Newcastle News November 2017

Interview
and the reduction in the number of pages that law
firms can claim for down to 6000 instead of 10000 will
mean that many firms will be working for nothing and
could essentially remove all profitability. In addition,
the proposals to raise the small claims limit to £5000
will have a huge impact on PI firms and the Law
Society’s concern is that this will decimate the High
Street practices.
Another major concern are the proposals by the SRA to
make radical changes to the Solicitors Handbook. Joe
states that the Law Society has major concerns about
some of the proposals which could see solicitors
subject to entirely different regulations depending on
where they practise. This could create a new tier of
solicitors, working in unregulated businesses, who
wouldn't have to have the same insurance or pay into
the solicitors’ compensation fund.
The proposals also included allowing newly qualified
solicitors to set up their own firms immediately after
qualification. Joe says “The removal of the rules which
prevent solicitors establishing their own firms
immediately after they qualify could put vulnerable
clients with complex legal problems in the hands of
inexperienced, unsupervised lawyers. This cannot be a
good thing.”
Joe is a great advocate for local law societies and
hopes to publish a Local Law Society Handbook later
in the year, which will provide practical advice on best
practice and how to attract new members. With 30
years experience of local law societies he has seen
many grow and flourish, whilst others have become
moribund and this is often an indication of the people
involved. He is pleased to see that a new local law
society has recently been established in South
Cheshire.
So far Joe says that he loves being President of the Law
Society and thought that he was prepared for his year
of office but adds that he hadn’t realised just how
intense the role was, often with meetings starting at
8am and continuing late into the evening. Joe is due to
host a dinner for Baroness Hale and the Lord Chief
Justice and says that he is honoured to be representing
the profession at this level.
Joe is now lives mainly in Carey Street, round the
corner from the Law Society, but some weekends finds
the time to return home to Bolton. He occasionally
gets to watch Bolton Wanderers or Manchester City an
experience he characterized as like going from
watching a play at Bolton Octagon to the Royal
Shakespeare Company. He is married to Clare and they
have three children. Their eldest daughter, Kate, is a
solicitor in Bristol and their younger daughter, Helen, is
the firm’s assistant practice manager. Son, Ben is in his
final year at UCL where he is studying Biology.
Joe’s other passion in life, apart from football, is music.
He describes his musical tastes as “eclectic’, taking in
folk, rock and classical, but adds that he has yet to
understand the appeal of jazz. He has been a regular
attendee at both the Cropredy and Wychwood
Festivals, although this year music has had to take a
back seat!
The Bach Report launch
The Bach report was launched at a cross party in the House of
Commons on 1.11.17. Chaired by Lord Bach, the commissioners,
including Sir Henry Brooke and Carol Storer, were present as a panel
to answer questions and take comments. Lord Beecham was also
present and added his support.
The report was commissioned in 2015 by Jeremy Corbyn, given the rising
concerns about both the impact of cuts to legal aid on the most
vulnerable in society and the apparent lack of interest on the part of the
MOJ to conduct a full review. Sadly, very few Tory MPs if any, attended.
The report echoes the concerns of the LAPG, the Law Society, and the very
many interest groups who have contributed over the last two years. Most
startling information was that the cuts were supposed to save £450m pa,
but have in fact saved £900m pa, giving power to the proposal that they
have gone way further than the MOJ intended, and that the proposed
reforms can be well afforded, and should be put into immediate effect.
Lord Bach and others said in opening remarks, quite rightly, that if a
sizeable proportion of society cannot enforce their rights when removed,
then they effectively don’t exist, and that is an untenable position.
The main points of the report cover the need for a Right to Justice Act,
which would embed into statute law the right to legal assistance for all. It
would give Judges power to order the LAA to grant legal aid in cases
where it was refused. Other aspects concentrate on the reintroduction of
legal aid in all cases involving children, which would cover not only family
law, but PI, CN, and immigration. It advocates greater ease for victims of
Domestic Abuse to obtain legal aid, legal aid as a right in inquests, and
proper remuneration for Judicial Review. The reintroduction of ‘early
advice’ (CW1 work) is also proposed.
On the administrative side recommendations include a new administrative
legal aid body completely independent of Government, with legally
trained staff, and an overhaul of CCMS. All people in receipt of benefits
should get legal aid automatically, and without repeated means
reassessments. Also on the means side, Bach states that the contribution
system would be made simpler and much more affordable. The inevitable
over haul of Exceptional Case Funding is also recommended.
Legal education, and advice in schools about Human Rights is proposed,
so that younger generations are able to recognise when they have a legal
problem, and that they can get help. This is not a new proposal, and
successive Governments have been bound by it through the Human
Rights conventions (including CEDAW) since ratification, but the
importance of stressing it is to educate the public to see legal aid as their
right, rather than just how ‘fat cat lawyers’ get paid.
Lastly a new Justice Commission is proposed which would be independent
of Government and would oversee all issues relating to Access to Justice,
and with the power to intervene in cases where merited to obtain the right
outcome.
The Fabian Society who have worked with the Bach Commission have
costed the proposals at £400m, which would still leave the MOJ with more
savings from LASPO than planned. There is some early and tentatively
positive support coming from the MOJ. It is important that we all get
behind this report, and support it. This is the most hopeful I have felt since
1.4.2013, and hearing the speeches at the launch, I wished every legal aid
practitioner could have been there.
Cris McCurley
Partner with Ben Hoare Bell LLP
Cris is a member of the Access to Justice Committee at Chancery Lane.
Newcastle News 11