On setting up a new association given the existence of the Law Society, the representative body for solicitors, and practitioner groups such as the CLSA, Matthews said: ‘You cannot represent firms and individuals. Matthews said: ‘The reason why we’re doing it is because there is no other body that speaks solely for those individuals who sign up to the contract.’ As well as seeking to secure a seat at the negotiating table, the new association hopes to become a statutory consultee. Jan Matthews, managing partner of Reeds Solicitors
The association will operate like a trade association and represent firms of all sizes, focusing on their common goals, he said. Jan Matthews, managing partner of Reeds Solicitors, stressed to the Gazette that the Criminal Legal Aid Contractors Association will be separate to what the CLSA is looking into and will not be a trade union. At Tuesday’s meeting, the Criminal Law Solicitors Association announced that it will commission advice from counsel on the legal position and practical options for setting up such a body. The revelation follows a separate move towards establishing a trade union for criminal legal aid lawyers.
The association would, on behalf of members, engage with the Ministry of Justice and Legal Aid Agency in relation to the terms of future criminal legal aid contracts.
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Law firm owners with criminal legal aid contracts are to set up their own representative body with a view to becoming a statutory consultee, the Gazette has learned.įirm owners who met on Tuesday to discuss next steps should the government’s full response to the Bellamy review, expected later this month, be unsatisfactory decided to create a formal structure, likely to be known as the Criminal Legal Aid Contractors Association.
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