Up to 250,000 family law cases each year could lose funding from Legal Aid, if Government cuts get the go ahead.The warning comes from the managing partner of the largest family law practice in the North West.
Mike Devlin of Stephensons Solicitors LLP in Manchester leads a very busy practice representing children, parents, couples, guardians and local authorities in all aspects of family and children law. He believes that projected cuts, announced by the Government in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill, will leave the most vulnerable people in the community without access to the justice.
He said: “Legal aid cuts could wipe £350million off the annual £1.2billion legal aid budget and family law is likely to be the most seriously afflicted, which is why I’m very concerned that such swingeing cuts could lead to serious problems.
“The public often have an image of lawyers being combative and inflaming an already tense situation. Family law, especially cases involving children, is very different. Specialist family lawyers are trained to put the child's welfare first and to help adults reach sensible and often creative solutions to seemingly impossible problems.
“Legal aid makes these specialist lawyers available to hundreds of thousands of ordinary people including some of the most vulnerable in society. Often people without the skills to resolve complex family disputes. In fact very few people, whatever their background, can resolve complex disputes without some independent help.
“Who suffers when expert legal advice and representation is taken away? Well the adults will be affected by disputes rumbling on longer than necessary. But it’s the children who suffer most when family disputes continue to fester and simmer away with no expert advice and guidance to help to reach sensible and sensitive resolutions. Children who grow up in an atmosphere of conflict, even hatred, between parents find it hard to reach their potential in school, obtain employment, make lasting relationships and are vulnerable to drug and alcohol additions. Their life chances are severely compromised.
“The financial and emotional cost of children, who will suffer because there is no service available to quickly and simply resolve their family disputes, will far outstrip the relatively small savings the Government seeks to make by axing what up to now was considered an essential public service - legal aid in family cases.”
As a firm, Stephensons is one of the leading providers of legally aided services in England and Wales, and acted in 10,000 such cases last year. The Family team is the largest in the North West, with almost 90 staff dedicated to providing a leading family law practice which advises children, separating couples, parents in adoption cases and contact proceedings, grandparents, guardians and other interested parties in the entire range of family law situations.
The department is based across offices in Wigan, Leigh, St Helens, Bolton and Manchester and also runs a free helpline, Family Line, for people to gain access to initial advice with Family legal problems.
Mike said: “We are doing all we can to raise awareness of the projected cuts. We’re lobbying our MPs on our clients’ behalf, and asking clients to do the same to ensure that that justice can be accessed by all parts of our community. We’re also asking our clients to contact us with their own thoughts on how legal aid cuts would affect them.”
Family client, Joanne Clare, believes without legal aid, she would not be able to effectively represent herself in Court. She said: “Shortly I will be going to court with an ex-partner over contact with our child. Without legal aid I would not get the support and guidance I so urgently require in order to resolve this matter and let’s face it how many normal, hardworking individuals would know how to defend or collate a defence in a court of law? The outcome of such cases could and do have massive impacts on families and the children involved.”
Another family client, Kevin Garside, commented: “Throughout history legal aid has played a strong role in ensuring respect for economic, social and cultural rights which are engaged in relation to social security, housing, social care, health and education service provision, which may be provided publicly or privately, as well as employment law and anti-discrimination legislation.
“This means that all members of the class system would be able to have legal aid. The idea of legal aid is to help those who are less fortunate and in some cases cannot afford any legal advice or help. To remove legal aid is to remove a human right, the right to defend yourself.”
The firm is supporting the Law Society’s Sound Off For Justice campaign and is urging local people to contact their MP to let them know their own opinion of the legal aid changes. For more information visit www.soundoffforjustice.org.
For more information on Stephensons’ family law services, call 0800 073 1324 or log on to www.stephensons.co.uk/familyline for more information.
ENDS
Notes to editors
About Stephensons
The latest editions of Legal 500 and Chambers UK recommend the Family department at Stephensons.
Stephensons has 30 partners and more than 350 staff across a network of offices in Manchester, Wigan, Bolton, Leigh and St Helens. For more information visit www.stephensons.co.uk.
Media information: Lianne Tracey
Stephensons Solicitors LLP
T: 01616 966 229