Reform? Aren't things bad enough already?

Legal reform always sounds good in theory - but the results never quite seem to match the intentions. Better access to justice? Simpler rules? Cheaper outcomes? Who would argue with any of these noble goals?

Somehow it never quite turns out that way. In the 1990s we had the Woolf reforms, now we've got Jackson. Maybe things will get better. Then again, maybe not.

Meanwhile senior lawyers appear on Radio 4 and complain in grave tones about cuts to the legal aid bill. But what would the public rather have have? Schools and hospitals? Or more money to pay lawyers' bills?

Tough choices.

---Alex