Legal Aid vs Private Clients

 Following a recent speech by Ian Kelcey at the Law Society's Criminal Law Conference and a subsequent article published in the Law Society Gazette regarding differing levels of service and expertise being given to Legal Aid clients versus Privately paying clients by some firms of solicitors, Sharon Tait, Head of Vincents Criminal Department had this to say; 

"Mr Kelcey is not speaking for all legally aided criminal practices. At Vincents all Solicitors and Clerks do their utmost to achieve the best possible outcome for their clients.

Although publically funded work does have it’s drawbacks, which no-one can deny, these do not usually adversely affect the clients. What it usually means is that we are required to jump through more hoops for the legal services commission to achieve the same end. Things can take longer to achieve because of the hoops that we are required to jump. After many years of experience in this field of law we are all very familiar with the system and we are not afraid to highlight these constraints to the Court to secure their assistance in securing the best service and outcome for our clients.

I am somewhat shocked by the author’s suggestion that inexperienced or lawyers under-qualified for the work they carry out are being used by some firms. At Vincents we are always mindful of our professional duty to our clients and our long standing obligations to those we represent and would never dream of putting clients in such a position. We are all very experienced in the work we take on and use Counsel who are ideally suited and experienced in the fields in which they are instructed.

The same lawyers, Barristers, Expert witnesses are all the same whether the work is privately or publically funded.

Yes at times we are under pressure due to the case load, this is what is expected from a successful practice, but this does not mean that our clients receive any less of a service than they deserve and our dedicated team always ensure that each client receives the attention they require, even if we are not immediately available we will always get back to our clients or those involved in their case as soon as practicable.

The only people that really lose out by the publically funded system are the law firms carrying out this type of work who would be far better remunerated if the work was privately funded but the nature of the work remains unchanged."

For any further advice or information you can contact Sharon on 0800 310 2000.