Birmingham Law Society joins criminal legal aid protest

Birmingham Law Society (BLS), the largest regional law society, has thrown its weight behind the criminal legal aid protest on Friday this week.

President Martin Allsopp said the society's criminal law committee told Chancery Lane a couple of weeks ago that it should not negotiate with justice secretary Chris Grayling.

Allsopp said a meeting of the ruling council of BLS last week, the day before Grayling's announcement, confirmed that the society was "totally opposed" to the cuts.

The number of duty solicitor contracts across the West Midlands criminal justice service area is expected to fall from 53 to 13.

"We know there will be jobs lost and the public will be badly affected," Allsopp said.

"The government is wreaking irreparable damage on our criminal justice system, which to date has been the envy of the world. I am concerned that we will see the innocent go to prison and the guilty walk free as a result."

Allsopp, a property lawyer and senior partner of Allsop & Co, said he would be standing outside Birmingham Crown Court with James Turner, chairman of the BLS criminal law committee, on Friday.

He added that he did not know how many solicitors would join the protest, but opinions had hardened since the first legal aid protest on 6 January.

Birmingham Law Society represents both solicitors and barristers and has around 4,000 members.

In a separate development, solicitor advocate James Parry (pictured), who led a successful campaign for a motion of no confidence against the national law society's leadership last year, threatened to call another special general meeting (SGM) at Chancery Lane.

Parry said the new motion, if there was sufficient support, could call specifically for the resignation of president Nick Fluck and chief executive Des Hudson.

"They were unwilling to take notice last time of what was happening in the Law Society's halls. I do not see how they could ignore it again without becoming a laughing stock.

"My preference would be that they should go without the need for any further action on anyone else's part. They have failed and should be gone."