I missed this interesting piece from the Gazette website last week.
The theme – maintain Rolls Royce standards against declining rates of pay – is one of which Legal Aid providers are well aware. In fact certain relevant and complicating factors, mandatory SQM, potential Peer Review and rigid Contract compliance only apply to firms undertaking publicly funded work. Letting standards slip against “cut price” standard fees is not, therefore, an option.
In many ways however this will not be the point in a post LASPO world. The cutthroat pricing of Conveyancing may well be replicated in Family matters and – “bring new providers to the market with a new pricing structure that will blow traditional firms out of the market”. What the going rate for the new private client Green Form divorce will be, remains to be seen. Anybody know what price the Coop are pitching this at, if at all?
My educated guess is that Legal Aid practices are better prepared for this “price revolution”, should it happen, than most and are least likely to be blown out of the market.
