syne Posted May 16, 2013 Share Posted May 16, 2013 I stay on right side of law and have never need a solicitor, why would i sign (I'll forgo the fact your trolling for a bit and actually reply as if you believe what you've typed) Do you honestly think an innocent person has never ended up in court? If you ended up in court, who do you think should defend you? If you were given legal aid -due to earning < £200 p/w or what ever the requirement is- would you like the government to dictate which company defends you, you will be allocated a solicitor out of a set of pre-defined solicitors who will be paid by the case ie piece work. If solicitors are as greedy as you make out how do you think they will deal with piece work? by ensuring they do a good job or simply going as fast as possible to get to the next job. can you imaging plc's like G4s being in charge of your defense, and then your imprisonment and then your rehabilitation, then handed over to A4E for intergration to the workplace.All of which is over saw by the likes of capita... 'ugh shudders' ---------- Post added 17-05-2013 at 00:54 ---------- I or any of my friend has ever been arrested, why would police pick on you if you are innocent? your funny. with about an hour of my time and two phone-calls you'd be arrested. (It would be wrong of me to do it, but it could be done, and you'd hope the false evidence and the false testimony wouldn't stand up in court but if your relying on a solicitor with a quota to meet I'd be kind of concerned about mis-carriges of justices) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moosey Posted May 17, 2013 Share Posted May 17, 2013 Indeed. - Here's a fairly typical scenario. You are the Duty Solicitor. You are called out to attend a police station 30 miles away at 0030 on Saturday morning. You go to the police station, meet your client, advise him and take his instructions. The courts don't make life too easy for people who are arrested in the small hours (often after an 'enjoyable' evening) and your new client is scheduled to appear before the Magistrates at 0900 on Saturday morning. - If he's tired and hung-over, that's his problem. You left home at 0035. You leave the police station and you go home. You get home at 0300 and you go straight to bed. Your client will be in front of the magistrates at 0900. So will you. You get up at 6 am, sort yourself out, leave the house at 7am (I hope you got all the info you needed from your client last night) get in your car, drive 45 minutes to the Magistrates' Court and arrive in time to talk to your client before his appearance. You got 3 hours sleep last night. - You might be feeling a bit tired, but it's a part of the job. You want to be paid like a plumber? How much would a plumber (who lived 30 miles away) charge if you called him out at 0030 on a Saturday morning and wanted him back at 0900 that morning? Probably rather more than the Duty Solicitor is able to charge. That sort of scenario is hardly uncommon (or was a few years ago - Moosey, would you care to comment?) I remember those days all too well. I don't do criminal now but those were hard time. I worked 9am to 5.30pm then would be on call and potentially out all night and would do 9am to 5.30pm the next day too. Joyous. Admittedly it was only once a week, but it's still fairly exhausting. I remember countless times being woken at 2am by custody sergeants, being dragged to Bridge Street, to meet a client who it transpired was high, being told by the client to "go away", in alternative terms, and then heading off home, not having been paid for that disturbance of my night. I also remember many days spent working a full shift during the day, being out literally all night, having time to grab a McDonalds breakfast before work started, having not been home, then doing another full day. Admittedly I started 17 years ago but my salary then fresh from uni was a princely £11,500. I was lucky; I worked for a large criminal firm, who paid out of hours money, but now, that doesn't happen. It's simply expected, particularly of trainees, who often start on the law society minimum of £16,500 approx. I don't miss those days at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chipspice Posted May 17, 2013 Share Posted May 17, 2013 That's not the main concern...see the bigger picture. Please sign! I signed. I believe everyone is entitled to the solicitor of their choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tess Posted May 17, 2013 Author Share Posted May 17, 2013 I signed. I believe everyone is entitled to the solicitor of their choice. Thank you. Steelcryo makes some brilliant points and puts it forward in a far more eloquent way than I ever could. The Solicitors in question here aren't the typical "fat cats" that the Government would have you believe. They're the hard working, up at all hours, dealing with abuse from angry clients solicitors who's wages run an average car, pay a mortgage on an average house, and pays for a week abroad once a year. Not exactly extravogant is it. These changes will decimate a system that, for all its faults, works a lot better than the one proposed. Its glaringly obvious. It must not happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottf Posted May 17, 2013 Share Posted May 17, 2013 Thank you. Steelcryo makes some brilliant points and puts it forward in a far more eloquent way than I ever could. The Solicitors in question here aren't the typical "fat cats" that the Government would have you believe. They're the hard working, up at all hours, dealing with abuse from angry clients solicitors who's wages run an average car, pay a mortgage on an average house, and pays for a week abroad once a year. Not exactly extravogant is it. These changes will decimate a system that, for all its faults, works a lot better than the one proposed. Its glaringly obvious. It must not happen. Completely agree with all that you, Steelcryo and Moosey are saying. The reality of what a solicitor earns is a far cry from what people think, but hey- the public perception is that they appear to be earning lots of money so they are fair game aren't they. Signed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tess Posted May 18, 2013 Author Share Posted May 18, 2013 Cheeky bump...this really is incredibly important Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vague_Boy Posted May 18, 2013 Share Posted May 18, 2013 The above article outlines government proposals to alter the funding of the criminal justice system, and how these changes will affect the administration of justice. That aspect is certainly more important than any debate about how much solicitors earn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melthebell Posted May 18, 2013 Share Posted May 18, 2013 The attitudes on this thread are rather disgusting if I'm honest. A lot of people are about to lose their jobs because the government wants to save money on a system that needs more money put into it to be fixed. People think crime has gone down 30% in the last few years. It hasn't, just more and more people are being given cautions and fixed penalty notices for more and more serious offences purely to save money on court costs and police wages. That's not how the justice system should work. Regardless of what you think about solicitors or the people being arrested the fact people are losing their jobs should be enough to make you think about signing. The fact that people are going to be unable to choose who represents them is just rediculous. We can't give someone a fair trial if you are going to then dictate who they have to defend them. That's not a fair trial, everyone should be free to choose who they want defending them. I myself have been arrested twice, both times for things I had not done, and have been lucky enough to have someone who I knew was good at their job defending me. What might have happened if I had been given someone who didn't care as they were getting paid through their contract regardless of outcome? I could have ended up being charged and have a criminal record for something I shouldn't have. That's the situation we are looking at, how can we trust in a fair system when people can't even have the simple right of choosing who defends them? Also dismissing this whole thing because you believe solicitors already earn too much is an insanely narrow minded view of the world. They don't earn as much as you think and believe it or not, most of them are good people who want to help the right people. Generalising them all as money hungry is offensive to be honest. As is calling people leeches on government funds. I was falsely arrested and had committed no crimes, does that make me a leech? Or does that make me someone that deserved and required help? Please don't make such callous or inconsiderate comments like that in a situation like this. good sensible post Solicitors should be treated the same as plumbers, electricians or other tradespeople. you mean we can choose who we want? cool get it signed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tess Posted May 21, 2013 Author Share Posted May 21, 2013 Please keep signing guys. We're running out of time. Just because it doesn't affect you now doesn't mean it won't in the future. As always I suspect it'll be a case of "you don't know what you've got 'til its gone". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
banjodeano Posted May 21, 2013 Share Posted May 21, 2013 I or any of my friend has ever been arrested, why would police pick on you if you are innocent? There has been thousands of people who have been arrested and being innocent, and indeed sent to prison...at one time it seemed like they were being released every weekend..guildford four,etc etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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