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GAZETTE
N
W
criminal legal aid in the magistrate's
c o u r ts were i n a d e q u a te a n d he
i n t e nd ed to i n t r o d u ce regulations
which would spell o ut mo re clearly
the r e q u i r eme n ts t h at s h o u ld be me t.
Lord Chancellor Mackay
T h e Lord Chancellor was addressing
the En g l a nd a nd Wales Co n f e r e n ce in
the context of an experiment in legal
aid franchising which h ad just been
completed in B i rmi n g h am. T he Legal
Aid Board intends to invite
applications for franchises f r om UK
legal f i rms f r om July, 1993.
Meanwhile, the Law Society of
En g l a nd a nd Wales has said that it
will withhold s u p p o rt for the
proposals until s ome key details
o u t s t a n d i ng have been worked ou t.
At the heart of practitioners'
dissatisfaction with the proposed
system of franchising is the level of
control that would be exercised by the
Legal Aid Board regarding personnel
a nd financial ma n a g eme nt as well as
the actual ma n a g eme nt of cases. In
turn, the Legal Aid Board argues that
its intention is merely to obtain
certain assurances a b o ut the level of
service that legal aid clients would
receive f r om the franchised firms.
T h e Lord Ch a n c e l l or told the
c o n f e r e n ce t h at he was aware t h at
considerable fears a n d misgivings
h a d been expressed by the profession
a b o ut the Legal Aid Bo a rd
f r a n c h i s i ng e x p e r ime n t. It seemed to
h im likely, however, t h at f r a n c h i s ed
f i rms wo u ld have a competitive edge
in a t t r a c t i ng the legal aid client.
" F r a n c h i s i ng h as to be an active
policy which insists t h at practitioners
meet p r o p er s t a n d a r d s. T h e choice is
then yours o n h ow to meet the
challenge".
T h e Lord Ch a n c e l l or told his
a u d i e n ce t h at he h ad b e c ome
increasingly c o n c e r n ed a b o ut the
differential betwen the rates paid for
civil a nd criminal wo r k. " I n o t e ," he
said, " t h a t the rates for civil work
are being set so mu ch above the
h o u r ly rates for criminal cases." He
said t h at in the longer t e rm, the way
a h e ad for civil r emu n e r a t i on lay in
s t a n d a rd p a yme n ts p r o b a b ly for
stages of work as they were
c omp l e t ed rather t h an for the case as
a whole. In the largest cases he
h o p ed to move to a system of
p a yme nt in which the fees were
negotiated at the b e g i n n i ng of the
case a nd it wo u ld be possible to
agree a n d pay mu ch of the
e xp e nd i t u re as the case p r o c e e d e d.
In relation to fees for criminal legal
aid wo r k, the Lord Ch a n c e l l or
repeated his intention to i n t r o d u ce
s t a n d a rd fees in the ma g i s t r a t e s'
c o u r ts at the e nd of this year. T h e
Lord Ch a n c e l l or said he would like
to see f i r ms entering into long term
c o n t r a c ts with the Legal A id Bo a rd
to u n d e r t a ke blocks of cases b o th
civil a nd criminal. Th is could be
d o n e following c omp e t i t i ve t e nd e r i ng
a n d would of course be against
d e f i n ed quality s t a n d a r d s.
No Foal No Fee
Turning to r emu n e r a t i o n, the Lord
Ch a n c e l l or a n n o u n c ed t h at he
i n t e n d ed shortly to ma ke an o r d er
which would allow for the
i n t r o d u c t i on of c o n d i t i o n al fee
a r r a n g eme n ts p e rmi t t i ng lawyers to
agree to accept cases on a n o -w i n,
n o - f ee basis, with an uplift in the fee
level if the case were wo n.
•
SURVEILLANCE
Discreet Listening and
Recording Equipment
Telephone For 1992 Catalogue
Pegasus (01)2843819
DECEMBER 1992
New York Irish
Lawyers Gain
Admission to
Supreme Court
T h e active Irish Lawyers As s o c i a t i on
of New York h as scored a m a j o r
c o u p by receiving p e rmi s s i on for u p
to f i f ty of its memb e rs to be
a dm i t t ed to the Bar of the US
S u p r eme C o u r t. T h e a dmi s s i on
c e r emo ny will take place in J a n u a r y,
1993. As s o c i a t i on C h a i r m a n,
Brian
Farren,
says it m a r ks the " c om i ng of
a g e " of y o u ng Irish lawyers in the
Un i t ed States.
T h e H o n Mr. Justice
Anthony
Hederman
h as accepted the
As s o c i a t i o n 's invitation to
Wa s h i n g t on for the o c c a s i o n.
Peter
Sutherland
h as also been invited,
a n d a p r o g r a mme of activities over
the weekend of Friday, 22 J a n u a r y,
c u l m i n a t i ng in the Admi s s i on
Ce r emo ny o n 25 J a n u a r y, is
currently being organised. T h e New
York lawyers h o p e t h at memb e rs of
the Law Society of Ireland w h o have
been a dm i t t ed to practice in the
States of t he Un i t ed States might
f o rm p a rt of the g r o up being
a dm i t t ed to the S u p r eme C o u r t.
Lawyers w h o have been a dm i t t ed to
the highest c o u rt of any State of the
Un i t ed States for at least three years
o n the d a te of the a p p l i c a t i on to
the US S u p r eme C o u rt would be
eligible.
T h e Irish Lawyers As s o c i a t i on of
New York was f o r med in the mid
eighties a nd this is not its first c o u p,
says Brian Farren, " a few years a go
we h ad to take on the New York
City Bar As s o c i a t i on to retain o u r
right as law g r a d u a t es f r om a
c o mm o n law j u r i s d i c t i on to sit the
New York Bar exam w i t h o ut f u r t h er
study in the Un i t ed States. We wo n ."
T h e ma in a ims of the Association
are to assist Irish lawyers w h o
emigrate to New York, to enable
Irish lawyers in New York to keep in
t o u ch with o ne a n o t h e r, to liaise
with the profession in Ireland, a nd
to we l c ome visiting Irish lawyers.
•
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