Lawyers were advising me what to tell my client, and that advice benefited them more than it would benefit my client.
Although Alcibiades's advice benefited the Persians, it was merely a means to an end; Thucydides tells us that his real motive was to use his alleged influence with the Persians to effect his restoration to Athens.
Of the £350m to be cut, £280m comes from civil matters, and so it's goodbye to social welfare law – advice on welfare benefits, employment, debt, immigration, plus most housing (except where there is homelessness).
In another powerful response, the Child Poverty Action Group CPAGG) makes clear that scrapping legal aid for social welfare law – in particular, advice on welfare benefits – and expecting voluntary sector groups (such as CPAG) to step in is a non-starter.
The idea is to remove social welfare law from the legal aid scheme: that comprises advice on welfare benefits, employment, debt, immigration, plus most housing except where there is homelessness.
They asked what that meant and then offered me advice on benefits, but not funding.
Advice on benefits and employment problems will go completely by next year or, at the latest, 2013.
Ohio has adopted a similar law, stating that navigators can distribute some information but cannot recommend a plan or offer advice about benefits in a particular plan.
The number of people seeking urgent advice about benefits problems is soaring as vulnerable Britons are being "driven to despair" by Iain Duncan Smith's welfare reforms.
Three extra staff give practical help that ranges from advice on benefits and grants to transport to and from hospital appointments.
