More Impacts of Family Legal Aid Cuts in England

As noted in a previous post, the cuts to legal aid in England have had a serious impact on the public's ability to access the legal system and obtain representation. A recent article describes additional consequences stemming from the 2012 cuts. A Bar Council report, which included a survey administered primarily to barristers, indicated that 69% of respondents who worked as family legal aid practitioners reported a decline in fee income.

Some feel that this reduction in income will lead barristers to move into other areas of work. Such an exodus of devoted family law practitioners could lead to increasing difficulty in finding good lawyers to deal with those few areas still covered by legal aid, and a "reduction in the 'pool of expertise'" of  legal aid lawyers.

Riley Combelic is a third-year law student at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law and contributes to IAALS Online. Please direct inquiries about this post to iaals@du.edu.