CAO - Legal aid confusing - Solicitor not giving me much info or support - help!

[Falulah]

Hi there, I am currently in the middle of my ex taking me to court for 50/50 access to our daughter who is 3. I've always been the primary carer and he currently sees her midweek and every other weekend, but not overnight. I have legal aid as ex was abusive in the relationship and also I believe has been abusive to DD.
Court have ordered status quo to remain for now, and a section 7 to be done. My solicitor just seems really busy and unable to meet with me, they had to write to the court and ask for more time extension for me to file my statement in reply to his position statement which was mostly lies or things twisted to look a certain way.
I have been feeling completely in the dark about what the next step is, how long my legal aid will go on for...I'm not even sure if it covers the next hearing as the "end date" on the cert says a date before the next hearing. All we've had is a FHDRA. I haven't heard from cafcass yet but social services have advised me to email them with my concerns as DD is often stressed after contact & comes home saying that ex has said all sort of things about me & putting adult concerns and emotional pressure on her. Ex has been harassing me & I am monumentally stressed which is affecting me physically and making me ill, as is DD - she is showing physical signs of stress which I have reported to doctor etc. Everyone just says I have to speak to Cafcass about it.
Any opinions on the likelihood of my ex getting shared care? He doesn't even live near us although pretends he does as has seemingly rented a property nearby to make it look like he lives close to us but actually spends all his time that he's not with DD back in the city with his girlfriend & working. He seems to be going back and forth and makes it look like he lives close and can offer a stable base for DD by renting this house but actually doesn't live there full time at all. How he's affording all that financially I have no idea as he is representing himself and says he has no money.
No idea what I'm supposed to write in my statement ie addressing the inaccuracies or lies in his statement ? Or whether I should just leave it up to my solicitor as they have said they will write it, even though the deadline in the temp order that said statements need to be filed has now passed. I don't even know if my solicitor has it all in hand ? If my Legal Aid will continue for the duration of the case? No appointment available with my solicitor for 2 weeks at least.
I feel completely in limbo and being in the dark is the worst feeling...especially having not spoken to cafcass. My daughter is starting to show symptoms of anxiety and stress for the last month especially & I just don't know how best to handle it all.
Any advice of practical things I can do or how I can be reassured what will happen at next hearing...what I should put in my statement about DV.. Anything to shed some light on what may happen next or what I should do would be great.

Legal aid is subject to financial restrictions which means the solicitor has to sometimes get approval to do more work. the solicitor gets very poor hourly rates (around £50 per hour on average) which is not enough to keep an office running. There are fixed fees for all the work they do - which are set at a very low rate. If they do twice the amount of work they still get the low fixed fee - effectively reducing their hourly rate to £25. Only if they do more than 3 times the fixed fee can they "escape" the fixed fee, but they're still on the hourly rate that doesn't even pay their overheads. If they do 2.9 times the fixed fee their hourly rate is £17.

The only way they aren't yet out of business is because everyone gets paid much less than those who don't do legal aid, and they have to do a huge volume. that means taking on far too many cases, missing deadlines, not being available for clients, and rushing things.

One alternative is that there would be no legal aid solicitors.

Another alternative would be to at least triple the rate paid to solicitors (and barristers -their plight is just as bad) and then perhaps we can start to expect a better service.

Your LA certificate will not yet include representation at a final hearing. Your solicitor will have to report to them near the end of the case and satisfy them that your case is worth funding. Shouldn't be a problem if the s7 report is in your favour.

Thank you for that insight... It's such a shame that there isn't the proper funding there. The fact that DV was involved in my relationship & that my ex is using the legal system to perpetuate harassment and emotional/psychological abuse as well whih is retraumatising is one of the main reasons I need Legal Aid as I am in absolutely no position represent myself in court as I'd be a complete emotional wreck. I already have develope a stress related illness as a result of all this. Surely Legal Aid Agency should be able to see that Legal Aid is for vulnerable people and it makes someone even more anxious at the idea that there is never any certainty of ongoing support that lasts the entirety of the case. If my Legal Aid and solicitors involvement was suddenly dropped, it would give my ex so much power & I would be unable to know how to proceed myself at all, probably at a huge detriment to my case & my daughter.
It does say on the LA certificate - cost limitation £5000, the certificate has no end date and no cost limitation effective date on the first sheet of paper, says Limited to Family Help (higher) and to all steps necessary to negotiate and conclude a settlement. To include issue of proceedings & representation in those proceedings save in relation to or at a contested final hearing. But then in the table that outlines what proceedings are ongoing the Limitation/End Date is 12th Feb which is very soon. And my solicitor can't even meet with me before then. Let alone the next hearing which is near end of March. So it seems a bit contradictory and I'm very confused !

