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| For legal aid lawyers, it's all about the clients | For legal aid lawyers, it's all about the clients |
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| Tuesday's decision by an inquest jury that Jimmy Mubenga was unlawfully killed after being restrained by G4S guards is the latest victory for a little known but influential civil liberties law firm, Bhatt Murphy. | Tuesday's decision by an inquest jury that Jimmy Mubenga was unlawfully killed after being restrained by G4S guards is the latest victory for a little known but influential civil liberties law firm, Bhatt Murphy. |
| The verdict comes just days after the founder of the firm, Raju Bhatt, was honoured for outstanding achievement at the Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year awards. Despite the significance of his work, Bhatt is not well known, even within his own profession. Indeed, when his name was announced as the winner of the top award, some in the ceremony audience grumbled they'd never heard of him. But despite his lower profile, Bhatt's impact on state bodies in recent years has been profound. | The verdict comes just days after the founder of the firm, Raju Bhatt, was honoured for outstanding achievement at the Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year awards. Despite the significance of his work, Bhatt is not well known, even within his own profession. Indeed, when his name was announced as the winner of the top award, some in the ceremony audience grumbled they'd never heard of him. But despite his lower profile, Bhatt's impact on state bodies in recent years has been profound. |
| The firm he founded in the late 1990s has been behind a string of cases exposing police racism and brutality. Bhatt himself has been instrumental in winning verdicts of unlawful killing at the inquests of a shockingly long list of young black men who died after being restrained by police: Roger Sylvester, Ibrahima Sey, Shiji Lapite, Alton Manning. | The firm he founded in the late 1990s has been behind a string of cases exposing police racism and brutality. Bhatt himself has been instrumental in winning verdicts of unlawful killing at the inquests of a shockingly long list of young black men who died after being restrained by police: Roger Sylvester, Ibrahima Sey, Shiji Lapite, Alton Manning. |
| Police and state accountability has been a theme of Bhatt's career: one of his earliest cases was acting for striking miners after the so-called 1984 Battle of Orgreave; he was a member of the recent Hillsborough Independent Panel. Bhatt Murphy has also been responsible for bringing cases against the Ministry of Defence and security services. | Police and state accountability has been a theme of Bhatt's career: one of his earliest cases was acting for striking miners after the so-called 1984 Battle of Orgreave; he was a member of the recent Hillsborough Independent Panel. Bhatt Murphy has also been responsible for bringing cases against the Ministry of Defence and security services. |
| In May, Bhatt won a breakthrough in the case of Daniel Morgan, the private detective found murdered in a south London pub car park in 1987. After a protracted and at times apparently fruitless battle, the home secretary announced a judge-led inquiry into the role of police corruption in shielding the killers. The family believes Morgan was killed as he was about to reveal corruption among senior ranks of the Metropolitan police. One former officer involved in the failed murder investigation says the inquiry will do for police corruption what the 1998 Stephen Lawrence inquiry did to shine a light on police institutional racism. | In May, Bhatt won a breakthrough in the case of Daniel Morgan, the private detective found murdered in a south London pub car park in 1987. After a protracted and at times apparently fruitless battle, the home secretary announced a judge-led inquiry into the role of police corruption in shielding the killers. The family believes Morgan was killed as he was about to reveal corruption among senior ranks of the Metropolitan police. One former officer involved in the failed murder investigation says the inquiry will do for police corruption what the 1998 Stephen Lawrence inquiry did to shine a light on police institutional racism. |
| Bhatt received his award the day after justice secretary announced a major concession in his legal aid reforms, backtracking on moves to deny criminal defendants the right to choose their own solicitor. Plans to slash £220m from the legal aid budget remain, however. | Bhatt received his award the day after justice secretary announced a major concession in his legal aid reforms, backtracking on moves to deny criminal defendants the right to choose their own solicitor. Plans to slash £220m from the legal aid budget remain, however. |
| Bhatt said the cuts mean firms like his face unprecedented challenges. He paid tribute to his clients, many of whom have been bereaved in shocking and initially unexplained circumstances. "Their strength in the face of adversity is a source of our own strength in our struggle to continue with the work," he said. | Bhatt said the cuts mean firms like his face unprecedented challenges. He paid tribute to his clients, many of whom have been bereaved in shocking and initially unexplained circumstances. "Their strength in the face of adversity is a source of our own strength in our struggle to continue with the work," he said. |
| Another of this year's award winners agreed about the important role of clients. Margaret Gordon, honoured for her criminal defence work, said the best cases are those where clients take an active part. Her nomination was supported by Alfie Meadows, the student who suffered a life-threatening brain injury during an anti-fees protest in 2010, who was subsequently prosecuted for violent disorder. After two failed trials – one hung jury; one abandoned because of illness – Meadows was finally acquitted in March this year. Meadows described the case as the most stressful time of my life". His mother Susan Matthews was in the audience to see Gordon pick up the award. | Another of this year's award winners agreed about the important role of clients. Margaret Gordon, honoured for her criminal defence work, said the best cases are those where clients take an active part. Her nomination was supported by Alfie Meadows, the student who suffered a life-threatening brain injury during an anti-fees protest in 2010, who was subsequently prosecuted for violent disorder. After two failed trials – one hung jury; one abandoned because of illness – Meadows was finally acquitted in March this year. Meadows described the case as the most stressful time of my life". His mother Susan Matthews was in the audience to see Gordon pick up the award. |
| The sentiment that clients have a vital role to play in keeping an apparently hopeless case alive is one which another guest at the ceremony, Imran Khan, would surely share, Khan won the outstanding achievement award in 2012 in recognition of his groundbreaking work on the Lawrence case. Since Stephen's death, he and the murdered teenager's mother, Doreen, have become an unlikely double act, supporting each other through the case's numerous machinations, culminating in recent revelations that undercover police spied on the family. | The sentiment that clients have a vital role to play in keeping an apparently hopeless case alive is one which another guest at the ceremony, Imran Khan, would surely share, Khan won the outstanding achievement award in 2012 in recognition of his groundbreaking work on the Lawrence case. Since Stephen's death, he and the murdered teenager's mother, Doreen, have become an unlikely double act, supporting each other through the case's numerous machinations, culminating in recent revelations that undercover police spied on the family. |
| For all that, Khan makes no bones about the fact that, if a grieving family in the same situation as the Lawrences were in 1993, called on him now, he would turn them away. Successive cuts in funding mean small firms like his are pared to the bone, and no longer have the resources to take on highly speculative cases. | For all that, Khan makes no bones about the fact that, if a grieving family in the same situation as the Lawrences were in 1993, called on him now, he would turn them away. Successive cuts in funding mean small firms like his are pared to the bone, and no longer have the resources to take on highly speculative cases. |
| Both the home secretary and prime minister gave readings at the recent memorial service to mark the 20th anniversary of Stephen's death. As they ponder whether to accede to demands for an unprecedented second public inquiry, perhaps they will reflect that, if the planned legal aid cuts were in place at the time, no one other than his family and friends would now even remember Stephen Lawrence. | Both the home secretary and prime minister gave readings at the recent memorial service to mark the 20th anniversary of Stephen's death. As they ponder whether to accede to demands for an unprecedented second public inquiry, perhaps they will reflect that, if the planned legal aid cuts were in place at the time, no one other than his family and friends would now even remember Stephen Lawrence. |
| Fiona Bawdon is a freelance journalist and co-founder of the Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year awards | Fiona Bawdon is a freelance journalist and co-founder of the Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year awards |
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