LATEST ISSUES 12th July, 2026
- Mark Stock
- Jul 12
- 3 min read
Updated: Jul 13
LEGAL REPRESENTATION UPDATE
By the end of the 11th July, 2026 I had contacted 185 solicitors asking for legal representation over a multitude of legal issues related to my experiences with the SUSSEX PARTNERSHIP NHS FOUNDATION TRUST, HAMPSHIRE & IOW CONSTABULARY and HAMPSHIRE & IOW HEALTHCARE NHS FOUNDATION TRUST.
That enquiry was made using the blanket letter first published here at https://www.fourandtwentydeadcrows.com/post/latest-issues-11th-june-2026.
To date I have received just 34 responses! 151 law firms didn’t, or have yet to show common courtesy by kindly acknowledging receipt of my enquiries.
The responses that I did receive, either through telephone conversation or by letter, politely declined my request for legal assistance.
1) 8 declined my request for legal assistance for unspecified reasons.
2) 12 declined my request for legal assistance because it did not align with their areas of expertise.
3) 14 declined my request for legal assistance due to lack of capacity.
So, 41% of all responses cite ‘lack of capacity’ as reason for declining my request for legal assistance.
The request has only been applied to those law firms who offer Legal Aid provision. I already know that Legal Aid funding has been significantly reduced since 2013.
Here is my problem.
Legal aid
‘Years of underinvestment have brought the justice system to its knees. Victims, defendants and witnesses are suffering the consequences while hardworking solicitors are forced out of the sector. We're fighting for properly funded legal aid and investment in a justice system that is available for all.’ - https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/topics/legal-aid/
‘In April 2013, the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) cut large areas from legal aid, meaning fewer people can access legal advice.
“Legal aid can be the difference between a family staying in a safe home or homelessness, protection from domestic abuse or staying in an abusive relationship. People must be able to access this vital service,“ said Law Society immediate past president Lubna Shuja.’ - https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/topics/legal-aid/laspo-act
The same Law Society article reminds us that government launched its long-awaited review on civil legal aid in 2024.
That review began with a Comparative Analysis of Legal Aid Systems Report, commissioned in May 2023 by the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) as a part of the broader Review of Civil Legal Aid (RoCLA) . There followed a series of further reports culminating in a ‘Review of Civil Legal Aid: Call for Evidence Analysis Summaries’.
After reading that analysis document I noted two things in particular.
The first was embedded in the question ‘Q12 How do you think that people receiving civil legal aid can be supported in cases where they have multiple or ‘clustered’ legal issues and some of these are outside of the scope of civil legal aid?’ The answers to that question were particularly pertinent to my own case. My legal enquires cover a multitude of litigation issues. I believe that the complications inherent in my own multiple, or ‘clustered’ legal issues disincentivised those law firms already under funding and capacity pressures.
“Intersectionality of issues is not realistically reflected in the current regime - People often experience clusters of problems relating to several areas of law which cannot be addressed within the existing restrictive legal aid framework.”
The second thing I noted was the citing, across the document, of ‘asylum and immigration’ access to Legal Aid.
‘The latest available data on the total ‘work in progress’ asylum caseload, which includes cases awaiting an appeal outcome and unsuccessful applicants subject to removal from the UK, is for June 2024, when this stood at 224,700 cases. Of these, 39% of cases were awaiting an initial decision and 61% had received an initial refusal and were awaiting some kind of further action.’ - https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn01403/
That amounts to more than 137,000 asylum seekers with potential access to Legal Aid!
Many of the solicitors that I contacted stated ‘asylum’ and ‘immigration’ as areas of legal services offered.
I used the Law Society database to identify solicitors that accept legal aid and contacted all those that were located in Hampshire. There are almost certainly a couple of hundred more solicitors throughout the rest of the country that are also on the Law Society database.
The process of identifying solicitors, writing to them and, in some cases, actually speaking to their assessors, is time-consuming. If less than 19% of all those contacted actually even reply to my enquiries then maybe my efforts are better employed elsewhere.
I am now preoccupied in thoughts about making a documentary about my experiences with CAMHS, Bramblys Drive, Basingstoke, The Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Hampshire & IOW Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, Hampshire Police, the Parliamentary Health Service Ombudsman and the various associated regulatory bodies.
PS I will endeavour to post the next installment of my 'Theory of Everything' by the close of Friday 17th July, 2026.
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