Dozens of law firms are having to turn away vulnerable clients, including victims of domestic violence, because they have exhausted this year's legal aid budgets.

Firms across England and Wales have already used up their approved quota of cases — five months before the end of the year — because of the rise in family and recession-related work, The Times has learned.

But the Legal Services Commission, which runs the £2 billion legal aid scheme, has told them that they cannot take on any new legal aid clients once they have exhausted their pre-agreed quota.

Instead, it has advised law firms that clients must be sent to other firms, which means they cannot have their solicitor of choice. In some parts of country, clients will have to travel long distances to see a lawyer.

The crisis is the latest to hit the beleaguered family justice system.

Firms specialising in family work have experienced a surge in work — partly prompted by the recession.There has also been a huge surge in child care cases as a result of the Baby P case.

Resolution, the association of 4000 family lawyers, is seeking an urgent meeting with Lord Bach, minister for legal aid.

Karen Mackay, its chief executive, said: "Victims of domestic abuse or parents who face losing contact with their children many find themselves unrepresented as family lawyers are suddenly being told that they cannot take on new legal aid clients once they have used up their quota of cases."

In the past, she said, reasonable requests for an increase in a firm's quota of cases had been granted.

"The current contracts have nearly five months to run and if firms cannot take on new cases in that time many of them will go out of business. Legal aid firms operate on very slim margins and such sudden changes to the flow of funds and work threaten the exsitence of these practices."

Already the numbers of family legal aid practices had dropped from 4500 in 2000 to under 2700 in 2008.

"Once firms are lost to legal aid, they will not return and access to justice will be lost permanently.

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