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Stobart to bid for new legal aid contracts
After the announcement that an Executive Director at the Laing O’Rourke engineering group is to join the DWP in mid-May to lead the delivery of Universal Credit (see http://www.rightsnet.org.uk/forums/viewthread/4523/#18920) ....
... there are reports that Stobart (who do this ... http://www.stobartgroup.co.uk/) are likely to bid for a contract if the government goes ahead with plans for price-competitive tendering for criminal legal aid
here’s the guardian’s take on it ...
‘A subsidiary of the haulage firm Eddie Stobart has emerged as a leading contender in bidding for a new generation of criminal legal aid contracts that would deprive defendants of the right to choose their own solicitor.
... The head of Stobart Barristers has described traditional law firms who rely on legal aid as wounded animals waiting to die ...
Trevor Howarth, its legal director, said the firm would be bidding for the new criminal defence contracts. “We can deliver the service at a cost that’s palatable for the taxpayer,” he said. “Our business model was developed with this in mind.
“We at Stobart are well known for taking out the waste and the waste here is the duplication of solicitors going to the courtroom. At the moment there are 1,600 legal aid firms; in future there will be 400. At Stobart, we wouldn’t use 10 trucks to deliver one product ...
On removing a defendant’s right to choose their solicitor, Howarth said: “I don’t think the lack of choice is damaging. [People are not] entitled to access justice with an open cheque. No one is stopping them paying for their own choice of solicitor.”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/2013/may/08/eddie-stobart-legal-aid
“Stobart Barristers – the most controversial new business of the Legal Services Act era to date – will no longer provide legal advice to the public, Legal Futures can reveal.
It follows the departure of founder Trevor Howarth to run separate alternative business structure One Legal.
In a statement, the Stobart Group said: “With Trevor Howarth leaving to [run] One Legal and changing regulations that make the Stobart Barristers business model less attractive ....”
http://www.legalfutures.co.uk/latest-news/exclusive-stobart-barristers-reaches-end-road