As you were!

In a previous blog I explained how at present there were 10 firms providing duty solicitor services in Police Stations and Magistrates' Court in Sheffield, 9 firms providing such services in Doncaster, 7 in Rotherham and 6 in Barnsley.

 

I explained that in 2014 it had been announced that from 2016 duty Solicitor services in the four South Yorkshire towns would be provided by only 7 providers. For about 18 months, we and consortium partners had worked hard to perfect our tender, and eventually we had been chosen as one of the “magnificent seven”.

 

Well, in their infinite wisdom, the Government decided to abandon their plans and to allow duty Solicitor services to continue being provided by 10 firms in Sheffield, 9 in Doncaster and so forth.

 

We have mixed feelings about that decision.

 

We are disappointed that the time and effort we invested in perfecting our tender was wasted and that our satisfaction at our apparent success was to be short lived.

 

On the other hand, there is some relief that we do not have to take what would have been necessary steps of recruiting additional staff and maintaining additional offices.

 

And we cannot ignore the consequences that might have followed for our colleagues and friends in other firms who had not been successful, and who would have been deprived of the opportunities to provide duty Solicitor services.

 

But perhaps it is an opportune time to reflect on the options available to a person who is to be interviewed at a Police Station or elsewhere, or who is being prosecuted in a Magistrates' Court.

 

As I said in that previous blog, we have always been and remain staunch supporters of the duty Solicitor scheme but we still prefer clients to instruct us direct, asking for us by name.

 

Representation at a Police Station (or elsewhere if an interview is to be conducted by a Police Officer) is free regardless of financial circumstances, and Legal Aid is still available for representation at Court for those who are eligible.

 

And we can arrange representation anywhere in England and Wales for clients who instruct us direct.

So our advice is, if you require representation, ask for us by name rather than asking to be represented by the duty Solicitor.