Legal aid cyberattack has pushed sector towards collapse, say lawyers

Lawyers have warned that a cyberattack on the Legal Aid Agency has pushed the sector into chaos, with barristers going unpaid, cases being turned away and fears a growing number of firms could desert legal aid work altogether.

In May, the legal aid agency announced that the personal data of hundreds of thousands of legal aid applicants in England and Wales dating back to 2010 had been accessed and downloaded in a significant cyberattack.

Three months on, much of the legal aid system remains offline as services are being rebuilt, with lawyers unable to access records or bill for their services, particularly in civil cases.

Read more at The Guardian