Whenever possible, the new lawyer should always agree to meet with the potential client face-to-face or via video connection to discuss the reasons for the transmission request. If your request to transfer lawyers is rejected, you will unfortunately still have to be represented by your current law firm. You should not be treated differently and the firm may try to resolve the issue by entrusting your case to another lawyer within the company. If the problems persist, you can try to make another transfer request, but if the circumstances do not change significantly, it will probably be rejected again. If you are able to fund your case privately, you can revoke your legal aid order and hire a law firm of your choice. It is important to remember that if your case is successful, you will not be entitled to legal fees since you were originally entitled to legal aid. Articles 12 to 15 provide for the selection of a supplier. Regulation 12 sets out the types of service providers (persons who have entered into agreements with the Lord Chancellor to provide legal aid under Part 1 of the Act) that a person may choose to represent in criminal proceedings. Rule 13 requires co-respondents to choose the same provider, unless there is a conflict of interest or is likely to exist.
Section 14 specifies the circumstances in which a person may change supplier. Article 15 provides that if a decision is withdrawn from a person and there is a subsequent decision on the same procedure, the person must choose the same provider, unless the competent court considers that there are good reasons to do so. The reality is that transferring legal aid from one company to another is not always easy, but it often happens. Nowadays, there is a form that MUST be completed by both existing and proposed new lawyers. The new form, once completed, will be reviewed by the Crown Court resident judge hearing the case. In a case where existing lawyers challenge the transfer, arguing that a transfer should not take place, the court usually lists the case so that the transfer request can be heard by a public court. The defendant is often asked to tell the judge what his problems are with existing lawyers. In my experience, hearing the defendant himself can often make a real difference in obtaining a transfer. The more confident and assertive a defendant is, the more likely it is that restitution will take place, although much will also depend on the progress of the case. Of all the reasons invoked by defendants seeking to transfer legal aid to another law firm, this reason and the termination of the relationship between lawyer and client are the two on which they rely the most. In both cases, it is generally up to the defendant to satisfactorily convince the judge that things are going so badly that it is in the interests of justice to transfer the legal burden to the new company. (b)may grant legal aid in criminal matters to the person under the arrangements made by the Lord Chancellor with the provider(7); or If you have an existing case and wish to transfer it to us, it is important that you provide us with all relevant information so that we can assess whether a judge is likely to transfer your case and the possible legally justified grounds for such a transfer.
If possible, we will arrange someone to see you, but we will usually only do this if there is a good reason – we are in the field of providing quality representation, not in the company to take work from other companies unnecessarily. Unfortunately, our experience is that many defendants are underserved by their lawyers, and if we are able to do so, we will help you achieve a better standard in your defense. `provider` means a person who has entered into an agreement with the Lord Chancellor pursuant to section 2(1) of the Criminal Legal Aid (Agreements) Act under Part 1 of the Act; In summary, the Criminal Defence Service (General) Regulations, 2001 (No. 2) set out the grounds that a judge may have to enforce if an existing representation order is to be transferred. The possible reasons are as follows: a case pending before the Court of Justice can be financed in two ways, either privately or through legal aid. If you`re funding your case with your own money, making a transfer is as simple as informing your current lawyer that you no longer want to hire them. Unfortunately, if your case is funded by the Legal Aid Agency, the process is not that simple. A transfer application must be completed by you, your new business and your old business before it can be forwarded to the court for review.
The decision to authorize the transfer of the lawyer is taken by the court. The court takes into account the costs, since the payment of two companies without a valid reason does not constitute a correct use of public funds. We will consider all requests from new clients in order to transfer us and their legal aid. We will fully assess the situation and the transfer criteria. If we can handle your case, we`d love to do so, and we hope you will too. However, if there are not enough legal bases to apply for a transfer, we will unfortunately not be able to pursue the case. We can always consider private financing if it is an option for the client. For more details on the private financing of your case, please contact us. 22. (1) The Director may, in committing, transferring or convicting a person, decide that the person may choose a Queen`s counsel without a junior lawyer if the proceedings are a murder trial. Rule 24 applies in Part 3 to legal persons that are the subject of the amendments referred to in these Regulations.
However, the current situation is different: it is the court (usually a Crown Court judge) that decides on any request to transfer an existing case to a new lawyer. In some cases, it may be possible to transfer your case to us if you have already obtained legal aid. However, this is a difficult process, and often the court rejects an application to transfer legal aid if the judge feels that the reasons are not sufficient. (2) Upon receipt of notice of transfer of the matter to a person under section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1987(11), the Director may decide that the person may choose Queen`s Counsel with a junior lawyer if the prosecution is initiated by the Serious Fraud Office.