Your views wanted - Scottish legal aid fee review

The Scottish Government has established a Legal Aid Payment Advisory Panel to look at how fees might be reviewed in the future, and we’re looking for your experiences to feed into the response.

The advisory panel, which has been set up in response to Martyn Evans’s independent review of legal aid, is a cross-section of the legal profession and includes academics, members of the Faculty of Advocates, the Society of Solicitor Advocates, the Scottish Legal Aid Board and representatives of the Law Society.

The practitioner members of the panel are acutely aware of the potential impact the review work will have on firms and access to justice as a whole and are keen to hear the views of legal aid solicitors from across the country.

Ian Moir, co-convener of our Legal Aid Committee, said: “Before the 3% increase last year, most fees had not been increased in a decade and some in a generation and it is important that the views of Scottish solicitors are represented in this important review. I would encourage my legal aid colleagues to take the time to their share their experiences in this evidence-based review.”

Members of the legal profession wishing to contribute to the review are asked to send details of their experiences to legalaid@lawscot.org.uk