‘We’re at the cliff edge now’ – LegalVoice

“‘Unity is our secret weapon’ was the key message that emerged from this week’s unprecedented meeting of 1,000 defence lawyers who voted unanimously backing a motion that price competitive tendering was ‘not the way forward’, writes Jon Robins.”

Full story

LegalVoice, 24th May 2013

Source: www.legalvoice.org.uk

Lawyers protest outside parliament against legal aid cuts – The Guardian

“Hundreds, some wearing wigs and gowns, demonstrate against justice secretary’s plans, which they say undermine UK justice.”

Full story

The Guardian, 22nd May 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Legal profession joins forces to oppose unreasonable legal aid proposals – The Bar Council

Posted May 16th, 2013 in criminal justice, legal aid, legal profession, news, tenders by sally

“Representatives of the Law Society and the Bar Council have joined forces with wider practitioner bodies to oppose the Ministry of Justice Consultation on proposed savage cuts to the funding of the Criminal Legal Aid Budget, the introduction of Price Competitive Tendering and other changes to the criminal justice system.”

Full story

The Bar Council, 14th May 2013

Source: www.barcouncil.org.uk

Legal aid cuts prompt top lawyers to leave the bar for careers on the bench – The Guardian

Posted May 16th, 2013 in barristers, judiciary, legal aid, legal profession, news by sally

“It has been dubbed the stampede for ‘the purple lifeboat’ – applications to become judges have more than doubled over the past four years as senior lawyers seek professional sanctuary on the bench.”

Full story

The Guardian, 16th May 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Undermine Legal Aid and you put our entire justice system at risk – The Independent

Posted May 15th, 2013 in criminal justice, legal aid, legal profession, news, tenders by sally

“Now top legal talent will find the prospect of working in criminal courts less attractive.”

Full story

The Independent, 14th May 2013

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Family law: a “time-consuming and morally shadowy activity”? – Halsbury’s Law Exchange

Posted May 14th, 2013 in family courts, legal profession, news by sally

“Recently an article in the Guardian described family law as a ‘time-consuming and morally shadowy activity’ and suggested that family lawyers ‘sleep in a bed that has been paid for by the unhappiness of others’. This was an article on ‘gold diggers’, a group hardly representative of the general population. But if ever a profession needed good PR, it’s family lawyers. The legal profession as a whole gets a pretty bad press, making it a fairly easy task for the government to promote other methods of obtaining legal advice and dispute resolution, as if entering the office of a lawyer who works with individual clients is something to be avoided, an easy way to empty your wallet with no obvious benefits.”

Full story

Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 14th May 2013

Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk

Regulation at home, but not abroad – Gresham College Lecture

“In December 2012 Sir Geoffrey Nice finished four years as Vice Chair of the Bar Standards Board, the body that regulates barristers. After forty years in practice as a barrister, that included seven years working as an employed barrister in the UN, he will describe the differences between practice in a regulated legal community and practice in the UN system that operates with little effective regulation apart from what national systems impose on individual prosecution and defence lawyers. He will also review what he learnt as a regulator from looking critically at the Bar of England and Wales. The Bar of England and Wales and the country’s legal system as a whole proudly assert that they are the best in the world.  Are these claims justified?  If so, why was legislation thought to be necessary to regulate them more closely, and was that legislation wise?”

Transcript

Lecture by Professor Sir Geoffrey Nice QC

Gresham College, 8th May 2013

Source: www.gresham.ac.uk

Tour Report #21: Podcast with Michael Turner QC, Chairman of The Criminal Bar Association, on the legal aid reforms – Charon QC

Posted April 30th, 2013 in barristers, judiciary, law firms, legal aid, legal profession, news by sally

“Michael Turner QC has robust views on the proposed reforms which will have a considerable impact on access to justice, the profession, the public and have a devastating effect on the very cornerstone of our democracy.”

Podcast

Charon QC, 30th April 2013

Source: www.charonqc.wordpress.com

“Charon QC” is the blogging pseudonym of Mike Semple Piggot, editor of insitelaw newswire.

Keir Starmer to stand down as director of public prosecutions – The Guardian

Posted April 24th, 2013 in Crown Prosecution Service, legal profession, news by sally

“The director of public prosecutions, Keir Starmer QC, is to stand down after five years in the high-pressure legal post.”

