Tag Results

The Law Society’s criminal litigation accreditation scheme is redundant, has no influence on clients and plans for reaccreditation are strongly opposed by the profession, the body representing criminal law solicitors has claimed.

The Law Society’s criminal litigation accreditation scheme has no value to specialist solicitors and plans for reaccreditation at a time of huge pressure on the sector has “no support”, their representative body has warned.

National criminal law firm Tuckers could look to form consortia with other practices to bid for legal aid contracts, it has revealed. The firm has recently begun offering other criminal law firms access to its back-office services in a bid to generate income, and save costs for smaller practices.

Public access barristers will be able to compete more effectively with solicitors for legal aid clients under an urgent rule change being considered by the Bar Standards Board. However, both the speed of and the motivation for the move have been criticised by the Legal Services Consumer Panel.

It is “absolutely inevitable” that criminal legal aid practices will need to morph into a cross between a solicitors’ firm and barristers’ chambers, one of the founders of a groundbreaking firm in the north-east of England has claimed.