The cost of living crisis and the rule of law

It is inevitable that our various current crises affect solicitors, too. There have been many articles about the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine (SLAPPs, oligarch sanctions, illicit Russian money). But the cost of living crisis, another of our looming disasters, clearly affects the legal sector, too. In this case, the spotlight shifts from the bigger, richer London firms to those struggling to make a living in the legal aid sector. 

The Law Society published research last week to show how the government’s proposals to uprate legal aid eligibility criteria, a move to be welcomed, may not do much to help those it seeks to assist. That is because the Ministry of Justice proposes using 2019 expenditure benchmarks through to 2026 – although the current (and expected future) rate of inflation means that these are already out of date, with prices expected to have risen by 20% by 2026.

The research particularly highlights the plight of single parent families, who traditionally budget a higher proportion of their income to pay for their children’s needs relative to two-parent families, and yet will be disadvantaged because the suggested changes fail to recognise one-parent families.

As important is the effect of the cost of living crisis on our own members. Last week, the Law Society also published the outcome of a flash poll on a group of junior lawyers about their experience of practising as a criminal lawyer, and whether it offered them a future career. Although we know the dire state of that sector, the statistics and comments are still shocking. This is the sector after all that forms the backbone of our profession. The right to criminal defence for everyone in society, and especially for the poor, is the exercise of one of the most fundamental rights in a society governed by the rule of law. Yet read this:

• 'Poor money. Poor working environment. Actively maligned by governments.'

• 'The treatment received by police and the courts treating you as a burden when you are only trying to uphold the clients right to be treated fairly.'

• ‘Having moved to commercial law within a year I have already doubled the salary that I received as a criminal solicitor.’

• ‘With the cost of living increasing, a very real risk of simply not being able to make ends meet.’

• ‘It is a highly stigmatised practice area where you can often find yourself publicly rebuked for doing your job.’

• Only 4% of criminal duty solicitors are under 35;

• The number of criminal legal aid firms has roughly halved over the last 15 years (1,062 firms holding a criminal legal aid contract this year compared with 2,010 in October 2007);

• 81% of those who completed the survey said criminal law is not an attractive long-term career.

The Law Society is currently fighting for the future of the criminal justice system, because of criminal legal aid rates. There have been repeated Gazette articles over the way the 15% uplift recommended by Sir Christopher Bellamy QC in his independent review of criminal legal aid has turned out to be just 9% for solicitors, and how the criminal bar and the Law Society – and solicitors affected - have been responding. The Law Society has made it clear that it cannot support the government’s proposals.

George Orwell’s much-used quote from his essay ‘England Your England’ omits many characteristic groups from our legal jurisdiction (including residents of Wales, of course): ‘The clatter of clogs in the Lancashire mill towns, the to-and-fro of the lorries on the Great North Road, the queues outside the Labour Exchanges, the rattle of pin-tables in the Soho pubs, the old maids biking to Holy Communion through the mists of the autumn morning’.

An essential element in the make-up of our country, and as much a part of any survey of typical sights on our islands, is the overworked defence solicitor arriving at a police station to speak to a drunk client in the cells, or standing to make representations the following day for a dazed client in the magistrates court. Yet this group is in danger of dying out because of government inaction over pay rates.

This comes on top of the completely unacceptable state of the criminal court system with a backlog of around 60,000 cases.

Rising inflation threatens not only to wipe out a crucial sector of the legal profession; it also threatens to remove a pillar of the rule of law.

It is awkward for a professional body to confront a government, since the body of solicitors includes government supporters, and no government welcomes criticism. Yet the continued existence of a vital group of solicitors, together with the continuity of an essential pillar of the rule of law, make advocacy for this group, and this principle, one of the legal profession’s top priorities.

Jonathan Goldsmith is Law Society Council member for EU & international, chair of the Law Society’s Policy & Regulatory Affairs Committee and a member of its Board. All views expressed are personal and are not made in his capacity as a Law Society Council member, nor on behalf of the Law Society