kristieuk
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 8, 2005
- Messages
- 1,906
I'm just posting this in a bit of a state. I feel the need to talk to someone, and everyone here is always really good at listening! But I warn you, there is a lot of boring explanation for which I apologise.
I know that us lawyers are often seen as greedy and uncaring, but I hope you will believe me when I say not all of us are like that. I care (too much) about all of the cases I do. They often keep me awake at night, worrying about how clients will cope with prison, worrying that there is more that I could do to help them....and feeling guilty about representing some of the people we have to.
Anyway, the way the government is reforming the way solicitors are paid for publicly funded work is changing a lot. I can say without bias that a lot of the reforms are really unfair and completely miss the point. The biggest losers are the public - and please be open minded and accept that lots of people deserve the help we give, whether because they are actually innocent, made a terrible mistake, or just need help generally. Not all criminals are nasty no-good people - most are just like you or me who happened to take a wrong turn, or get into a drunken fight that goes wrong.
Over the past 4 years, larger cases have come under a specific contract where every minute of work done has to be 'pre-approved' by a civil servant before we can even do it. Lots of firms have boycotted this and made a huge fuss, but I can see the thinking behind it and have become quite an expert in them, without wishing to sound bigheaded. I have worked with lots of very senior barristers and QC's who have raved about the way our firm has handled cases, and particularly the larger contracted cases. We have always just got on with it, and have also been praised by the individual civil servants who act as our Contract Managers.
We now need to 'reapply' for the right to do these cases and prove that we are 'value for money' etc. However, the selection criteria is so tight that our small high street practice is going to be dwarfed by the larger city firms. They have also said that if the firm has has a contract terminated within the past 2 years, they are not eligible to apply (even though I have been doing these cases since 2003). Unfortunately, 2 years ago, we had a contract terminated in our family law department being run by a Partner who had just left the firm. It was a different office, different staff, a completely different department, basically run into the ground by a Partner who wasn't found out until it was too late.
The long and short of it is that because of that, and despite all of the excellent work my department has done, it seems we probably won't even be able to apply for a place on the Panel. With that goes the bulk of my work, and with that goes my job.
I am so devastated I can hardly speak. I know I have rambled on, and probably made nothing but boring nonsense. But this is everything I have worked 10 years for. My knowledge and skills are basically worthless without these cases, and are completely untransferrable to any other career. I am 29 weeks pregnant, and just feel like I can't cope with the thought of worrying about our livelihood for the next few months. This should be such a happy time, but in a day, everything has changed and I feel so desperate, I just don't know where to turn.
Sorry this is so long. And if you got this far, thank you for listening.
I know that us lawyers are often seen as greedy and uncaring, but I hope you will believe me when I say not all of us are like that. I care (too much) about all of the cases I do. They often keep me awake at night, worrying about how clients will cope with prison, worrying that there is more that I could do to help them....and feeling guilty about representing some of the people we have to.
Anyway, the way the government is reforming the way solicitors are paid for publicly funded work is changing a lot. I can say without bias that a lot of the reforms are really unfair and completely miss the point. The biggest losers are the public - and please be open minded and accept that lots of people deserve the help we give, whether because they are actually innocent, made a terrible mistake, or just need help generally. Not all criminals are nasty no-good people - most are just like you or me who happened to take a wrong turn, or get into a drunken fight that goes wrong.
Over the past 4 years, larger cases have come under a specific contract where every minute of work done has to be 'pre-approved' by a civil servant before we can even do it. Lots of firms have boycotted this and made a huge fuss, but I can see the thinking behind it and have become quite an expert in them, without wishing to sound bigheaded. I have worked with lots of very senior barristers and QC's who have raved about the way our firm has handled cases, and particularly the larger contracted cases. We have always just got on with it, and have also been praised by the individual civil servants who act as our Contract Managers.
We now need to 'reapply' for the right to do these cases and prove that we are 'value for money' etc. However, the selection criteria is so tight that our small high street practice is going to be dwarfed by the larger city firms. They have also said that if the firm has has a contract terminated within the past 2 years, they are not eligible to apply (even though I have been doing these cases since 2003). Unfortunately, 2 years ago, we had a contract terminated in our family law department being run by a Partner who had just left the firm. It was a different office, different staff, a completely different department, basically run into the ground by a Partner who wasn't found out until it was too late.
The long and short of it is that because of that, and despite all of the excellent work my department has done, it seems we probably won't even be able to apply for a place on the Panel. With that goes the bulk of my work, and with that goes my job.
I am so devastated I can hardly speak. I know I have rambled on, and probably made nothing but boring nonsense. But this is everything I have worked 10 years for. My knowledge and skills are basically worthless without these cases, and are completely untransferrable to any other career. I am 29 weeks pregnant, and just feel like I can't cope with the thought of worrying about our livelihood for the next few months. This should be such a happy time, but in a day, everything has changed and I feel so desperate, I just don't know where to turn.
Sorry this is so long. And if you got this far, thank you for listening.
and what timing 
and throw in some 
if it is of any help! 
