Legal Aid lawyers on strike in Northern Ireland

Solicitors in Northern Ireland have gone on strike in protest over reduced fees recently introduced by the Department of Justice. The Department has slashed the legal aid budget, saying that the current annual bill of £100m must be reduced to around £75m over the next three years. When negotiations between the department and the Law Society failed to resolve the dispute, the Department wrote to legal firms across Northern Ireland, calling for lawyers willing to work under the new terms. It has been reported that a number of firms, including at least one major London law firm, has expressed interest in picking up the work.

Legal Aid lawyers on strike in Northern Ireland bbc.co.uk Mon, Jun 13, 2011