Law: Call for cash to help fund civil cases

The Consumers Association today calls for a legal fund to be set up for people who are deterred from litigation because of the expense.

The Contingency Legal Aid Fund would pay for someone's costs if they lost a legal action, providing they agreed in advance that if they won, a slice of their damages would be paid to subsidise others. Such a fund would help meet the feared gap under proposals by the Lord Chancellor to remove legal aid for all civil cases involving damages or compensation. In particular the fund could help low-income applicants bring important test cases. The association's lawyer, Alison Lindley, said if the Lord Chancellor's department failed to consider the issue it would be a "missed opportunity".

Contingency Legal Aid Fund, Consumers Association, PO Box 44, Hertford X, SG14 1SH