Contact Lindsay M Watt, Solicitor, No 1 Holding, West Kinnochtry, Coupar Angus.
Tel (01828) 670317 or email lmwatt@dsl.pipex.com
What it will cost
Legal Aid
Legal Aid in Scotland is administered by the Scottish Legal Aid Board. Click the logo above to go to their website. They have a helpline, too, 0845 122 8686 which operates during office hours.
There are three legal aid schemes operating in Scotland. Because I only work part time, and don't do court work, I am only involved with the "Advice and Assistance" Scheme, sometimes known as the "pink form" scheme,after the colour of the application forms. It provides advice, correspondence and help short of court action. I find it covers all the areas I am involved in.
If you qualify on income and capital grounds, then all that is required is you sign a form, and the solicitor countersigns it, and legal aid for initial work at least is granted. To find out whether you qualify on income and capital grounds, see the "keycard" on the Legal Aid Board's site here. Roughly if you have "disposable" capital of £1561 or less, and disposable income of £223 a week, or less, you qualify. If you earn very little you may not have to pay towards your legal aid, but if your earnings are nearer the higher figure, you will have to pay a contribution towards it. If you want to know whether you qualify, either phone their helpline, or phone or email me and I will work it out.
If you recover any property as a result of legal aid, your fees have got to come from that property unless it is either benefits, or will cause you unreasonable hardship.
Unfortunately the present climate makes legal aid very difficult to operate, and many solicitors have stopped using it. SLAB generally make it difficult to get legal aid, and often refuse permission to do further work, or restrict the payment made to solicitors, so that it gets very frustrating. They have kept the cost of legal aid down, but by making legal aid on civil matters more difficult to obtain, to counter the increase in the cost of criminal legal aid. A recent press article also pointed out that the extra bureacracy has resulted in their administration costs doubling in the last few years.
I do my best - but there are often problems getting legal aid for benefit matters.