How the statutory charge claws back the cost of civil legal aid from a client's winnings, and the routes for challenging an adverse Legal Aid Agency decision.
A legally aided client who recovers money or property may find much of the gain absorbed by the state, so the rules governing that recovery shape every advice on settlement. This chapter begins with the statutory charge itself — why legal aid operates as a loan rather than a grant, the conditions for the charge to arise and the property it can attach to. It then works through how the charge is quantified, the credit given for costs recovered from the opponent and the exemption for periodical maintenance payments, before examining when enforcement against the client's home may be postponed and how the charge ranks against an existing mortgage. The final sections set out the solicitor's duties to advise on the charge, account for recovered money and weigh the net benefit of any offer, and the routes for challenging an adverse Legal Aid Agency decision, from review within the scheme to judicial review.
