Legal aid cuts: why lawyers are walking out

More criminals will walk free from court if legal aid fees are cut, claim protesting barristers

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(Image credit: 2014 AFP)

LAWYERS across England and Wales are staging a second mass walkout today in protest at government plans to cut legal aid fees. Criminal court cases, including the trial of Max Clifford and Nicky Jacobs, the man accused of killing PC Keith Blakelock, are expected to be disrupted as up to 3,000 barristers refuse to attend proceedings. Hundreds of lawyers will also march on Westminster in protest. It follows a similar walkout by barristers in January, the first of its kind in 400 years.

So why are they protesting?

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