counsel_logo
Subscribe Advertise
×
LEGAL PERSONALITY PRACTICE TOOLSET JUSTICE MATTERS BON VIVANT CURRENT ISSUE BAR STUDENTS
Jobs & Career Hub View All Jobs Career Clinic Strategic Moves Partners Training Courses Training Course Providers
} Subscribe Advertise
  • LEGAL PERSONALITY
  • PRACTICE TOOLSET
  • JUSTICE MATTERS
  • BON VIVANT
  • CURRENT ISSUE
  • BAR STUDENTS
  • Jobs & Career Hub
    • View All Jobs
    • Career Clinic
    • Strategic Moves
    • Partners
    • Training Courses
    • Training Course Providers
  1. Home
  2. News
  3. Chairman of the Bar urges creative solutions to the Legal Aid crisis

Chairman of the Bar urges creative solutions to the Legal Aid crisis

31 July 2009
Categories: News
Printer Email

SPEAKING at the Annual Conference of the Institute of Barristers’ Clerks (IBC), Desmond Browne QC, the Chairman of the Bar, called for creative solutions to the current dire predicament of the publicly funded bar, and praised clerks and practice managers for their constructive thinking in this area. He criticised the Government’s continued “efficiency savings”, which create advice deserts for both solicitors and barristers, highlighting the recent King’s College study on family practitioners as evidence of the impact cuts have had on the family bar. 

In his speech, Desmond Browne QC urged the Legal Services Commission to adopt a more sensible approach to negotiations over family fees, as it had previously over Very High Cost Cases. He invited the audience to consider two possible solutions to the issue of access to legal representation, direct access and block contracting, both of which would have a significant impact on chambers. Providing an update to chambers on the Bar Council’s work in relation to Jackson LJ’s review of civil litigation costs, he advised those present to ensure chambers are fully briefed on the latest developments in the debate over conditional fee arrangements and CLAFs. 

 

Tags: Legal Aid
Printer Email
Home > News > Chairman of the Bar urges creative solutions to the Legal Aid crisis

Chairman of the Bar urges creative solutions to the Legal Aid crisis

Date: 31 July 2009

 

SPEAKING at the Annual Conference of the Institute of Barristers’ Clerks (IBC), Desmond Browne QC, the Chairman of the Bar, called for creative solutions to the current dire predicament of the publicly funded bar, and praised clerks and practice managers for their constructive thinking in this area. He criticised the Government’s continued “efficiency savings”, which create advice deserts for both solicitors and barristers, highlighting the recent King’s College study on family practitioners as evidence of the impact cuts have had on the family bar.

In his speech, Desmond Browne QC urged the Legal Services Commission to adopt a more sensible approach to negotiations over family fees, as it had previously over Very High Cost Cases. He invited the audience to consider two possible solutions to the issue of access to legal representation, direct access and block contracting, both of which would have a significant impact on chambers. Providing an update to chambers on the Bar Council’s work in relation to Jackson LJ’s review of civil litigation costs, he advised those present to ensure chambers are fully briefed on the latest developments in the debate over conditional fee arrangements and CLAFs.

Category: 
News [1]

Tags: 
Legal Aid [2]

*/


SourceURL:

Links:
Subscribe Advertise

Job of the Week

View All Jobs
Third Six Pupillage

Third Six Pupillage

London

We are advertising for third six pupils, with the intention of filling up to three vacancies.

virtual magazine View virtual issue
Bar Student Guide 2025Bar Student Guide 2025

Chair’s Column

Read All
Feature image

Funding for justice and safety for lawyers

Justice system requires urgent attention and next steps on the Harman Review

View silk issueView silk issue
Tax and financial planning supplement 2025Tax and financial planning
Bar Student Guide 2024Bar Student Guide 2024
View bar student guide 2023View student guide 2023
AI special issueAI special issue

Sponsored

Read All

Barrister mortgages made easy

Q&A with Tim Lynch of Jordan Lynch Private Finance

Clarity through continuity: repeat testing in Family Court

By Marie Law, Director of Toxicology at AlphaBiolabs

Autumn Budget: are wealth taxes on the horizon?

By Louise Crush of Westgate Wealth Management

Beyond the Clerks’ Room: How Virtual Support is Modernising Life at the Bar

Confidentiality, Compliance and the Virtual Bar

Why Virtual Assistants Can Meet the Legal Profession’s Exacting Standards

Most Viewed

The rise and rise of fake cases

Despite increased awareness, why are AI hallucinations continuing to infiltrate court cases at an alarming rate? Matthew Lee investigates

Is the KC ladder built only with certain bodies in mind?

Many disabled barristers face entrenched obstacles to KC appointment – both procedural and systemic, writes Diego F Soto-Miranda

Why proscription of Palestine Action is a mistake

The proscribing of Palestine Action under the Terrorism Act is an assault on the English language and on civil liberties, argues Paul Harris SC, founder of the Bar Human Rights Committee

Bar Mock Trial Competition

For over three decades, the Bar Mock Trial Competition has boosted the skills, knowledge and confidence of tens of thousands of state school students – as sixth-form teacher Conor Duffy and Young Citizens’ Akasa Pradhan report

Law on stage: Inter Alia

Suzie Miller’s latest play puts the legal system centre stage once more. Will it galvanise change? asks Rehna Azim

Partner Logo

Latest Cases

Read All
Pricewatch Ltd v Gausden (East Sussex Fire and Rescue Services) Pricewatch Ltd v Gausden (East Sussex Fire and Rescue Services) Hinrichs and others v Oracle Corporation UK Ltd Lessees and Management Company of Herons Court v Heronslea Ltd and others Lessees and Management Company of Herons Court v Heronslea Ltd and others
footer logo
Lexis House, 30 Farringdon Street, London EC4A 4HH.
CONTACT US
0330 161 1234
GET IN TOUCH
  • Worldwide: United Kingdom
    • Argentina
    • Australia
    • Austria
    • Belgium
    • Canada
    • Chile
    • China
    • Columbia
    • Denmark
    • Finland
    • France
    • Germany
    • Greece
    • Hong Kong
    • India
    • International Sales(Includes Middle East)
    • Israel
    • Italy
    • Japan
    • Korea
    • Latin America and the Caribbean
    • Luxembourg
    • Malaysia
    • Mexico
    • Netherlands
    • New Zealand
    • Norway
    • Philippines
    • Singapore
    • South Africa
    • Spain
    • Sweden
    • Switzerland
    • Taiwan
    • Turkey
    • United States
QUICK LINKS
Jobs and Career Hub
Directory
Current Issue
Features
Editorial Board
About us
Write for us
Bar Council
Wellbeing at the Bar
Bar Representation Fee
Bar Standards Board
PARTNER SITES
New Law Journal
Tolley
LexisNexis
Tax Journal
Taxation
POLICIES
Data Protection
Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
Subscribe
Advertise with us
Protecting human rights: Our Modern Slavery Act Statement
Copyright © 2025 Bar Council LexisNexis