Legal Aid and the Future of Access to Justice

This book examines the impact of austerity and related policies on those at the coalface of the legal profession in England and Wales. It combines quantitative and qualitative analysis to provide a comprehensive understanding of the current state of the sector.

Format: Hardback
Length: 304 pages
Publication date: 27 July 2023
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

This open-access book offers a comprehensive overview of the current state of access to justice in England and Wales. Legal aid lawyers play a vital role in assisting individuals with a diverse range of issues that often intersect with social justice concerns, such as crime, homelessness, domestic violence, family breakdown, and educational exclusion. However, over the past few decades, there has been a significant decline in the availability of legal aid, reflecting a broader retreat from the principles of the welfare state.

This book delves into the impact of austerity and related policies on those who are directly involved in the legal profession. It provides a detailed account of the current state of the legal aid sector, including the challenges faced by legal aid lawyers in their work. Through the analysis of data collected through the Legal Aid Census 2021, the book offers a rich insight into the demographics, financial pressures, and cultural factors that are driving lawyers away from publicly funded work.

The book employs a combination of quantitative and qualitative analysis to provide a comprehensive understanding of trends within the legal aid profession. It aims to equip readers with a thorough knowledge of legal aid lawyers in England and Wales and to stimulate debate about the future of access to justice and legal aid in the country.

The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 license on bloomsburycollections.com. This license allows for non-commercial reproduction, distribution, and adaptation of the work, provided that the original author is credited and the work is not modified in any way.

Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781509957804