book provides a snapshot of the state of contemporary access to justice in England and Wales. Legal aid lawyers provide a critical function in supporting individuals to address a range of problems. These are problems that commonly intersect with issues of social justice, including crime, homelessness, domestic violence, family breakdown and educational exclusion. However, the past few decades have seen a clear retreat from the tenets of the welfare state, including, as part of this, the reduced availability of legal aid. This book examines the impact of austerity and related policies on those at the coalface of the legal profession. It documents the current state of the sector as well as the social and economic factors that make working in the legal aid profession more challenging than ever before. Through data collected via the Legal Aid Census 2021, the book is underpinned by the accounts of over 1000 current and former legal aid lawyers. These accounts offer a detailed demography and insight into the financial, cultural and other pressures forcing lawyers to give up publicly funded work. This book combines a mixture of quantitative and qualitative analysis, allowing readers a broad appreciation of trends in the legal aid profession. This book will equip readers with a thorough knowledge of legal aid lawyers in England and Wales, and aims to stimulate debate as to the fate of access to justice and legal aid in the future. The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. licence on bloomsburycollections.com Foreword Acknowledgements Contents List of Tables List of Figures List of Abbreviations 1. Introduction I. The Role of Legal Aid II. The Foundations of Legal Aid III. The History of Legal Aid IV. The Current State of Legal Aid V. Investigating Legal Aid VI. The Legal Aid Census VII. Structure of the Book 2. A Portrait of the Profession I. Introduction II. The Legal Profession of England and Wales III. Current, Former and Prospective Practitioners IV. Chambers and Organisations V. Implications of Findings 3. Preparing for a Career in Legal Aid I. Introduction II. Tensions in Legal Education III. Educational Experiences IV. Barriers to Entry into the Sector V. Implications of Findings 4. Working Conditions in Legal Aid I. Introduction II. The Vulnerability of the Legal Aid Sector III. Well-being and Stressors IV. Job Satisfaction V. Professional Networks, Training and Development VI. Implications of Findings 5. Remuneration and Fees I. Introduction II. Salaries of Current Practitioners III. Fixed Fees IV. Hourly Rates V. Exceptional Case Funding VI. Other Income Sources VII. Implications of Findings 6. Responding to COVID-19 I. Introduction II. The Impact of COVID-19 III. Meeting Legal Need During the Pandemic IV. Methods of Working During the Pandemic V. Workloads and Financial Pressures During the Pandemic VI. Implications of Findings 7. Recruitment and Retention I. Introduction II. Finding and Retaining Suitably Qualified Practitioners III. Exiting Practice Areas IV. Exiting the Sector V. Attracting New Entrants VI. Implication of Findings 8. Facing the Future of Legal Aid I. The Challenges for Legal Aid II. Giving Voice to the Legal Aid Sector III. Addressing the Crisis IV. Time for Change V. Recommendations for Policy VI. Recommendations for Future Research VII. What Next for Legal Aid? Afterword Bibliography Index