But it feared that the short - term introduction of transitional fixed and
graduated fee schemes «at breakneck speed» would not allow carefully planned business restructuring.
«The new fixed and
graduated fee schemes (for civil, family and immigration legal aid) are predicated on providers carrying out a range of cases that address the full spectrum of clients» needs... Providers may choose to use particular practitioners as specialists to deal with more complex cases, however, the organisation as a whole will need to provide a full range of services in order to profit effectively from the new fees.»
The immediate introduction of new fair
graduated fee schemes for criminal litigators, family litigators and family advocates is overdue.
The report favours the development of single source contracting through CLACs and CLANs (Community Legal Advice Centres and Networks) and the use of
graduated fee schemes to cut down on administrative costs.
The committee said: «The short - term introduction of transitional fixed and
graduated fee schemes at breakneck speed will not allow providers to make best use of what should be a transitional period in which firms can carry out carefully planned business restructuring, where potential for efficiency gains in restructuring exists at all.»
«Where the LSC [Legal Services Commission] embarks upon the creation of a comprehensive system of fixed and
graduated fee schemes intended to provide a sustainable basis for the future of the legal aid market, fair to both the suppliers and the taxpayer, it can only do so meaningfully on the basis of adequate knowledge of the reasons for variations in case costs between firms, areas of the country and within each category of legal aid.
Regarding waiting time, there were compelling considerations against their inclusion in the fixed and
graduated fee schemes:
It appears that the LSC has inadequate information on which to base its proposed fixed and
graduated fee schemes.»
During 2015/16 a total # 341m was paid out under the litigator
graduated fee scheme, but the MoJ plans to cut expenditure to around # 292m, a return to 2013/14 levels.
The Bar has rallied in support of its criminal law colleagues, as more sets join the action against fee cuts imposed by changes to the advocates»
graduated fee scheme (AGFS).
§ pay litigators in all cases with an estimated trial length of up to 60 days at the rates in the Litigators»
Graduated Fee scheme, rather than at Very High Cost Case rates.
Over at the Bar, more than 80 chambers have now pledged support for the ongoing action being taken by criminal barristers in protest at the advocates»
graduated fee scheme (AGFS).
A new simplified version of the advocates»
graduated fee scheme which will reduce barristers» fees by an average of 6 % - this will be reviewed after 1 year;
The litigator
graduated fee scheme is pencilled in for introduction at the same time, subject to the outcome of a consultation, and the unified contract for criminal legal aid services is planned for July 2008.
«What they've done to legal aid for solicitors is far worse than what they've done to the Bar,» he adds, pointing to the recent cuts to the litigators»
graduated fee scheme, which cut the fees for the bigger cases on which firms had relied to make their money by 40 per cent.
The modified family
graduated fee scheme proposals of March 2007 only had regional differentiation for level 3 fees.
Lucy Theis QC, chair of the Family Law Bar Association, says the proposed family
graduated fee scheme will deny those going through the court system the expertise they have the right to expect.
The LSC had made some useful changes to the family
graduated fee scheme but the committee did not think they went far enough:
The Legal Services Commission announced cuts to the family
graduated fee scheme in February, and is proposing further cuts which will see payments cut by up to 55 %, according to the Bar Council.
The effectiveness of
graduated fees schemes need not have deteriorated if regularly reviewed.
Under the litigators»
graduated fee scheme (LGFS), defence lawyers will be paid a graduated fee per case, which, like the advocates
graduated fee scheme, will be determined by factors such as the length / type of case, number of pages of prosecution evidence and number of defendants represented.
The graduated fee scheme for Crown court defence litigators, announced last week by the Legal Services Commission (LSC), has been savaged by defence solicitors.
Not exact matches
Most telling of all has been a subtle shift of language: increasing references to the proposed
scheme as having «the qualities of a
graduate tax» and more emphasis on the undoubtedly welcome abolition of up - front
fees.
Fixed and
graduated fees in all major elements of the legal aid
scheme are still planned, but the LSC has agreed to phase in the introduction of some elements of the new fixed
fees for family legal aid work.