Legal Aid
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Hi all
Continue to be out of my mind with all of this.
Can anybody say if they continued with the legal aid solicitor or if they ended up paying for a specialist firm? Legal aid guys don't seem very proactive and I can never get to speak to anybody there.
We are still with CPS and the wait is agonising. I am really not coping at all. He was 15, 18 now, surely they have to see that? Help!!!
Continue to be out of my mind with all of this.
Can anybody say if they continued with the legal aid solicitor or if they ended up paying for a specialist firm? Legal aid guys don't seem very proactive and I can never get to speak to anybody there.
We are still with CPS and the wait is agonising. I am really not coping at all. He was 15, 18 now, surely they have to see that? Help!!!
Hi, we stuck with legal aid, solicitor in magistrates and then barrister in crown court. I'm sorry you're sruggling, feel free to vent x
We switched to a private solicitor after getting frustrated with the legal aid one who refused to do anything at all unless and until person was charged. We needed advice, and knew the solicitor would need time to build up the case, so we went private, and are so glad we did! Some people are lucky and get a good legal aid one, but if you are not one of those I would suggest you go private if you possibly can.
OneStepAtATime, when you say barrister in Crown, does that mean you paid private from there?
That's all I'm getting from legal aid guys, can't do anything until charges. Surely that's stable door and horse bolted?
I never safeguarded him against this. How do you even know at 15 where to look for this stuff? I never even thought it was a thing. Only things I told him and his brother was to not talk to strangers on their games and don't send nudes to anyone.
Firm I spoke to today quoted me a starting figure of 6K just to try and keep it out of court. They'll probably treble that if it does go to court. I'm on my own, I just don't have any way of accessing those kinds of funds.
How are you all getting through this? I am really really not coping at all.
That's all I'm getting from legal aid guys, can't do anything until charges. Surely that's stable door and horse bolted?
I never safeguarded him against this. How do you even know at 15 where to look for this stuff? I never even thought it was a thing. Only things I told him and his brother was to not talk to strangers on their games and don't send nudes to anyone.
Firm I spoke to today quoted me a starting figure of 6K just to try and keep it out of court. They'll probably treble that if it does go to court. I'm on my own, I just don't have any way of accessing those kinds of funds.
How are you all getting through this? I am really really not coping at all.
I've gone down the route of private solicitor to try and relax some of the conditions that have been horrendous for a just 18 year old who was under 18 at time of alleged offences. I agreed a flat fee of £3500 for all pre charge work and they agreed to take him on with legal aid post charge. It's not perfect and expensive but cheaper than an hourly rate arrangement and the post charge but under legal aid was key as that's when costs mount up. It has been a real help at times too. Look around for specialists in your area. Good luck!
Hi WorriedMum - legal aid covered it all, solicitor and barrister, we didn't pay for anything
Whenever solicitors ask for large sums of money up front, be clear with them about what you are paying for. Do they do pre charge engagement work and what does it cost. If all the money is not spent, do you get some of it back?
Pre charge work is covered by legal aid too, up to a max of £273 per hour, but not every firm does it.
In any case where the person is under 18, they should be arguing with the CPS that a prosecution is not in the public interest, also known as outcome 21.
Pre charge work is covered by legal aid too, up to a max of £273 per hour, but not every firm does it.
In any case where the person is under 18, they should be arguing with the CPS that a prosecution is not in the public interest, also known as outcome 21.
We went down the Specialist solicitor route after useless Duty solicitor, first one not too bad but heard nothing for years and when called for second Interview the one who attended admitted afterwards he had thought throughout it that grandson had already been charged!
Once we learnt that it was going to court we hired a private solicitor they were surprised it had taken so long and that it was proceeding to court? after a nearly 3 year wait we got three weeks notice that it was, they said it was a shame we hadn't contacted them earlier but they could.still try to stop it and get a caution, due to grandsons fragile mental health, he had tried to take his life, we went with them sadly they didn't succeed.
We then decided to keep them on to represent grandson in court which of course cost more. Did they make a difference to the outcome? Well it seems most under 18's are given the same sentence even using a duty solicitor but daughter said the solicitor did argue against some of the restrictions that were mention so maybe, but the fact they visited grandson at home and got to know him spent a few hours talking to him helping in a small way to calm him and prevent another suicide attempt was worth all the money in the world. I paid and that took my life's saving but I still have lovely grandson who hopefully one day will be back to the happy lad he once was. If you go private check the price first it cost us absolute megabucks.
Once we learnt that it was going to court we hired a private solicitor they were surprised it had taken so long and that it was proceeding to court? after a nearly 3 year wait we got three weeks notice that it was, they said it was a shame we hadn't contacted them earlier but they could.still try to stop it and get a caution, due to grandsons fragile mental health, he had tried to take his life, we went with them sadly they didn't succeed.
We then decided to keep them on to represent grandson in court which of course cost more. Did they make a difference to the outcome? Well it seems most under 18's are given the same sentence even using a duty solicitor but daughter said the solicitor did argue against some of the restrictions that were mention so maybe, but the fact they visited grandson at home and got to know him spent a few hours talking to him helping in a small way to calm him and prevent another suicide attempt was worth all the money in the world. I paid and that took my life's saving but I still have lovely grandson who hopefully one day will be back to the happy lad he once was. If you go private check the price first it cost us absolute megabucks.
