The reduction in funding for legal aid work has created a situation where an increasing number of firms and solicitors find that they are undertaking work that is unremunerated or is carried out at a loss. This situation creates tension between a firm's requirement to run a financially sustainable business, and its requirement to provide a proper standard of service to clients.

Adding further grist to this mill is the ongoing Flexible Courts Hours Pilot Scheme. The extended hours that result from the scheme can translate to a requirement for a larger commitment of time and resources by solicitors, which may render some work unremunative.

In response to this, the Law Society has published a Practice Note on rejecting unremunative publicly funded criminal work. The note will be of interest to all solicitors undertaking publicly funded criminal legal aid work, and the COFAs and COLPs of firms who provide those services.