This week the Law Society highlighted that since 2019 there has been a 10 percent decrease in the number of firms holding a criminal legal aid contract (contracts made with the Legal Aid Agency to supply legal aid services). There are 124 fewer firms in existence now than last year, and significantly fewer than the 1,861 firms of this type practising in 2010. The coronavirus outbreak has only served to deepen this pre-existing crisis, with firms of this type faced with immediate and medium-term cashflow difficulties exacerbated by the decreased number of cases passing through the courts. The Law Society has submitted a supplemental response to the government's legal aid review emphasising the severity of the situation in the criminal legal aid sector. 

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