The outlook for legal aid

The number of legal aid firms has drastically declined, fee rates have been reduced and swingeing cuts to the legal aid budget are due in mid-2013. Is the outlook for legal aid as bleak as it first appears? We spoke to leading figures in this field to find out.

Legal aid is not a career path for casual do-gooders or those motivated by money. It has already undergone drastic changes to the way that it is organised, while the legal aid budget is set to be slashed in the near future, sparking fears of reduced and inferior services being provided to the public. With legal aid training contracts significantly reduced in number, is there any point in pursuing an ambition to work in this area?

In the present, legal aid faces the constant threat of upheaval, while its future as a mechanism to ensure universal access to justice remains deeply uncertain. The number of legal aid firms has fallen drastically over the last decade from 5,000 to 3,000, while a government-enforced switch to a fixed-fee regime between 2006 and 2009 was followed by a 10% cut in fee rates across all legal aid services in 2011 - the effects of which are now being been felt by practitioners. In April 2013 the legal aid budget will be cut by £350 million when the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act comes into force. The act, spearheaded chiefly by the then Justice Secretary (and former barrister) Ken Clarke, has been fiercely opposed in the House of Lords, as well as by other organisations including the Law Society. Thankfully for legal aid, the government was forced to make several amendments, such as withdrawing its plans to narrow the criteria for domestic violence cases, as well as the mooted removal of birth injury as grounds for clinical negligence. Nonetheless, the outlook for legal aid following the April 2013 cuts looks worrying.

Now, the current Justice Secretary Chris Grayling (the first non-lawyer to hold the post in centuries) has declared that there will be an "immediate examination" of the legal aid system, following criticism in the tabloid press about the radical cleric Abu Hamza's legal aid costs amounting to nearly £1 million of taxpayers' money. However, it became obvious that there is little to be done about spiraling legal fees in criminal cases like that of Hamza, so the cuts to civil legal aid promised for April 2013 remain the government's answer to reducing its spending on the justice system, with poorer members of the general public set to be most affected.

With legal aid's resources diminished through fee regulation and funding cuts imminent, is it realistic to aspire to work in this field? We spoke to experts in this area - Carol Storer, director of the Legal Aid Practitioners Group (LAPG), Richard Miller, the Law Society's head of legal aid and Sasha Barton, solicitor at Hodge Jones & Allen and candidate for 'legal aid lawyer of the year 2012' - to find out.

Understand the landscape

Both Carol Storer and Richard Miller still encounter considerable interest in legal aid when they meet students and aspiring lawyers. "I attended this year's LAPG conference and a lot of young people turned out for the student session," says Richard. "I have also met many aspiring lawyers on my travels around the country who desire very much to work in legal aid." Carol agrees: "People are interested in the areas of law typically covered by legal aid - family, immigration and crime. However, I'm not sure how aware students are of the huge effects that will be caused by the changes coming in April 2013. In fairness, none of us know exactly what they will mean for the legal market, though there is the fear that some legal aid firms will close, while other firms will simply stop doing legal aid work and still others may merge - there are all sorts of possibilities."

It is crucial for anyone aspiring to work in legal aid to have a realistic grasp of the current climate, which has become harsher than ever for wannabe lawyers trying to get on the first rung of the profession.  "A few years ago, the Legal Services Commission funded the training contract grants for legal aid, which meant that every year there were some training contracts on offer," explains Carol. "But since those grants were stopped, there has not been a lot of good news - we have a situation where several hundred people are applying for each training contract. I have met students who have done everything that they can - pro bono work at university, reception work at advice sessions, CAB courses - who still cannot get a legal aid role that allows them to make a living. There are major social mobility and fairness issues about a career where to stand out as a candidate you have to have done a lot of unpaid work. Will there be equality of opportunity for people without money and contacts?"

Nonetheless, Carol and Richard point out that the situation is not completely hopeless for those with an ambition to work in legal aid. "There are opportunities," explains Richard. "Some excellent firms still do this work because they believe in it and want to secure its future; part of that will be training the next generation of legal aid lawyers."

Government alterations to the legal aid system are important to understand; such changes have contributed to the current situation and tomorrow's legal aid lawyers must know the regime under which they will have to operate. One reason for the decline in legal aid firms is that it has become more difficult to secure a legal aid contract. "In the early 1990s there were over 11,000 firms doing legal aid work - even if some of them only did one case a year. We're now down to around 3,000 firms," says Carol. "What has happened since the 1990s, when hurdles were introduced for firms wanting to do legal aid work to jump over, is that more resources have been put into doing things that enable firms to get a franchise and, ultimately, a contract. Essentially, what governments have done is make it so hard to obtain and keep a contract which entitles a firm to do legal aid work that the number of firms doing legal aid has fallen drastically, because many feel that it is not worth the considerable trouble. The aim was to establish a quality standard for legal aid, which I do not believe was wrong. However, I don't think that it has been proven possible to enforce to the same standard nationwide."

