Duty contracts tender announcement ends in a typical, anti-climactic fashion

The Opening of the Legal Year, a fixture in the legal calendar since the Middle Ages, saw the Law Society and the Bar set the tone for the next twelve months.

The society held a seminar on challenges to client confidentiality and legal professional privilege in the digital age, chaired by its president, Jonathan Smithers, whereas the chairman of the Bar, Alistair MacDonald QC, presided over a discussion which compared issues affecting witnesses in both criminal and civil proceedings in various types of tribunals around the world.

'The Opening of the Legal Year is the most celebrated event in the legal profession's calendar,' said MacDonald. 'The programme of events and the number and range of international participants demonstrates the global orientation of our profession. It also enables us to discuss the future of our profession and the challenges and opportunities we face, to reflect on the values we share with fellow legal practitioners overseas, and to reaffirm our commitment to the rule of law.'

Many criminal solicitors will also have been anticipating the start of a new year, as they anxiously waited to discover whether their bids for the divisive two-tier duty contracts were successful.

In typical anti-climactic fashion, however, the Legal Aid Agency (LAA) issued a statement today notifying lawyers that the outcome of the contracts tender would instead be communicated to them by mid-October, despite having previously advised that results would be announced by the end of this week.

An LAA spokesperson said: 'We regret that we will not be able to notify bidders this week about the outcome of the crime duty tender, as previously indicated. We understand the anxiety this could cause bidding organisations and are working hard to finalise the quality assurance required to make sure these important decisions are right. We will now notify all bidders on Thursday 15 October.'

It seems unlikely there will be a last minute reprieve by the justice secretary, Michael Gove, especially considering his recent offer to suspend the latest cut to fees, but only on the condition that solicitors refrained from further direct action. The latest delay is tortuous for those firms who fear they will go the wall when government reforms kick in.

Nevertheless, we must continue to wait to see what criminal practitioners will do when the results are finally released. Will there be judicial reviews by those firms who failed to secure a legal aid contract? Will practitioner groups vote to withdraw bids in their entirety? And will the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) join its solicitor counterparts on the picket lines?

'We should not forget that only 500 firms have put in 1,099 bids for 527 contracts,' said the CBA's former chair, Tony Cross QC, in July. 'Is it too much to ask of those 500 firms to withdraw their bids? In that way these firms would show solidarity with their weaker colleagues and with the Bar. But, more importantly, this would not be a fight about pounds, shillings, and pence, but a fight about principle and access to justice.'

No doubt the legal luminaries who attended the Lord Chancellor's reception at the Houses of Parliament this week will have reminded him of the importance of access to justice over government expenditure. It remains to be seen, however, whether he will pay any more attention than his predecessor did.

John van der Luit-Drummond is deputy editor for Solicitors Journal