Tooks Chambers to dissolve in December, blames legal aid reforms

Tooks Chambers has announced that it is dissolve in December, claiming that the decision was a “direct result of government policies on legal aid”.

In a statement on its website, the set said: “The public service we provide is dependent on public funding. 90% of our work is publicly funded. The government policies led by Justice Secretary Chris Grayling are cumulatively devastating the provision of legal services and threatening the rule of law.”

Tooks said it would continue to accept briefs until it winds up its operations on 11 October 2013.

“Individual barristers will continue to practise and to represent their clients,” the statement said. “They will be making arrangements for the continuation of their practices so that the interests of their clients will not be affected.”

High-profile silk Michael Mansfield QC and other members of chambers are said to be “actively pursuing the possibility of reconfiguring resources in order to create a new and alternative working model based on an electronic hub and a compact physical space”.

The statement added: “This is particularly intended to support publicly funded practitioners who are committed to continuing the struggle for social justice both inside and outside the courts.”

Formal dissolution is expected to take place 27 December so that all past work is billed and fees are collected.

The statement said: “It is with great regret that Tooks Chambers has decided to begin the process of dissolution.

“Tooks Chambers has a proud record of defending the rights of the under privileged and the oppressed. From its early days of defending miners and their communities during their year long strike, consistently tackling miscarriages of justice such as the Birmingham Six and representing the family of Stephen Lawrence, to its current involvement in landmark cases such as the Hillsborough Inquests and the AHK judicial review, members of chambers have sought to hold the state to account.”

It added: “Chambers has established a consistently high standard of professional service for nigh on 30 years in the field of human and civil rights. Its caring and vibrant ethos is renowned. The vulnerable, the wrongly accused and the disadvantaged have been at the core of our defence of social justice.”