Legal aid group founder quits after ‘pressures’
David Hall, the managing director of the Lifeline Ambulance Service, said: “I did not want to resign but it became very clear to me that I had to.”
Two solicitors who were providing free legal services have also left New Beginning.
The group was set up 18 months ago and has been involved in 300 cases, with 130 before the courts. It has provided free legal advice and support to families whose homes face repossession in the High Court.
Mr Hall told the Sunday Business Post that lawyers providing free legal advice for the group had come under pressure from other lawyers in the Four Courts, and he said he was personally opposed to the new Personal Insolvency Bill, while New Beginning as a group supported it.
He said he would continue to be involved in cases in which he has taken a personal interest.
“I feel that the organisation needs to be flexible,” he said. “I felt it was coming under too much pressure from external interests.”
New Beginning was founded by Mr Hall and barristers Ross Maguire and Vincent Martin in the face of a mounting number of repossessions.
Last May, a specialist insolvency service opened within New Beginning, the first time the group charged a set fee for its services. Mr Hall said he disagreed with this and with elements of the New Beginning communications strategy.
“I am personally sad. I have put so much into it. But I had to go,” he said.
“We still need someone to work for people in trouble. People in debt need every weapon they can muster to deal with the aggression and power of the banks.”
