The Law Society has resolved a long-running dispute with the Legal Services Commission (LSC) over the new unified contract for legal aid after the LSC dropped a threat to usher in an entirely new contract.

The deal was announced yesterday (2 April), effectively ending the long-running dispute between the profession and the Government over the contract, which had already seen Chancery Lane successfully challenge the contract in the courts.

The agreement means that the LSC will comply with a Court of Appeal ruling handed down last November, limiting the power it has to make amendments to the contract, which lawyers advising on civil and family legal aid work must sign up to receive public money.