But the truth is that we do.

It is now more than five years since the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) came into force in the UK and stripped legal aid down to the bare minimum.

That is why thousands of people took to the street to raise money for access to justice.

#LegalWalk Funds are raised to support free legal advice charities in London and the South East by walkers gaining sponsors and then many wonderful law firms, chambers and companies add to that with matched funding or donations. pic.twitter.com/cfZVDNKd2R

— Urban Lawyers (@Urban_Lawyers) May 21, 2018

Some of you might not be aware of the devastating impact that LASPO has had so here is a summary:

• Pro bono units are picking up much of the slack turning the legal profession into little more than a glorified charity.
• If people can’t be represented pro bono then they are often representing themselves. They are untrained and don’t know the procedural and legal rules to follow so have almost no prospect of success in their case.
• These litigants in person also place a burden on the court system as judges have to research the law themselves in the absence of proper legal arguments from the parties.

The problem is that after five years this has become normalised.

When the Act first came into force the media grabbed on to every injustice and sob story they could but there is only so much people can take and before you know it another story has their eye.

The government weathered the storm and suddenly a creaking justice system has become ‘acceptable’. Many lawyers will not have known any other way.

A walk around the capital on a spring afternoon won’t change anything in itself but it is a public statement:

People still care.

People haven’t forgotten.

Make a difference today.
Marcus