Woman’s divorce case was turned down by 116 legal aid lawyers | Global News Avenue

A woman who was beaten by her husband was unable to find a legal aid lawyer to handle her divorce – despite requiring more than 116 law firms to accept the case.

The mother of two from the Highlands said none of the companies would or could work with her.

Her struggle highlights the challenges facing the system, with the Scottish Law Society claiming that one-third of legal aid lawyers will retire in the next decade.

The Scottish government minister in charge of legal aid described her plight as “unacceptable” and the pledged reforms are underway.

The woman, who was asked not to be named, is eligible for state aid because she has universal credibility and is easily acknowledged that her case involves complex issues, which takes time to resolve.

She said some companies turned her down because she lives in the Highlands, while others said they no longer adopted civil legal aid cases. Some people did not respond or give reasons.

The woman told BBC Scotland News: “This makes it very difficult, more difficult experiences very difficult.”

“In order to get constant rejection, I just put me in deeper despair and depression.”

The woman contacted 116 lawyers by phone and email, who were listed on the Scottish Legal Aid Commission website, while a friend contacted others on her behalf.

Applications for legal aid are made through lawyers. She was unable to find a lawyer, which meant she could not seek the help she was entitled to.

After weeks of ubiquity, the woman was able to appoint a lawyer due to a donation from a friend – but her financial situation remains unstable and her future is far from certain.

“I still haven’t walked out of the woods, maybe to the point where I don’t have any representation, and I don’t know what to do,” she said.

Lochaber Women’s Aid in Fort William said local domestic abuse survivors have difficulty accessing civil legal aid.

Donna Campbell, the agency’s deputy manager, said: “Some of them were told they had to represent themselves in the family court.

“The women I deal with are scared. They are scared for themselves, they are scared of their children.

“For them, that’s very important.”

According to the Scottish Women’s Rights Centre, survivors usually contact 30 to 50 lawyers before ensuring their representatives.

This caused “trauma and safety issues,” said Lyndsay Fleming, a senior associate partner at the center.

“Police tell survivors that you need to get a civil protection order, such as a non-harassment order against the perpetrators.

“If they don’t have protection from the criminal justice system and there is no civil protection order, they will be injured and hurt alone.”

In Orkney, the number of lawyers registered in civil aid cases is said to have dropped from nine in 2000 to 2025.

Michelle Ward of Women’s Aid said some women were forced to stay in harmful situations because they couldn’t get rid of them.

“In rural areas, this is a huge problem,” she said. “Of course 24 of the 152 women we supported last year left because they are not safe in their own communities.”

She believes that the difficulty of ensuring civil legal aid is one factor in half of it.

Dissatisfaction with legal aid has been established in the industry for many years.

The Scottish Bar Association claims that the system could face a “complete collapse” due to the low payments.

Pat Thom, convener of the Association’s Civil Legal Aid Committee, said: “The lawyers who have been in it for 20 years are withdrawing because it is financially unsustainable and younger lawyers are not attending because This is not very attractive.

“It’s not that they want to drive in Jaguars; they need to do enough offices and pay employees.”

Victim and Community Safety Minister Siobhian Brown MSP said she was “sad” to hear the woman’s efforts to find a lawyer.

“That’s why we need to make sure people can get justice,” she said.

“I know there are gaps everywhere in Scotland.”

Ms Brown said Scottish legal aid was “one of the most generous institutions in the world” and the cost this year reached a record £171 million – although her acceptance was partly due to the increase in the number of cases passed through the court.

“The fees have reached 25% since 2019, which does not seem to alleviate the issue that lawyers don’t want to receive legal aid,” she said.

“It’s not just about throwing money, because we’ve been doing it for the last few years.”

She said the Scottish government is preparing to propose reforms that could be carried out before the next Hollyn election in 2026, and in the long-term legislation, a modern system will be required.

The Scottish Legal Aid Commission said hundreds of lawyers are engaged in criminal and civil legal aid work nationwide, but there may be “pockets” that they are hard to obtain.

CEO Colin Lancaster said there are specific issues that need solutions and that there are “real benefits” when simplifying and simplifying complex systems.

“I don’t think the evidence shows an overall crisis,” he said.

“The system is not as flexible as we would have hoped. The traditional approach to legal aid was very rooted in the 1950s.

“There is certainly the potential for change to improve the way systems can respond to changes in demand.”