The 12th Feb end date is because you have an emergency certificate to address the need to attend the first hearing on an urgent basis. Your solicitor won't get paid for work after that until a full means assessment (and merits) is done and a substantive certificate issued.

The bit that says "save in relation to or at a contested final hearing" is what I referred to in the final para of my previous post.

Legal Aid solicitors work under a huge amount of pressure for the lowest of salaries in the sector. In fact most jobs you see advertised in this area for legal aid work is for paralegals. A quick google for jobs showed salary ranges from £17k to £25k (the latter described as "high" salary). That's an hourly rate of £7.26 - £10.60 assuming a 9 hour day. Whenever the press talk of fat cat legal aid lawyers it's so frustrating.

Gosh that's awful !! I am so thankful for this support though just confusing and anxious-making not knowing what the next step is regarding statement.
Thanks for clarification - they sent an emergency certificate and then they sent a full certificate as well ... so I do have the full certificate that has been means tested etc. So maybe the February limitation refers only to the emergency certificate ?

I suppose I just have to leave it to my solicitor regarding statement although I have drafted stuff that I can tell her and she can decide if it's relevant to be included? There hasn't been a fact finding hearing ordered yet so I don't know whether it's worth me getting together evidence for DV? I had my ex's ex gf from just before he was with me, get in touch with me on FB and said he had asked her to be a character reference for him almost a year ago now so he's been thinking of court for a while & worrying how he will look to judge imagine.. she said she refused to be a character witness for him but that she would be happy for write a statement for me confirming her concerns when they were together about his addiction, emotional and financial instability etc. But she said she'd like to remain anonymous. Is that even helpful or allowed for me to submit a statement like that? Also a mutual friend of both of ours saw bruises from DV and another of my friends took me in for a night when I was heavily pregnant and he had verbally abused me and shut me in the bedroom. She said she'd write a statement but is that even helpful or allowed as she's my friend ? Thanks in advance 🙏🏼

Hi!

10 years of advice here!

It's getting hard for legal aid. I'm currently on appeal with a hearing in a week and no solicitor!

My solicitor is amazing. She is fighting along with others to represent woman that are dv victims and the timescales it takes. There are good ones.

Yes you will have been granted a certificate, you will get your full legal aid which will carry on as long as a section 7 goes in favour of your wishes. If they recommend a different line of action they often won't fund you as judges often go on cafcass recommendations.
If you have been primary care giver then I can't see a court giving him 50/50.

You have to prove in evidence about the way he is acting. My advice is don't communicate over telephone. Use email you will never loose it and it can be forwarded quickly to your solicitor to keep on file ( plus if you don't know your solicitor it's proving what you are saying )

Make a diary of your child's comments, any interventions you or your child has had from school or counsellor or charity ( like a domestic abuse outreach service )
Diary entry all the times he's harassed you. Where/why/when.

Re the house you can only tell them what you know to be true. Ie that he mainly lives in the city and you fear your child will be taken there once / if an order is granted.

Cafcass will be in touch trust me. They will send a letter for a telephone interview. Normally a couple of weeks before your first directions. They will do soft search for any police/safeguarding and may reach out to School.

My advice is bullet point in order of events your past abuse. The problems you have had since splitting. The stress on your child physically and emotionally and finally your wishes going forward. Have a plan that's in your child best interest. If your child is scared and being compromised then asked for supervised to start. Don't dad bash. Dad bash to your solicitor. They don't care if you don't like him but they care about you ( sorry ).

Be polite & honest and hope for the best!

It's really stressful I know. They will lead you through the process but have a clear plan and what you disagree with have a strong argument for it.

They may order investigations if you are saying it's emotional abuse and your child is unhappy. If so they will come out to see you and do a report.

You will read some nasty things and often dwell. I read it once. Bullet point where I disagree and why. Put it away and don't read it again until the night before the hearing. It twists you inside and it's not healthy. You can't control the outcome just put your best argument forward. Re reading documents just clutters your mind.
Same goes for contact with ex. Write down what you think is wrong from the email if he contacts you. Where he is wrong and why. Don't look again. We need to be strong fighting manipulative men and they want you weak. Look after your head ! When I'm stressed I get confused and cluttered in my words and it comes out wrong. I've learned a lot over the past years to keep sane. Please reach out and talk/slag/shout to a trained professional DV worker. Then be calm in court.

Hugs

Your situation sounds so similar to mine. Unfortunatly I wasn't able to get Legal Aid for my case so I now have to represent myself :(. I would read if you can Jonathan Herring Family Law, it has some good arguments as to why shared care order doesn't work in cases of DV. But terrified of the next hearing as don't know what is going on exactly. Be overprepared and pro active. Gather all evidence that you can but only use it if it will help your case. You already have a strong argument as to why a shared order would not be appropriate. So build on that, going through the same rubbish. It is horrible.