Articles Archive
Below are all our previously published articles and news items - blog posts will be included here too.
There are also 2 wordpress blog sites which we previously used and for whom content is still available, although they are not currently being updated:
View from the Gravy Train
Thanks 2 Legal Aid
Legal aid levy a regressive tax
Post date: 2nd of July 2012On 2 July the Ministry of Justice finished their consultation on the proposed Supplementary Legal Aid Scheme (SLAS). Details of the Government's programme for legal aid reform can be found here.
Read more...APPG meeting 11 July
Post date: 23rd of June 2012There will be a meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Legal Aid in Parliament on Wednesday 11 July 2012 starting at 5pm. The title of the meeting is:
"Is LASPO the end of legal aid lawyers and the end of diversity and social mobility in this part of the profession?"
Read more...LALY awards 2012
Post date: 10th of June 2012This year marks the 10th anniversary of the LAPG Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year Awards. YLAL is pleased to announce that our co-chair Katie Brown has been shortlisted for Young Legal Aid Solicitor of the Year. The awards will be presented at a ceremony on Tuesday 12 June 2012 in London. For a full list of everyone on the shortlist please see here. We wish everyone shortlisted good luck!
For more information on the LALYs please see here
Read more...SRA decides on min salary
Post date: 20th of May 2012The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has decided that it will not oblige firms and organisations to pay trainee solicitors anything more than the National Minimum Wage after 1 August 2014. We understand (from reports of the Board meeting) that the SRA still intends to regulate this issue because of the concern that trainee solicitors fall within the definition of an "apprentice" under the National Minimum Wage Regulations.
Read more...Essay competition to win free LPC place
Post date: 1st of May 2012The partner magazine to the Solicitors' Journal "Young Lawyer" has teamed up with legal training provider NCLT to offer one of their readers the chance to win a free place on an LPC course of your choice, worth more than £8,000.
Here is their blurb from the website:
Read more...End of specialist support?
Post date: 29th of April 2012YLAL has responded to the Legal Services Commission (LSC) consultation on the future of the Specialist Support Service. The LSC aims to end the service after the current contracts run out at the end of June 2012.
Read more...Access to profession
Post date: 27th of April 2012Professor Hilary Sommerlad, School of Law, University of Leicester is looking for volunteers to take part in a piece of research on the difficulties faced by aspiring, trainee and junior solicitors trying to get started in the profession. See below for details.
Read more..."Ping pong" action
Post date: 21st of April 2012The Parliamentary process known as “ping pong” has truly begun. The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders (LASPO) Bill was back in the House of Commons on Tuesday night. The House of Lords had changed the LASPO Bill 11 times for the better – see our earlier post for details. On Tuesday night the Commons voted to overturn all 11 amendments.
Read more...Keep the minimum salary
Post date: 10th of April 2012YLAL has submitted its response to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) consultation on the proposal to scrap the minimum salary requirement for trainee solicitors.
Read more...Why we must protect the shrinking legal aid safety net
Post date: 3rd of April 2012Nadia Salam has written for The Social Issue blog on legal aid cuts and the telephone gateway in December 2011
http://thesocialissue.com/2011/12/why-we-must-protect-the-shrinking-legal-aid-safety-net/
Read more...