FAMILY LAW PANEL EXAMINATIONAs a result of the legal aid franchise requirements, demand for admission on to the family law panel has increased.

In light of this demand it has been agreed that the next family law panel examination should be held on 15 March 2000 at venues in London and Manchester.The examination is an essential element of the alternative route to admission to the Law Society's family law panel.

In order to be eligible to apply under the alternative route applicants must have:-- been qualified as a solicitor for three years or are a FILEX of three years' standing;-- carried out a minimum of 350 chargeable hours of family law work post-qualification in the law of England of Wales, as opposed to experience gained working abroad, in the last five years;-- a minimum of 1,000 chargeable hours general litigation experience in the law of England and Wales, as opposed to experience gained working abroad, in the previous three years.Subject to the above you will be invited to complete a certificate of eligibility, an application for membership form and sit a written examination.Please note that the closing date for submitting applications to sit the examination on March 15 2000, will be Friday, 11 February 2000.

Subject to demand it is intended to run a further examination in September 2000.If you are interested in sitting the Family Law Panel examination please contact Regulation and Information Services on telephone number 0870 606 2555, for an application pack.FAMILY LAW EXAMINER The Law Society seeks to appoint a family law examiner to assist the chief examiner and the three other examiners in setting and marking future family law and practice examinations.

The examination is an essential element of the alternative route to admission to the Law Society's family law panel.

The next examination is to be run on 15 March 2000.Examiners will receive remuneration per examination set and per script marked.If interested in becoming an examiner, please submit:-- a letter of application;-- a curriculum vitae detailing your experience as a practitioner and/or an examiner of family law;-- details of two referees who must be able to comment on your ability and proficiency as an examiner.The application for position of examiner should be addressed to Paul Harrison at Professional Accreditation, The Law Society, Ipsley Court, Redditch, Worcestershire, B98 0TD or DX 19114 Redditch.

Please note the closing date for submitting an application for this position is Tuesday, 29 February 2000.CRIMINAL LITIGATION PANEL: APPOINTMENT OF CHIEF ASSESSOR The Council of the Law Society has agreed to establish an accreditation scheme for practition ers of criminal law.

It is proposed that the criminal litigation panel will open for applications in 2000.

The Law Society is inviting applications for the part-time position of chief assessor of the criminal litigation panel.

It is interested in hearing from solicitors with significant experience in criminal law, particularly practice and procedures in the police station, the magistrates' court and the Crown Court, who can afford to devote at least one day a week to panel-related work during the development phase (expected to last approximately 12 months from the date of appointment), and approximately two days per month thereafter.

Experience of training and assessment processes would be desirable.The post, which will carry an honorarium of £15,000 in the first year and £10,000 per year thereafter plus expenses, will involve:-- providing assistance with the panel's implementation, including settling the final form of the assessment portfolio and the appointment and training of a team of panel assessors;-- developing a marking scheme to ensure that the criteria for membership of the panel are applied consistently;-- supervising panel assessors in the marking of applications to ensure consistency and that the standard is maintained;-- advising and reporting to the relevant Law Society committees;-- advising Law Society adjudicators on individual appeals against refusals of applications;-- advising the Law Society staff on individual applications and technical issues.The appointment will be for a contracted term of three years initially, subject to a period of notice on either side.Those wishing to receive additional details should write to Linda Winter of the Policy Directorate, the Law Society, 113 Chancery Lane, London WC2A 1PL; DX 56 LOND/CHANCERY LANE; or telephone 0171 320 5680; or fax 0171 320 5974; or e-mail linda.winter@lawsociety.org.uk.For an informal discussion please telephone Sue Eccleston, head of professional development on 0171 320 5752.Closing date for applications is Friday 18 February 2000.RULE CHANGES FOLLOWING THE ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT 1999 The Council of the Law Society has implemented the provisions of Schedule 7 to the Access to Justice Act 1999.

The Master of the Rolls concurred on 6 January 2000 and, as from that date, the following changes became effective:-- a new practice rule 16C (Powers of the Law Society) enables the Society to check for compliance with the rules, codes or guidance made or issued by the Council of the Law Society;-- solicitors who use building society accounts for their client accounts may now use building society share accounts and may also use deposit accounts;-- similar amendments have been made to the overseas practice rules.Copies of the changes are available, tel: 0870 606 2577.THE LEGAL AID FUNDING CODE The funding code, which will be the new merits test to be applied in relation to the funding of all civil legal aid cases, will be implemented from 1 April 2000.

The final version of the code is not yet available, but the current version can be found on the Legal Aid Board's website at www.legal-aid.gov.ukThe board anticipates that any revisions to the funding code and around 260 pages of guidance on decision making under the funding code from 1 April will be available on the website by the end of January.Information will also be contained in the February edition of the Legal Aid Board's Focus.

Practitioners are advised to access this website, if at all possible, since hard copies of the funding code guidance will not be provided by the Legal Aid Board until the end of March.CONTRACTING MEETING FOR LEGAL AID PRACTITIONERS Michael Napier, the Deputy Vice-President of the Law Society, and Nicola Mackintosh of Mackintosh Duncan will address a meeting on legal aid contracting on Friday 28 January at 4pm, in the Common Room at the Law Society, 113 Chancery Lane.

Legal aid practitioners with concerns about their contract offers are invited to attend.