WHN secures £1m legal aid contract

Lancashire law firm WHN Solicitors has won a new legal aid contract that could bring in more than £1m.

The contract will run for an initial three years with an option for it to be extended for two more.

It will see six of WHN’s seven north west offices offer family law services to clients who qualify for legal aid.

The firm’s previous legal aid contract, which covered the firm’s Rawtenstall, Bury and Blackburn offices, has been extended to include its Bacup, Accrington and Haslingden practices.

WHN’s new contract covers the firm’s family law services in children matters; care proceedings; divorce; financial matters; domestic violence injunctions; and international child abduction.

The firm believes that no other law firms are currently undertaking legal aid family work in Bacup or Rawtenstall.

Katharine Marshall, associate solicitor and head of WHN’s family law team in Bury, is one of only a handful in the North-West to be included in the International Child Abduction and Contact Unit (ICACU) expert panel list. Katharine also holds the Resolution accreditation in International Child Abduction.

Katharine, who is also a member of the Law Society’s children panel, said: “The award of this legal aid contract is a landmark achievement for our firm, and we expect the next three years – and potentially the next five years – to be extremely busy.

“The contract is not capped, so its value depends on the volume of qualifying legal aid work that we undertake, but we estimate it could be worth more than £1m, and possibly significantly more.”