Rising Legal Fees in Australia: Impact on Middle Class and Lower Class

Running Head: LAW
Law
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1LAW
Introduction
It has been stated by Ross that there is a significant gap between practice and theory in the
Australian community which is a lack of connection between economy and democracy1. Thus a
significant injustice takes place which may be faced by most of the people in the community. It
has been further stated by Singer that the cost if justice in Australia is prohibitively high. Where
all persons are required to be treated equally before the law there would be no equality provided
to a person who is not able to afford a lawyers in case of a legal dispute2. ‘Lawyers and others
have long been concerned with the inability of significant numbers of people to afford the legal
services necessary to assert or protect their rights and interests. One response has been for
lawyers individually or collectively to provide free legal services to poor or disadvantaged
people. Other responses include advocacy for reform of the legal system or particular laws,
welfare state funding of legal services, developing alternatives to the formal legal system and/or
working for more fundamental social change.’3
Body
1 Gittins, Ross, Defeated By High Legal Costs: The Terrible Injustice Most Of Us Could Face (2018) The Sydney
Morning Herald <https://www.smh.com.au/opinion/defeated-by-high-legal-costs-the-terrible-injustice-most-of-us-
could-face-20170829-gy68pr.html>
2 Singer, Linda. Settling disputes: Conflict resolution in business, families, and the legal system.
Routledge, 2018.
3 Jill Anderson and Gordon Renouf, ‘Legal Services “for the public good” (2003) 28(1) Alternative Law
Journal 13

2LAW
The middle class cannot any longer afford to defend or file a legal claim as the price at which
justice is provided in Australia has doubled over the last decade. Legal disputes are the kind of
disputes which every person tries to restrain from but they inevitable effect all individuals as
they are inevitable in the contemporary society. All individuals in the society are aware of their
rights and liabilities and they do not want to miss out of making a claim where their rights have
been infringed. However as discussed above a legal action consists of significant cost which
most people in the society would not be able to incur. In addition the legal system is so complex
that a normal person cannot survive in it without the adequate and appropriate legal advice. The
situation of high legal cost in Australia is causing significant problems for those who are
involved in legal disputes and do not have access to economic resources. Those who belong to
the investigation conducted by Roach reveal that endless delays in court trial, rising legal fees
and the high cost included in relation to an expert witness have lifted the legal cost to an extent
that it is no longer within the reach of ordinary Australians4. It has been shown by latest figures
that legal aid has been applied for by more than 20,000 people last year in South Australia alone.
Further it has been provided that one out of four parties indulging in a civil case are found to
have represented themselves as they are no longer able to afford legal fees. In the court
observation made relation to part A it was seen that a part who had a strong claim was not able to
sustain the claim in court as it had a relatively inexperienced lawyers as compared to the
advocate on the other side. The party had to settle with an inexperience lawyer as they did not
have the resources to afford a good lawyers because if increased legal fee. It has been provided
the president of law society of SA that a case in the district court in relation to a robbery trail will
4 Roach, Kent. "The wrongful conviction of Indigenous people in Australia and Canada." Flinders
LJ 17 (2015): 203.