Law Commons^™

Clinics In A Cold Climate: Community Law Centres In England And Wales, Roger Smith

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

Legal aid clinics in England and Wales, known as law centres, have struggled since they were set up in the early 1970s. They overcame the initial protests of the private profession, which saw the centres as competition, and established an important presence in social welfare law during the 1970s and 1980s. In 1986, the government began implementing financial cuts to the system. Over the next decade, the increased cuts led to a race towards "contract culture" and the introduction of "franchising" within the legal aid system. The implications of fiscal restraint on the efficiency and the quality of the service …