BARRISTERS downed wigs and gowns yesterday in protest at cuts to legal aid as solicitors expressed concerns that Lord Chancellor Michael Gove was deploying “divide and rule” tactics in the legal profession.

The Ministry of Justice has slashed fees for lawyers taking on legal aid cases by 8.75 per cent.

The action follows a vote of the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), which announced on July 15 that 55 per cent of members had voted in favour of not taking on new cases. The ballot turnout was around 45 per cent.

A CBA spokesman said: “The members of the CBA voted in July to take action against the latest cut in legal aid fees by adopting no returns and not taking instructions and it was recommended that the action starts on Monday July 27.”

Some barristers have already withdrawn their labour in solidarity with solicitors who have refused to take on new legal aid cases since July 1.

Mr Gove met solicitors’ associations on Thursday in the hope of reaching a deal, but the CBA did not attend the talks, raising fears that barristers would attempt to seek a better deal at solicitors’ expense.

Barristers have been protected from cuts to fees in two of the most recent rounds of legal aid cuts.

London Criminal Courts Solicitors’ Association president Jonathan Black told the Independent: “It’s divide and rule, really. He’s prepared to consider the barristers’ concerns about quality of advocacy as a priority.”

At the weekend, some solicitors feared that the CBA, whose executive was opposed to striking, would pull out of the action using a change of tack by solicitors as an excuse.

Solicitors groups the Criminal Law Solicitors’ Association, the London Criminal Courts Solicitors’ Association and the Big Firms Group decided on Friday that their members should only strike at crown courts.

As the Star went to press last night, the CBA was meeting to discuss its response.

Much of solicitors’ work is carried out in police stations and magistrates’ courts, which were covered by their strike action for its first three weeks.