The proposed fixed fees for family legal aid work will leave solicitors worse off, according to a Law Society survey published today.

The Legal Services Commission claims that solicitors will benefit financially from the harmonisation of fees paid to barristers and solicitors. However, some 94% of the 191 respondents to the survey said they would receive less under the new scheme.

The majority – 89% – wanted the Law Society to continue to press for the maintenance of payment based on hourly rates.

Richard Miller, Law Society legal aid manager, said: ‘The LSC has said that solicitors will be better off under the new proposals. Our survey suggests otherwise. We will continue to oppose strongly any proposals that do not deliver the significant benefits for our members that the LSC has promised.’

Chancery Lane, together with family lawyers group Resolution and the Legal Aid Practitioners Group, has persuaded the LSC to provide firms with individual data reports. These enable comparisons to be made between the fees paid for cases under the old system and proposed rates.

Practitioners have claimed that the data relied on by the LSC are flawed. ‘If there are errors in the data, these reports will help us all to understand where they are and what their effect is,’ Miller said. ‘They will also help us refine our arguments about the need for changes to the structure of the scheme.’

He said firms who find a significant discrepancy between the LSC’s data and their own should contact the Law Society.

The survey found that 59% of respondents wanted national advocacy fees to be retained, while 47 % were in favour of the four supra-regions and a London region, as opposed to national fees. It also showed that 82% did not want the Law Society to argue for bolt-on fees for more complex cases.