Another important change to the legal aid framework was the government's decision to replace the hourly-rates-based billing system with a fixed-fee regime. This means that legal aid firms cannot charge for the amount of hours that they work, and instead must wait until a case has been concluded before they are able to seek payment. The logic of the idea seems fair, but the change has created a series of problems for legal aid firms, not least in terms of cash flow. "The change was certainly a shock to the system when it happened, but I think that law centres and legal aid firms are now more used to it," reflects Richard.

However, there are growing fears that changes to the billing regime have been detrimental to the quality of service offered by some legal aid providers. "It has been a particularly tough transition for law centres, because they were paid on a more regular basis under the previous funding regime," explains Richard, "They now only get paid for finishing a case, which means that there is a much greater onus to finish cases promptly so that they can be billed for. The downsides of fixed-fee billing are beginning to emerge. There was an interesting report on fixed-fee immigration cases by the Legal Services Board Consumer Panel. One of the opinions that they expressed was that fixed fees have led to corner cutting and reduced quality, which if true would demonstrate an example of the 'grass is always greener' thinking of governments. We warned that reduced quality was a risk before the changes were implemented. Now, even though most lawyers want to do the best job that they can, it is strongly in their financial interests to do as little work as possible. The government used to claim that hourly billing provided lawyers with an incentive to run up as many hours as they could, which we always felt was overstated. It seems that whatever the billing system, there are always going to be incentives toward which organisations will work."

Boost your chances

There are certainly steps that wannabe legal aid lawyers can take to give themselves the best possible chance in this highly competitive area. "It's very important to get some practical experience," says Sasha Barton, a practising legal aid lawyer at Hodge Jones & Allen who came into the legal profession after working at the Commission for Racial Equality, where she decided that she wanted to practise in human rights and discrimination law. "I was very lucky to meet a lot of people through my work at the commission - both barristers and solicitors - who practised in the areas in which I wanted to work. I had therefore been able to get some work experience and learn through shadowing people while I was studying for my legal qualifications. It meant that the people I had gotten to know were able to steer me in the right direction toward applying to the few excellent firms that work in this area of law."

It is not just full-time positions that can improve your legal aid credentials. "Students should certainly get involved with a local law clinic if their university has one," advises Richard. "The more work experience you can pick up, the better. Competition is currently fierce across all areas of the profession and one of the things that legal aid firms will look for in a candidate is a genuine commitment to working in this area, as opposed to the applicant who applies because he/she has been unable to find a training contract elsewhere."

Sasha agrees: "The applicants who stand out are those who have shown the initiative to get experience and practical knowledge of this field, rather than the well-meaning people who want to do something worthwhile and help people, but have no idea about what the job actually entails. Those people who have gained experience have also proven a commitment which is based on far more realistic perceptions of what a career in legal aid will be like. Enthusiasm is essential, but it has to be backed up with experience. Volunteering for an organisation that gives face-to-face advice like a law centre or advice clinic is really useful, as is getting experience of providing written advice, for example writing letters for Liberty or getting involved in some kind of pro bono initiative. Practical experience through a law centre or advice clinic is also really useful. Anything that involves client contact - meeting people, hearing their problems and working with them toward solutions - is good experience and will also help you to work out whether this area of work is for you. The reality may not fit with your expectations of the life of a high-flying human rights lawyer!"

In demonstrating a passion for legal aid to potential employers, the importance of thoroughly researching those employers in addition to gaining practical experience also goes without saying. "Students who are interested in legal aid work should be clued up when they come to write applications and attend interviews," says Carol. "It's worth researching your potential employer, proofing your application and getting the simple things right - they can make a difference."

Paralegal possibilities

Many aspiring solicitors leap at paralegal roles, which offer a platform to build up valuable, skills-and-CV enhancing experience. In many cases, people also take these roles in the hope that their firm will eventually offer them a training contract. Our legal aid experts acknowledged that this kind of role can be both a great way to gain experience and a route to a training contract, but they also offered a few words of warning. "Working as a paralegal can be a valid route to a career in legal aid," says Richard. "However, potential paralegals need to be careful before they apply for such positions in determining whether the firm is offering the role as a route to a training contract in due course, or whether the firm is not willing or able to offer opportunities for progression. Unless being a paralegal is what you ultimately want, then you must look into whether taking the position will give you a chance to progress in your career."

Carol shares Richard's sentiments: "It's understandable why the paralegal option is so popular, but it's very tough on students who take these low-paid roles without knowing whether there will be a training contract at the end of it, all the while having to worry about their debts. People have to be realistic - but getting a paralegal job and performing well can, in many cases, lead to an opportunity." Should you apply for a paralegal role in the hopes of eventually securing a training contract, make sure that the firm clearly informs you of its long-term intentions for your prospective role.

Other options?

