All Opinion articles – Page 325
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Opinion
Legal aid proposals intended to strengthen the power of the state
No one can say that I have not done my bit for the profession
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OpinionThe best of summer holiday reading
It’s the time of year when every respectable journal tells you what reading to pack for the beach, and so here goes. Crime The fiction list for lawyers has not been strong this year. A late contender is the publication in the last few days of the Financial Action Task ...
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OpinionPrivate client: a good place to be
There was a very positive mood at the Private Client Section’s annual conference on Friday.
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Opinion
Leader: Restitution would favour those who deliver growth in our economy
As the government limbers up to sell its stake in some of our largest banks
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Opinion
Time for a ‘sub-profession’ in the law?
The article about interventions in last week’s Gazette, which included a description of the consequences and cost of the collapse of Blakemores, should have us all worried for the future of our profession. It is clear now that our leaders were mistaken when they allowed first advertising and later referral ...
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Opinion
Probate pitfalls
The Law Society’s advertising campaign on behalf of personal injury practitioners is to be applauded. But private client practitioners have long had their own battle with corporate providers of probate services, which include most high street banks. The public is frequently misled and overcharged because they do not go to ...
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Opinion
Lib Dems fighting legal aid cuts
I was very disappointed to read about Ian Craine’s experience of trying to discuss proposed changes to legal aid with Liberal Democrat MPs. May I assure him that the Liberal Democrat Lawyers Association is lobbying hard over these proposals to try and persuade our MPs that they are misguided. So ...
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Opinion
Client choice
No, Mr McCulloch. Manchester set up a voluntary court duty solicitor scheme at about the same time as Southampton. Birmingham came soon afterwards, building in particular on the Manchester template. I know this because I was involved. We then expanded it to include a police station scheme, and all of ...
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Opinion
Prest confirms simple principle
In the judgments of Mr Justice Moylan in the High Court and Thorpe LJ in a minority judgment in the Court of Appeal, they considered that it was enough, under section 24(1)(a) of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, to justify an order to transfer properties from the husband to the ...
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OpinionVictim surcharge: unintended consequences
I have always felt uneasy about the victim surcharge
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Opinion
Don’t give up on mediation
In his letter of 17 June, Michael Haran related a bad experience with what may have been a small claims telephone mediation provided by the county court. I have great sympathy with him. But he should not compare this cheap and cheerful type of mediation, which incidentally does have a ...
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Opinion
Duty freedom
I write with reference to the letter from Alexander McCulloch. It is incorrect to claim, as he does, that the current system deprives any person charged with a criminal offence of the ability to choose their own solicitor. The duty solicitor scheme certainly forwards a client to whoever is on ...
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Opinion
Leader: Legal Education and Training Review does not set the pulse racing
When the legal professions’ regulators published the terms of reference for the Legal Education and Training Review...
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Opinion
Farming out
I recently received a letter from the Law Society inviting me to have a meeting to explore methods of ‘farming’ existing business. Is this an indication of the depth to which the profession has sunk? Harold Immanuel, London W6
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Opinion
SRA rules are inconsistent
The Solicitors Regulation Authority is taking an average of seven months to license an alternative business structure, and 20% of applications have taken longer than nine months to process. Schedule 11 of the Legal Services Act prescribes that the decision period must be six months from the date an application ...
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Opinion
Let us record proceedings
Having just spent another couple of days frantically scribbling notes of the evidence being given and the judgment, I am again at a loss to understand why the lawyers involved in proceedings are not allowed to record them electronically. It is quite ridiculous that we should have to make a ...
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OpinionVulnerable people are most at risk from PCT
The legal profession has been up in arms over the proposed introduction of price-competitive tendering. But no one should be more concerned than individuals living with learning difficulties and disabilities such as autism, because they are the ones most at risk as a result of the changes. Criminal defence specialists ...
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Opinion
Positive results
Michael Haran’s unfortunate experience of a civil mediation case should not prevent other practitioners from using this valuable resource in dispute resolution. During my early years in practice I had extremely positive results from using civil mediation in a variety of seemingly intractable disputes, ranging from libel, to personal injury ...
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Opinion
Mediation - quicker and cheaper
It was disappointing to read Michael Haran’s criticisms of a recent mediation with which he had been involved. Mediation is the way forward. It will lead to quicker and cheaper settlements in all forms of litigation. If mediation is carried out correctly, then the mediator should act to facilitate an ...