Legal aid applicants wait 2 years just to meet lawyers

Applicants for civil legal aid are waiting almost two years to secure the services of a solicitor as the Legal Aid Board struggles to deal with a 70% increase in demand in seven years.

Its annual report for 2013 shows there were 17,559 applications for civil legal services to the board last year, roughly similar to 2012’s total.

The report confirms a significant backlog in bringing cases to fruition — 4,033 cases dealt with in 2013 first saw an application for legal aid before 2011.