At a time when legal aid and its role in ensuring equal access to justice seems to be in real danger, the gap left by the reduction in legal aid firms could potentially come to be filled by one of the new major entrants to the legal profession - Co-op Legal Services. "We have already seen Co-op Legal Services gain a legal aid contract and take on the highest profile family lawyers in the country (Christina Blacklaws and Jenny Beck) to run its services," says Richard. "There is undoubtedly an appetite among some alternative business structures (ABS) to move into legal aid, which would certainly seem to fit with the general ethos of the Co-op in particular. There is a significant question mark over whether other, more purely commercial, organisations will feel the same way or show the same levels of interest. Conveyancing, will writing and probate can attract these companies on a commercial basis, but litigation is a lot more complex."

Carol is also interested in the possibility of a large, well-resourced organisation providing legal aid services: "Jenny Beck, our co-chair [at the LAPG], is a director of family law at Co-op Legal Services. If I was a student, I would be looking at what Co-op Legal Services is doing, because I do think that it presents an interesting proposition. Instead of going to a firm where the ultimate achievement is arguably becoming a partner, Co-op Legal Services will hopefully offer a career structure, good training and quality work as well. I also expect the Co-op to look carefully at how it creates fixed-fee structures for people who are no longer covered by legal aid."

This is not to say that an organisation like the Co-operative Group providing these services may not lead to different problems. "An issue that struck me about the Co-op going into family law is that there is a real risk that it will end up acting against its own members," considers Richard. Indeed, there would no doubt be issues to address in the future, but the prospect of such problems is surely far outweighed by the possibility of saving legal aid as we understand it from cuts and changes that render justice less accessible to ordinary people.

Worth the effort?

To the right kind of person, legal aid is the most rewarding area of law of all, as well as one of the most demanding. "Legal aid is not a financially lucrative career, so you need to be realistic and know that in order to be happy in your job, you will have to find things other than money rewarding," says Sasha. "You have to be passionate about what you're doing, as well as incredibly tenacious - because you will have to face constant challenges at every level. You need to be able to push on for a positive outcome in the face of what can sometimes seem like impossible opposition." Any legal aid role entails a lot of client contact, so good communication skills and a genuine desire to have a lot of people contact are essential traits to be successful. Sasha elaborates: "Most clients are individuals rather than businesses and many do not come to you with a clear idea of what they want to achieve or how to go about it; there are often communication barriers to overcome and many clients are vulnerable and/or (in my area of law) have been through traumatic situations. You have to really like people and use a lot of patience and empathy, while still maintaining the professional distance that will enable you to step back and do your job."

Doing your job in legal aid often means exposure to some of the less savoury mechanisms of society, but it also affords the chance to make a real difference to people's lives. "I generally act against public authorities," explains Sasha. "My cases involve challenging state bodies for abusing their powers. A lot of my cases are against the police, but also against central governmental bodies like the Home Office over immigration detention issues and the Ministry of Justice over issues involving the mistreatment of prisoners. The regularity with which certain things that are not supposed to happen in a democratic, developed country come up can be shocking, but I find my work to be really rewarding. It's an amazing feeling - particularly if you have supported a client for years in challenging an injustice - to get a good outcome at the end of a case, whether at trial or by an out-of-court settlement. The acknowledgment that justice has been done for the client, even after everything that may have happened to them, is hugely rewarding. Obviously, it is frustrating when that doesn't happen for whatever reason - there are instances when funding issues mean that a case has to be dropped - but it is incredibly rewarding when a just outcome is achieved. As you get more experienced, you can also make a difference to people in a more overarching way, for example through group actions or cases which go to the Court of Appeal or Supreme Court and set precedents that will be followed in other cases."

It is the desire to fight for justice, coupled with the genuine job satisfaction of securing it, that makes legal aid appealing to so many. However, job satisfaction or not, legal aid is vital for the continuing integrity and democratic credence of the UK justice system. It is therefore crucial that aspiring lawyers continue to support legal aid, as well as harbour ambitions of building a career in the field. The future outlook for legal is made even less certain by the impending cuts of April 2013. However, we may hope for more positive news to be brought by Co-op Legal Services potentially stepping into the breach. We may question whether it is at all acceptable that we are left hoping for private organisations to step in after the government's withdrawal of access to justice from the poorest people in society, but the plans look set to go ahead despite vehement opposition. Even our experts were unsure of what would be in store for legal aid following next year's budget cuts, but we may be certain that conscientious lawyers will still be needed to represent people who cannot afford to pay for legal services themselves. Aspiring legal aid lawyers will hope that the dwindling number of firms that provide these services can continue to operate, while a question mark remains over what role ABSs like Co-op Legal Services will choose to play in this vital yet woefully under resourced area of law. Finally, we can now await the findings of a commission which has been set up by campaigning charity Legal Action Group to examine the effects of the legal aid cuts and suggest ways to ensure access to justice for all.