Practices await legal aid decisions

Law firms who have appealed against the Legal Services Commission's decision to remove their eligibility for family legal aid contracts will now wait a maximum 28 days to learn if they have been successful, the Law Gazette has reported.

August 6 was the appeal deadline for any of the 1,100 companies which lost their contracts, although the commission has refused to say how many of the firms have actually submitted an appeal.

One source told the publication that around nine in 10 law practices would have appealed.

A spokesman for the commission said successful appellants will get work from a reserve of cases which already exist, the Law Gazette said. Those which won their initial bids will not have their work given to other firms unless they do not pass commission verification.

No information was given on the amount of work the central reserve currently holds.

The spokesman said: "We are still in the midst of the [appeals] process. Once we are through that we will be able to release more information."