On the second day of the Law Society’s judicial review of the Legal Services Commission’s tender for family legal aid work, counsel for the LSC today told the High Court that it should have been ‘obvious’ to solicitors that panel membership was going to be an important factor in the bid process.
Interjecting to the submission made by Clive Lewis QC on behalf of the LSC, Lord Justice Moses, who is hearing the case with Mr Justice Beatson, warned Lewis that there were many ‘distinguished’ and ‘experienced’ family solicitors to whom it had not been obvious.
Part of the Law Society’s challenge to the operation of the LSC’s family tender concerns the fact that the LSC did not give practitioners enough notice of the importance that would be attached to membership of certain specialist family panels.
The Law Society said that the eight weeks between the publication of the selection criteria and the date by which bids had to be submitted made it impossible for caseworkers who were not already members of the panels to obtain certification.
Chancery Lane said the LSC had not investigated or ascertained how many experienced and expert family solicitors were or were not members of the specialist panels before the selection criteria were published.
In her submissions yesterday on behalf of the Law Society, Dinah Rose QC said many experienced caseworkers who were qualified to be members of the specialist panels did not have membership of them, because membership was expensive and time consuming, and prior to the conduct of the tender carried no significant benefits.
The case is scheduled to finish today, with judgment expected early next week.
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