The Legal Aid Agency’s Independent Adjudicator overturned the decision that a defence to an accelerated possession claim should have been prepared under Legal Help. The LAA originally refused to grant a substantive certificate following an exercise of delegated functions, agreeing the emergency certificate only to enable our client to get urgent advice.
The LAA found that the case did not meet the required complexity standard because there was no hearing date, and the defence was straightforward so could have been done under Legal Help. We made submissions on review setting out our the grounds of defence, and that each had complexities and could not reasonably be considered straightforward. We pointed out the tight timeframe and that as this was work on court pleadings it should not be done under Legal Help. The initial decision was upheld on review, and we appealed to the Independent Adjudicator. The Adjudicator overturned the decision, stating:
• Where urgent work is needed, providers have been criticised in the past for carrying out work under Legal Help where a certificate should have been obtained;
• The fact that there was no hearing date did not detract from the seriousness and gravity of the situation;
• The defence was complex: there were three alternative grounds for resisting possession; the case was urgent; the client was vulnerable due to mental health, meaning homelessness would have been an extreme situation for them.
A substantive legal aid certificate has now been issued to our client.
The matter was conducted by solicitor, Sarah Waller.
