Sticking its neck out

Watching lawyers knock spots off each other is never a very edifying sight.

Mr Grayling must have enjoyed immensely the spectacle of solicitors passing a vote of no-confidence in their leadership.

Divide and rule has always been a feature of the government and various manifestations of the Legal Aid Agency. The vote at Chancery Lane on 17 December confirmed once again what an easy target lawyers are when faced with a united government response.

For once, I think the Law Society played a blinder. Instead of sticking up for everyone - as they normally do - they took a principled and policy-driven decision to actually support a faction of the profession rather than see the vast majority of criminal practitioners go down the tubes. This was a tough choice that took considerable discussion and thought. But it was the right decision.

I have not practised criminal law for some 15 years, but from what I have seen of Grayling's stance on price competitive tendering, he was as keen as mustard to bring it in. If the Law Society had simply said no to everything, I have little doubt that he would have succeeded. There would have been wholesale decimation of the criminal fraternity, which could possibly have reduced in size to a few hundred firms.

When the vast bulk of LASPO came into force in April last year, it became obvious that most of Grayling's original intentions had come to fruition: there were a few minor amendments but nothing dramatic. The truth is that the general public don't have much time for lawyers. Giving the lawyers a break in a time of hardship doesn't win many votes.

The Law Society mounted a '¨'¨campaign against LASPO but it was constrained by virtue of its representative status. It tried to protect everybody. Perhaps it should have thrown bits of the profession to the lions and supported a targeted few. This may have given us a better version of LASPO.

The Bar Council has always found it easier to fight. There appears to be a unanimity that is sadly absent among solicitors. The government is very much aware of these divisions and does its best to play on them.

At long last, the Law Society has woken up to the fact that for the legal aid part of the profession to survive, it has to make principled choices. No longer can the Law Society support everyone and no one.

I was sad to see the motion of no-confidence passed. For once the Law Society had out-maneuvered the government and its own members were kicking it in the teeth. Go bite their ankles, Cosmo.

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