Nearly a third of legal aid firms considering withdrawing

A new survey of law forms has revealed that 31 per cent of firms currently working with legal aid funded cases are considering withdrawing from one or more areas of legal aid in the next three years, particularly those firms working in family law.

The survey is first joint research commissioned by the Law Society, the Legal Services Board and the Ministry of Justice and is the culmination of one of the largest ever surveys into the activities of solicitors' firms.

In addition the survey showed that 42 per cent of firms have reported a decrease in turnover in the past three years, compared to 32 per cent reporting an increase and 27 per cent reporting no change. More smaller and medium-sized firms reported decreases in turnover.