A YEAR IN THE LAW 2015-16
the wake of overwhelming evidence that the fees – introduced on the back of flimsy research and evidence – have blocked many meritorious and genuine claims from progressing. The government has also proposed a 500% increase to Asylum and Immigration Tribunal fees – a move which appears to be aimed at enabling the Home Office to make decisions without scrutiny (currently a high number of its decisions are overturned on appeal) and stopping refugees and migrants from exercising their rights, which the Law Society has said could constitute unlawful discrimination. Meanwhile, dramatic fee increases for employment and family cases have led to a rise in litigants in person – people forced to represent themselves because they cannot afford a trained lawyer. A report by Citizens Advice revealed that nine out of 10 people who have had to represent themselves as litigants in person in the family courts have suffered strain on their mental and physical health, while there has been a 30% rise in cases in which neither side has access to a lawyer, with 22% of those involving children. Many such cases centre on domestic violence issues, where forcing a woman to face her abuser in court is clearly detrimental both to justice and to the victim’s mental and physical health. Another result of the fee increases has been a rise in the use of ‘McKenzie friends’ – people who are not qualified lawyers, but who assist litigants in person in court appearances. Often a McKenzie
friend can be a friend or family member, but in other cases they are fee-charging ‘armchair experts’. The SRA has dubiously argued that McKenzie friends can help to fill the gap left by cuts to legal aid, but the Judicial Executive Board has proposed a ban on McKenzie friends charging fees for their services – a move which has been welcomed by the Law Society and the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives. Against the backdrop of this punitive fee regime, journalists at the Law Society Gazette found that the government has wasted some £400,000 on failed attempts to push through a new criminal legal aid contract bidding scheme (which would have forced many crime firms to close if it were implemented). However, the full cost of services enlisted by the government – such as those provided by the Legal Aid Agency – has been withheld due to restrictions in the Freedom of Information Act, so the true cost of this episode may be much, much more. Although the magic circle is divided on apprenticeships – Slaughter and May and Clifford Chance reportedly have no plans to introduce schemes of their own, but Freshfields looks like it may soon start taking on apprentices – they have now become part and parcel of the wider legal landscape. Firms including DWF, Fletchers and Ashfords have launched new apprenticeship programmes in the last year, while Clyde & Co, Bond The rise and rise of apprenticeships
Dickinson and Horwich Farrelly are among those to have expanded existing schemes. Apprenticeships have also been welcomed outside the legal profession, from local government to commercial companies. Another great example is the BBC, which has committed to run its legal apprenticeship programme into a third year. Firm dates Mergers have become a common consolidation tactic in response to increasing pressure to keep fees down, while thriving firms are as keen as always to expand their practices. Key deals in the last year included the tie-up between Withy King and London firm Royds; the £250 million union of Irwin Mitchell and Thomas Eggar; Addleshaw Goddard’s entry to the US market by merging with Hunton & Williams; and Clyde & Co’s launch in Miami by splicing with local litigation outfit Thornton Davis Fein. Give me law Some key legislation is being debated in Parliament at time of writing, while other areas remain blighted by uncertainty. All eyes will be on how May approaches UK human rights in the wake of Brexit, given that as home secretary she previously called for the scrapping of the Human Rights Act and the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Convention on Human Rights. May has also been the driving force behind the Investigatory Powers Bill (widely known as the ‘snoopers’
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