All Letters articles – Page 14
-
OpinionLand consent conundrum
Registry response to question of neighbouring owner’s consent to restricted land is unhelpful.
-
OpinionFighting for trans rights
The transphobic agenda of many in the media is impeding our attempts to raise awareness and gain basic rights for the trans community.
-
OpinionCocktail of muddle and delay
Having practised in residential conveyancing for most of my working life, I was recently reminded of just how bad things have become.
-
OpinionNo complaints
With regard to the SRA register of disciplinary sanctions, perhaps the regulator would also open a register of all our (very justified) criticisms of its operation.
-
OpinionIt’s a dog’s life
There seems to be an increasing trend to take your pooch to the office. Indeed, one firm boasts as many as three office dogs on its website.
-
OpinionPower in the Union
International organisations are important conduits for the exchange of knowledge – your letters to the editor of the Gazette
-
OpinionRighting wrongs
Your 12 November article on bullying in the courtroom is a timely reminder of certain practices that have absolutely no place in our judicial system. But may I raise just one note of caution.
-
OpinionBlame game
I suppose it rarely crosses the minds of property or commercial lawyers that they may create enmities sufficient to provoke violence. For criminal lawyers, there is the reassurance that they are on the side of those who might harbour and carry out violent acts. For the family lawyer it can ...
-
-
OpinionA private function
To deny the seriously injured the right to choose private treatment would grossly undermine the most important aim of compensation
-
OpinionFlexible hours can’t always work
Proposals to increase the diversity of the profession are sometimes incompatible with the day-to-day realities of legal practice
-
OpinionClosing time
Eduardo Reyes makes a number of valid points in ‘How to close a law firm’. In my experience, it is never too soon for smaller firms to address this issue because by doing so their exit options are massively increased. I recommend that all firms give themselves at least five ...
-
-
OpinionWho speaks for me?
Diversity is obviously commendable, but what about the working-class white male?
-
OpinionArrest report
The Home Office recently reported that the total number of arrests has fallen from 1.5 million in 2008 to 779,660 in 2017 (a total drop of 48%). In fairness to the police, it should be acknowledged that making an arrest is not a prerequisite for an offence to be properly ...
-
OpinionPurple lifeboat holed
The ‘real’ daily rate for a deputy district judge has effectively made the role an expensive hobby. If this continues standards will only fall
-
OpinionMediation misunderstood
I read with interest John Hyde’s ‘The mediation dilemma’. I retired from private practice in April to focus on my mediation practice. I have seen mediation from two perspectives – that of the solicitor advising his client and then as mediator. I am not sure that some lawyers see the ...
-
OpinionIt all adds up
With regard to VAT on online property searches, surely any solicitor acquiring such a search will spend time on assessing the search, charge for that time and add VAT on that charge. Perhaps I am over simplifying, but does that not answer all the tribunal judge’s (and HMRC’s) arguments? ...
-
OpinionThe force is against you
I read with sympathy the letter headed ‘Why is my son paid a pittance?’. The answer, however, is very simple: market forces. I am told that when I qualified in 1969 there were about 26,500 practising solicitors in England and Wales. There are now over 140,000 (news, 23 October). Michael ...
-
OpinionChain reaction
‘Blockchain deal bodes ill for conveyancers’, the Gazette reported on 16 October. At their own risk, parties can always bypass solicitors and, for example, prepare their own transfer deed, so it is surprising the Gazette devotes space to this. Neil Singer seems not to understand the purpose of land ...