A firm that has been providing mental capacity and community care support to disabled clients for over two decades has become the latest casualty in the crisis engulfing the legal aid sector. London firm Mackintosh Law announced on its website that it intends to 'wind down its operations' over the next few months.
Founder Nicola Mackintosh KC (Hon) said: ‘I have been incredibly proud to run a successful legal aid practice with an amazing team of solicitors and support staff for almost a quarter of a century, specialising in representing vulnerable and disabled clients. This is vital legal work making sure disabled people can enforce their rights, protecting them from harm, abuse and exploitation. Over the years I have trained many of the next generation solicitors to the excellent standard required to meet the needs of this particularly vulnerable client group.’
However, Mackintosh, a co-chair of the Legal Aid Practitioners Group, said civil legal aid rates have not risen for almost 30 years but overheads had vastly increased.
‘Being a small specialist legal aid practice means that cross subsidising is not an option and unlike businesses in other sectors we cannot increase what we charge to cover our increased overheads. Legal aid work involves disproportionately high levels of unnecessary administration for work at unacceptably low rates. This additional bureaucracy wastes huge amounts of valuable time and resources which could be far better spent on advising clients.
‘Sadly, as a result of all these factors, it has become impossible to attract and retain staff who can provide the professional assistance our clients deserve, because we are unable to offer the kind of flexible and financial packages they seek. There is no immediate or short-term prospect of positive civil legal aid reform which is so urgently needed.’
A careful redundancy consultation has been conducted ‘and whilst work on existing cases continues there will be a gradual and orderly wind down over the next few months’, Mackintosh said.
‘Although the firm is winding down my personal intention thereafter is to continue in legal practice, both in relation to casework and policy. There is still an urgent and pressing need to challenge some of the worst injustices disabled people face, and to ensure that access to justice becomes a high priority on the political agenda.’
The government has embarked on a major civil legal aid review but any measures to save the shrinking civil legal aid sector may not be implemented until late 2024 at the earliest.
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