Why should executive directors at the LSC earn so much more than those at the sharp end of legal services?

I see that the Legal Services Commission (LSC) is advertising for no less than three executive directors at salaries of up to £140K each, ‘possibly more for an exceptional candidate’.

It’s interesting, isn’t it? That is presumably what they think a highly qualified and experienced person is worth. The advertisement says that the LSC is ‘focusing on raising quality and delivering fair and equal access to civil and criminal justice’.

My wife had a highly specialised family law firm for many years, which was totally committed to legal aid work. The one thing it would not do was let tea ladies’ assistants give legal advice. Perhaps the LSC should explain to her bank manager what their words actually mean, because he has put a stop to her losing any more money.

She is now making a profit again doing private fee-paying work, but it doesn’t salve her conscience. She would prefer to help people who cannot help themselves. If each fee-earner grossed £140K (possibly more for an exceptional person) it would pay the overheads and probably give the fee-earner a better salary than they were earning doing legal aid work.

This is another example of the administrators earning several times more than the highly qualified and experienced people who are at the sharp end.