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The prospect of a strike by legal aid lawyers is “regrettable”, but there are lawyers who will operate under the new regime, justice minister Shailesh Vara has insisted. Mr Vara also urged lawyers to embrace the innovation showcased by alternative business structures.

The Bar Standards Board has moved to close a “regulatory anomaly” that would have temporarily seen barristers forced to accept the controversial new legal aid rates set by the government for very high-cost cases (VHCCs).

A high-powered meeting of lawyers opposed to impending criminal legal aid cuts ended on Tuesday night without agreement on a date for action, despite strong support in the hall for a vote on it. There is also a bid to call an SGM of the Law Society for a vote of no-confidence in its leadership.

The Solicitors Regulatory Authority should be able to process would-be alternative business structures wanting to bid for the new criminal legal aid ‘super-contracts’ in as little as three months, it has told MPs. The Bar Standards Board was more cautious about its regulation, however.

The “sustainable consolidation” of nearly 1,200 small criminal law firms could be driven by requiring them to have a minimum number of duty solicitors, the Law Society has proposed as its alternative to price competitive tendering.