# free legal aid?



## barryl (27 May 2008)

A friend of mine needs to take an important case to the courts in the near future,she has an unhelpful solicitor who she feels has judged her and seems not to be  interested in the case.My question is..could it be that solicitors that take free legal aid cases are new in the business or bottom of the heap solicitors(no offence )or is legal aid assigned to all solicitors. thanks


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## eileen alana (27 May 2008)

The citizens advise centre will advise you about obtaining Free Legal Aid, I don't think that solicitors working in this area are inexperienced, I would imagine they would have to have considerable experience considering the complexity of cases they are presented with, but I am open to correction on that.


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## dazza21ie (27 May 2008)

barryl said:


> .My question is..could it be that solicitors that take free legal aid cases are new in the business or bottom of the heap solicitors(no offence )or is legal aid assigned to all solicitors. thanks


 
A person who qualifies for legal aid can be assigned or choose a solicitor on the legal aid panel. Most of these solicitors would be regularly in court and well known and its up to the client to choose which one they want in most cases


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## Complainer (27 May 2008)

Did they go through the Legal Aid Board which is the statutory body with responsibility for providing legal aid to those who can't afford it or the Free Legal Advice Centre which is a voluntary/charitable service?


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## deadwood (28 May 2008)

barryl said:


> A friend of mine needs to take an important case to the courts in the near future,she has an unhelpful solicitor who she feels has judged her and seems not to be interested in the case.My question is..could it be that solicitors that take free legal aid cases are new in the business or bottom of the heap solicitors(no offence )or is legal aid assigned to all solicitors. thanks


It's a bit like saying that only new/bottom of the heap doctors take on Medical Card patients! It's the bread and butter! I know of one judge who goes slightly redder when someone mentions "free" legal aid. We're all paying for it. Rant over.


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## ClubMan (28 May 2008)

In spite of the common misconception there is not such thing as "free" legal aid. Those who qualify for _Legal Aid Board_ assistance will always pay something even if it is a nominal amount based on their means.

[broken link removed]


> If you wish to obtain legal advice, you must pay a contribution. It may be as low as €10 if your disposable income is less than €11,500. If your disposable income exceeds €11,500, the amount is calculated on the basis of one-tenth of the difference between your disposable income and €11,500, subject to a maximum of €150.
> 
> If you obtain legal aid, you must pay a contribution based on your disposable income and your disposable capital, if any. The minimum income contribution for legal aid is €50, if your disposable income is less than €11,500. If it is above that amount, the actual contribution is calculated on the basis of €50 plus one-quarter of the difference between your disposable income and €11,500. You should note that if you are granted a legal aid certificate for the purpose of court proceedings, you will have to pay a contribution of at least €50 before
> a solicitor can represent you in court.
> ...


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## ClubMan (28 May 2008)

barryl said:


> A friend of mine needs to take an important case to the courts in the near future,she has an unhelpful solicitor who she feels has judged her and seems not to be  interested in the case.My question is..could it be that solicitors that take free legal aid cases are new in the business or bottom of the heap solicitors(no offence )or is legal aid assigned to all solicitors. thanks


Civil or criminal case? _Legal Aid Board _only deal with the former. Another option for somebody who cannot afford significant legal fees is to get legal representation on a pro bono basis but I would imagine that this might be more applicable to groundbreaking or contentious cases.


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## barryl (28 May 2008)

deadwood said:


> It's a bit like saying that only new/bottom of the heap doctors take on Medical Card patients! It's the bread and butter! I know of one judge who goes slightly redder when someone mentions "free" legal aid. We're all paying for it. Rant over.


 
Not really, because afaik all doctors take medical cards.my question is do all solicitors take legal aid cases if requested or can a top firm decline my friend because she cannot afford their hugh fees


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## Vanilla (28 May 2008)

barryl said:


> Not really, because afaik all doctors take medical cards.my question is do all solicitors take legal aid cases if requested or can a top firm decline my friend because she cannot afford their hugh fees


 
You have to be on the legal aid panel to take on cases. For example I am not on the panel so if the judge is looking for a solicitor to represent someone in the district court they can't ask me to do it which is deliberate on my part. Many firms just do not go on the panel. However many of the solicitors ON the panel are the best and most experienced in family law or criminal law.


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## davidoco (28 May 2008)

You should definitely consider the Legal Aid Board as long they pass the means test.  The Board will consider any case no matter how odd (save for those types listed below), and at the very least get a Counsel’s opinion on it.


defamation claims (i.e., where a person's reputation has been damaged as a result of libel or slander)
land disputes (i.e., disputes concerning rights and interests in or over land)
civil matters covered by the small claims procedure
licensing (publicans' licenses)
conveyancing (i.e., the legal transfer of a property from one party to another)
election petitions
claims made in a representative, fiduciary or official capacity
claims brought by a person on behalf of a group of persons to establish a precedent on a particular point of law ("test cases")
any other group or representative action ("class actions")


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## mf1 (28 May 2008)

"A friend of mine needs to take an important case to the courts in the near future,she has an unhelpful solicitor who she feels has judged her and seems not to be interested in the case."

This is the bit that interests me! 

Many of my clients think that their cases are matters of great importance - sometimes they are - sometimes they're not. Many of my clients would like me to carry the expense of them running their important case - I am not a charity. Many of my clients regard me as deeply unhelpful when I tell them I don't believe that they have a winnable/arguable case and that, amazingly, no, I am not interested in running the case, losing it and then carrying the costs. 

