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In October, four other students and I from the University of Liverpool Law School attended the Legal Aid Practitioners Group Conference 2025.
After a journey into London, I arrived at AO Shearman’s head office and headed inside to collect my name badge for the conference. We were welcomed by Nicola Mackintosh KC, who gave an excellent speech to kick off the day. It was great to listen to Gina Miller talk about her personal experience with family legal aid during the keynote. Hitesh Patel, Deputy CEO of the Legal Aid Agency, gave an update on the response to the recent legal aid system data breach.
Workshops on neurodiversity and legal practice
The first workshop I attended focused on finding a better approach to working with neurodivergent teams, delivered by Jenny Beck KC (Hon) and Rebecca Pantelli from Beck Fitzgerald. I thought it was great that Jenny asked the audience for personal insights into methods that worked for them in the office. I learnt that flexible office and working from home ratios, alternative desks and a light system that indicates if you are available to be disturbed are all ways that neurodivergent employees have improved their productivity. I felt that this was a valuable workshop to attend as an emerging young professional, as I have picked up things that I can bring into a firm when I start my career. The workshop emphasised that law firms should make the effort to develop a clear policy on neurodiversity. This really drove home how important it is to me that I work for a firm that is truly inclusive.
Artificial intelligence
It was then on to a plenary session about the hot topic in the legal world, artificial intelligence. This was a great session that shone a light on the ways that AI is currently being used in legal aid work and how we can use it to improve practice. There was some useful advice about implementing AI policies in law firms. We were reminded to keep confidentiality at the forefront of our minds when using AI and to hold people accountable for using it unethically. There were some incredibly comedic examples of where AI had gone wrong, which was a welcome break from discussing the challenges.
Current issues in family legal aid
My second workshop explored current issues in family legal aid. Representatives from Beck Fitzgerald, Philcox Gray and Watkins Solicitors discussed the importance of post-adoption contact for the welfare and emotional development of children, especially with siblings. I learnt how difficult these orders are to obtain, despite their significance. The workshop also addressed the recent emergence of covert evidence being used in the family courts. The panel urged the audience to identify covert evidence as early as possible and apply for it to be permitted in court. They commented that judges are incredibly reluctant to watch or listen to this type of evidence. I came away from this workshop feeling much more informed about the family law sector.
Careers in legal aid
My final workshop was about careers in legal aid. The student attendees found this incredibly useful, myself included. This workshop could be perfectly described as “what the employers really do not tell you”. Thank you especially to Georgia-Mae Chung and Ollie Persey for their insight into the true nature of working as a legal aid barrister. They mentioned the long delays in getting paid for legal aid work and explained how not receiving payment until years later can make life very difficult for barristers who are just starting out. It was an excellent opportunity to ask questions about what working in legal aid is really like.
Future developments
At the final plenary, it was remarkable to hear that the Law Society has begun a new investigation into the high levels of violence against women and girls within family legal aid cases. Richard Miller from the Law Society informed us that they have published a practice note which reflects their opinion on the recent Mazur decision, stating that Mazur restated the law and highlighting how firms have since strayed from it. Chris Minnoch, CEO of Legal Aid Practitioners Group (LAPG), spoke about the need for a comprehensive publicly available legal aid strategy. He said that the Ministry of Justice has not been clear about what they plan to do with the legal aid scheme. He commented on how the KPIs provided by the Legal Aid Agency are important because they are improving the speed at which payments are made to lawyers. This contrasted with the Ministry of Justice’s current approach, as they have no targets set for the number of people they want to be able to access legal aid in the coming years. I learnt that the LAPG wants to investigate ways to bring more people back to legal aid work, making the system more robust rather than simply increasing fees. I look forward to reading their findings. It was very interesting to witness professionals from the Legal Aid Agency, the Law Society and the Ministry of Justice interact throughout the day.
Overall, it was an incredibly insightful day, and I learnt so much about the importance of legal aid. I am grateful that I had the opportunity to attend the conference and to meet some of the leading professionals in the legal aid sphere. I would recommend it to any students who want to know more about legal aid.