This open access book provides a snapshot of the state of contemporary
access to justice in England and Wales.
Legal aid lawyers provide a critical function in supporting individuals
to address a range of problems. These are problems that commonly
intersect with issues of social justice, including crime, homelessness,
domestic violence, family breakdown and educational exclusion. However,
the past few decades have seen a clear retreat from the tenets of the
welfare state, including, as part of this, the reduced availability of
legal aid. This book examines the impact of austerity and related
policies on those at the coalface of the legal profession. It documents
the current state of the sector as well as the social and economic
factors that make working in the legal aid profession more challenging
than ever before.
Through data collected via the Legal Aid Census 2021, the book is
underpinned by the accounts of over 1000 current and former legal aid
lawyers. These accounts offer a detailed demography and insight into the
financial, cultural and other pressures forcing lawyers to give up
publicly funded work. This book combines a mixture of quantitative and
qualitative analysis, allowing readers a broad appreciation of trends in
the legal aid profession.
This book will equip readers with a thorough knowledge of legal aid
lawyers in England and Wales, and aims to stimulate debate as to the
fate of access to justice and legal aid in the future.
