Local solicitors have welcomed the Lord Chancellor's decision to make it easier for them to represent their clients in court.

Avril Taylor, president of the Central and South Middlesex branch of the Law Society, said: "In most court cases, clients will have been represented by barristers. But now the rules have changed, clients will be able to ask their own solicitors to appear in court for them more often.

"The client will already know and trust the solicitor, who will already know the client's case and be every bit as competent as a barrister."

A big advantage of the change was a cost saving, she added, as barristers charge by the day or half day, while solicitors charge an hourly rate.

The biggest beneficiaries will be clients on Legal Aid who have to repay their legal costs to the Legal Aid Board.

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