AJ Family Law ? Family Law and Personal Injury Hit by Legal Aid Cuts

Of all the different legal sectors in the modern day world, Family Law is without a doubt the one that touches upon the lives of the most individuals. While torts or corporate law are areas that affect many people the world over, family law is inherently valid to all human beings, something we will all need to engage in at some point in our lives. For this reason, and as a highly family-oriented individual, family law is the main legal area about which I hold particularly strong views. I have a number of acquaintances in this field, many of whom I met in my own work in the personal injury claims sector. Recently, with some pending changes to the UK?s legal system due to be implemented in 2013, it looks like both personal injury and family law will be negatively affected. Worryingly, access to both of these types of law is going to be more difficult for the masses.

All countries have in place some kind of legal system whereby help is on offer to people in financially difficult circumstances. In the United Kingdom, the Legal Aid bill is the go-to safety net for people looking to start legal action but may not necessarily have the funds to do so. Over the past few decades, literally millions of families have received help for legal matters from Legal Aid. The Majority of these cases were sadly for Divorce Law. While it?s a shame that divorce rates are so high, it?s even more of a shame that this help may not be on hand for much longer as the government plans to cut funding for Legal Aid. But how did this decision come about?

Towards the end of 1998, the UK saw the introduction of the ?no win no fee? arrangement (officially known as the conditional fee arrangement, or CFA) introduced into the legal system. This was in compensation for the fact that personal injury claims had been removed from the Legal Aid bill. Personal injury claims have run out of control in the UK and so the no win no fee arrangement is being abolished. The broken legal system has attracted the attention of the powers that be and during the process of scrutinizing the system, a number of changes will be implemented onto the UK legal system. It seems that, while the government is making these amendments, it?s using the opportunity to cut funds from Legal Aid.

Families in need of legal help represent a significant amount of the beneficiaries from the bill and it?s estimated that every year some 250,000 families receive help through Legal Aid for family law related matters.? Experts predict that the cuts could mean that over 200,000 of the families won?t have access after the cuts. The Legal Aid bill currently stands with an annual budget of ?2 billion. However, while the government is making the changes to abolish the personal injury no win no fee arrangement, changes are being made to reduce the annual budget by a potential ?500 million. This really caught my attention, as I was aware of how many families relied on Legal Aid. I was pleased to see that I wasn?t the only one concerned over the lack of aid for families.

Family Law Bar Association member Nicolas Cusworth QC has also voiced his concerns in an interview with the BBC. He stated that ?I think people who feel the brunt of the new bill are wives whose husbands can afford to pay for representation, but who cannot pay themselves,? Cusworth went on to say that ?in future, they will be acting in person, unrepresented, in front of the court without advice??. Most concerning of all, was that Cusworth stated ?Certainly it will mean the court process will be slowed down. Litigants will come before the court ill-prepared. If you have a large number of women who should be receiving support from their husbands and do not get that support because the court has not be able to assess a fair outcome, they may become a burden on the state.?

Incidentally, with the removal of the no win no fee arrangement, both personal injury victims and families will be seriously affected by the cuts as personal injury is not going back on Legal Aid?s eligibility list after April 2013. The pending changes will mean bringing the United Kingdom one step away from justice for the masses. I believe that it won?t be long before the media publishes news stories about cases of individuals suffering as a consequence of the lack of financial aid for legal services. We can only hope that this will force the government?s hand to bolstering the legal aid budget once more or maybe even offering some kind of no win no fee service for family law cases. Otherwise, we can only hope that something will rise in the place and families will still have access to the help they need.

Source: http://www.aj-familylaw.com/family-law-and-personal-injury-hit-by-legal-aid-cuts

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