Most of the legal aid solicitors that I know are operating at the coal face, so to speak, are in court on a regular basis but are even less likely to take on a hopeless case than I am!

mf


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## Vanilla (28 May 2008)

There are confusing replies because we don't know if you are referring to the Legal Aid Board, solicitors which are on the legal aid panel or Free legal advice centres.


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## deadwood (28 May 2008)

barryl said:


> Not really, because afaik all doctors take medical cards.my question is do all solicitors take legal aid cases if requested or can a top firm decline my friend because she cannot afford their hugh fees


Nothing implied here. Just making the point that a solicitor being on the legal aid panel or not doesn't reflect on their abilities. They wouldn't be practicing if they weren't capable.
mf1 makes an excellent point. His/her solicitor may be objective rather than judgemental.


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## Purple (28 May 2008)

deadwood said:


> It's a bit like saying that only new/bottom of the heap doctors take on Medical Card patients! It's the bread and butter! I know of one judge who goes slightly redder when someone mentions "free" legal aid. We're all paying for it. Rant over.





barryl said:


> Not really, because afaik all doctors take medical cards.



Not all GP's have medical card lists. This may be because they do not want them or because they are not vocationally trained as a GP (this is a bit of a closed shop/ old boy set-up and it can be very hard to get onto the course but said GP may have completed all of the required rotations, i.e. worked in an A&E, a psychiatric hospital, a paediatric ward, a geriatric ward etc). Therefore a large proportion of new GP's do not take medical card patients. Therefore accusing solicitors of elitism (or whatever) by use of such comparisons is spurious.


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## deadwood (28 May 2008)

Purple said:


> Not all GP's have medical card lists. This may be because they do not want them or because they are not vocationally trained as a GP (this is a bit of a closed shop/ old boy set-up and it can be very hard to get onto the course but said GP may have completed all of the required rotations, i.e. worked in an A&E, a psychiatric hospital, a paediatric ward, a geriatric ward etc). Therefore a large proportion of new GP's do not take medical card patients. Therefore accusing solicitors of elitism (or whatever) by use of such comparisons is spurious.


 Whoooooaahh there horsey. Lets back up a little. Read again - I just made the point that a solicitors position on the legal aid panel is no reflection on their abilities. Likewise the same applies for doctors and medical cards. No accusations of elitism whatsoever. A we bit quick off the mark, there Purple.


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## Vanilla (28 May 2008)

deadwood said:


> Whoooooaahh there horsey. Lets back up a little. Read again - I just made the point that a solicitors position on the legal aid panel is no reflection on their abilities. Likewise the same applies for doctors and medical cards. No accusations of elitism whatsoever. A we bit quick off the mark, there Purple.


 
It's really kind of ironic and quite amusing that you should ask Purple to read _your_ post again.


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## deadwood (28 May 2008)

Vanilla said:


> It's really kind of ironic and quite amusing that you should ask Purple to read _your_ post again.


Sorry, Vanilla, I'm not following you there. I wouldn't be accused of being the brightest spark, though.


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## deadwood (28 May 2008)

deadwood said:


> Whoooooaahh there horsey. Lets back up a little. Read again - I just made the point that a solicitors position on the legal aid panel is no reflection on their abilities. Likewise the same applies for doctors and medical cards. No accusations of elitism whatsoever. A we bit quick off the mark, there Purple.


Might have been a bit quick off the mark myself, actually. Vanlla pointed out the error of my ways. I may have misread Purple on this one. I think we're all making the same point, more or less.


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## barryl (29 May 2008)

Purple said:


> Not all GP's have medical card lists. This may be because they do not want them or because they are not vocationally trained as a GP (this is a bit of a closed shop/ old boy set-up and it can be very hard to get onto the course but said GP may have completed all of the required rotations, i.e. worked in an A&E, a psychiatric hospital, a paediatric ward, a geriatric ward etc). Therefore a large proportion of new GP's do not take medical card patients. Therefore accusing solicitors of elitism (or whatever) by use of such comparisons is spurious.


 
Are you saying that a GP in Ireland can refuse a medical card holder treatment?


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## mf1 (29 May 2008)

barryl said:


> Are you saying that a GP in Ireland can refuse a medical card holder treatment?



Yes. If the medical card holder wants medical card treatment they go to a medical card GP. If they go to a non medical card GP, they pay like everyone else. 

mf

PS - what is the nature of the "important" case?


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## barryl (29 May 2008)

Vanilla said:


> You have to be on the legal aid panel to take on cases. For example I am not on the panel so if the judge is looking for a solicitor to represent someone in the district court they can't ask me to do it which is deliberate on my part. Many firms just do not go on the panel. However many of the solicitors ON the panel are the best and most experienced in family law or criminal law.


 
Hi vanilla,would you care to name a good family law firm (or pm me).I am also wondering why  free legal aid will not pay for a barrister for her? thanks


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## barryl (29 May 2008)

barryl said:


> Hi vanilla,would you care to name a good family law firm (or pm me).I am also wondering why free legal aid will not pay for a barrister for her? thanks


 
sorry, in the north Dublin area


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## Purple (30 May 2008)

barryl said:


> Are you saying that a GP in Ireland can refuse a medical card holder treatment?



To clarify; not all GP's can have what is referred to as a medical cars list. In other words the HSE does not pay them to treat medical card holders. Some GP's who are entitled to hold medical card lists decline to do so as, anecdotally, they call into and call out their GP much more often than private patients (Ms Purple has been called out at 3am because parents have run out of Calpol and then been verbally abused because she could/would not provide a bottle of it there and then). Since the medical card payment structure is such that much of what the GP gets is based on a flat rate it works out that they get less money for a medical card holder than a private patient.


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