Legal Aid, Free Advice and Virtue Signalling

Under the Legal Aid and Advice Act 1949, 80% of the population of England and Wales became eligible for legal aid which was administered by the Law Society and applied to those of ‘small or moderate means’.

Since then, successive cuts to legal aid by various governments have significantly reduced its scope, eligibility criteria and payments. The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 removed legal aid provision for most areas of civil law including family, employment, welfare benefits, immigration, and housing law.

Cuts to legal aid fees for lawyers have resulted in solicitors and barristers leaving certain practice areas or not going into them in the first place. In such circumstances, even if someone is eligible for legal aid, there may not be a lawyer to provide the service.

Pro bono legal work has been an integral part of the profession since medieval times. Today, most regional, City and international law firms have established sophisticated pro bono practices alongside their fee-earning work.

This article was published in The Law Society Gazette, 13 January 2023. A link to the article may be found here.