Full story

The Guardian, 24th April 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

The Bellwether Report 2013: Survive or Thrive? – Legal Week

Posted April 18th, 2013 in law firms, legal profession, news, reports by sally

“The LexisNexis Bellwether Report, Survive or Thrive?, takes the temperature of independent lawyers, sole practitioners and owner/lawyers in smaller law firms, to see how they are dealing with the current financial, regulatory and legal climate.”

Full story

Legal Week, 17th April 2013

Source: www.legalweek.com

Bar Council launches first ever Bar Nursery – The Bar Council

Posted April 17th, 2013 in barristers, children, inns of court, legal profession, news by sally

“The Bar Council, which represents barristers in England and Wales, has today launched the ‘Bar Nursery at Smithfield House’, a central London childcare facility in partnership with Smithfield House Children’s Nursery.”

Full story

The Bar Council, 16th April 2013

Source: www.barcouncil.org.uk

The case for QASA – Legal Futures

Posted April 9th, 2013 in advocacy, criminal justice, legal profession, news, quality assurance by sally

“David Wolfe QC of Matrix Chambers argues that the Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates (QASA) is a necessary step to assure the competence of criminal advocates and answers the main criticisms levelled by its opponents.”

Full story

Legal Futures, 9th April 2013

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

State of the sector report: one in three legal aid practitioners fearful of redundancy – Legal Voice

Posted April 5th, 2013 in legal profession, news, redundancy, reports by sally

“Nearly one in three civil legal aid practitioners reckon the LASPO cuts leave them at risk of redundancy. A report drawing on an on-line survey of 674 individuals working in legal aid found that almost two-thirds of specialist advisers felt at risk of redundancy (63.4%) and almost half of those fearing redundancy (44.8%) had more than 10 years’ experience.”

Full story

Legal Voice, 5th April 2013

Source: www.legalvoice.org.uk

Jackson: lawyers welcome implementation of long-awaited reforms – The Lawyer

Posted April 2nd, 2013 in budgets, costs, disclosure, legal profession, news by sally

“Disputes lawyers across the market have broadly welcomed the Jackson Reforms, which come into force today, saying they will ease the burden created by disclosure.”

Full story

The Lawyer, 1st April 2013

Source: www.thelawyer.com

And so it begins – Litigation Futures

Posted April 2nd, 2013 in fees, Law Society, legal profession, news by sally

“So here we are at last, nearly five years since the then Master of the Rolls, Lord Clarke, announced his intention to launch what turned out to be the Jackson review (a story I broke, if I can be allowed the immodesty of mentioning it). It has certainly had its ups and downs since then, the biggest up undoubtedly being the 2010 election result, without which Sir Rupert’s report may well still be lying in the long grass.”

Full story

Litigation Futures, 2nd April 2013

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Our justice system is being turned into Profit & Growth plc – The Guardian

Posted April 2nd, 2013 in criminal justice, legal profession, news, quality assurance, tenders by sally

“Under Chris Grayling’s plans, lawyers will become unit-shifters employed by large corporations.”

Full story

The Guardian, 1st April 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

QASA: part of a sustained attack on legal aid? – LegalVoice

Posted March 21st, 2013 in advocacy, barristers, legal aid, legal profession, news, quality assurance by sally

“Amongst criminal lawyers, the issues surrounding QASA – the Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates – that have been rumbling on for a few years, is coming to a head, writes Dan Bunting. The Criminal Bar Association have come out very strongly against it which prompted a strong response from Baroness Ruth Deech, the Chair of the Bar Standards Board. It has also managed to achieve the impossible – uniting barristers and solicitors.”

Full story

LegalVoice, 21st March 2013

Source: www.legalvoice.org.uk

Are future criminal barristers out of touch with reality? – The Guardian

Posted March 21st, 2013 in barristers, crime, legal profession, news by sally

“The criminal bar may be facing its darkest moment but applications for bar school continue to rise.”

Full story

The Guardian, 21st March 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

The “noisy minority” of barristers opposed to QASA hit back at BSB claims – Legal Futures

Posted March 21st, 2013 in advocacy, barristers, legal profession, news, quality assurance by sally

“The Bar Standards Board (BSB) chair’s description of opponents of the Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates (QASA) as ‘a noisy minority of dissenters’ received an immediate high-powered response from criminal law barristers.”

Full story

Legal Futures, 21st March 2013

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Equal pay in City law: is there a light at the end of the tunnel? – The Guardian

Posted March 20th, 2013 in equal pay, equality, legal profession, news, women by sally

“We urgently need up to date research on gender and equality pay within the legal sector, say LSB.”

Full story

The Guardian, 20th March 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk