Earnings of criminal legal aid barristers fall 8% in two years – Legal Futures

Posted December 18th, 2015 in barristers, criminal justice, legal aid, news, remuneration by tracey

‘The fee income of Crown Court legal aid barristers from the Advocated Graduated Fee Scheme (AGFS) has fallen by 8% in the last two years, new figures have shown.’

Full story

Legal Futures, 18th December 2015

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Naeem v Secretary of State for Justice – WLR Daily

Naeem v Secretary of State for Justice [2015] EWCA Civ 1264; [2015] WLR (D) 517

‘In a claim under section 19 of the Equality Act 2010 for indirect discrimination, based on a system of pay relating to length of service, once the claimant had shown that use of the particular provision, criterion or practice, namely the length of service criterion, had lead to a disparity in pay, it was permissible to consider the reason for the disparity complained of in the sense of the factors which had caused it to occur.’

WLR Daily, 9th December 2015

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Serious Personal Injury Litigation – A Quantum Update – Byrom Chambers

‘We are now bombarded with case reports by email and over the Internet. The reporting of 1st instance quantum decisions used to be a comparative rarity before 1992 and the PIQR. Even then there was a time lag in publication and many decisions were never covered. On one level, we are immensely fortunate now to be able to discern how the best counsel and 1st instance judges set about their respective tasks in serious personal injuries litigation; but with that opportunity comes the obligation on the serious practitioner to take the time really to get to grips with the lengthy judgments. It is not easy. This paper, evolving since the autumn of 2007, is an exercise in the on-going fulfilment of that obligation.’

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Byrom Chambers, 7th December 2015

Source: www.byromstreet.com

Speech by HHJ Edmund QC on Better Case Management and the Plea and Trial Preparation Hearing – Courts and Tribunals Judiciary

‘Speech by HHJ Edmund QC at the Criminal Bar Association Ann Goddard Memorial Lecture on 3 November 2015 entitled ”All Change: What you need to know about Better Case Management and the Plea and Trial Preparation Hearing”.

Full speech

Courts and Tribunals Judiciary, 17th November 2015

Source: www.judiciary.gov.uk

Samuels v Birmingham City Council – WLR Daily

Posted November 13th, 2015 in benefits, homelessness, housing, law reports, remuneration by tracey

Samuels v Birmingham City Council: [2015] EWCA Civ 1051; [2015] WLR (D) 435

‘For the purposes of a person’s application for housing assistance as a homeless person, where a local authority was determining whether that person’s previous accommodation was affordable for that person and therefore whether it would be, or would have been, reasonable for that person to continue to occupy that accommodation, the local authority was to take into account all forms of the person’s income, including social security benefits of all kinds, and of relevant expenses, so that a judgment was to be made on the basis of income and relevant expenses as a whole. Benefits income, including income support, child tax credits and child benefit, was not to have any special status or treatment in that exercise or to be excluded from income which could be taken into account as income which could assist with housing costs.’

WLR Daily, 27th October 2015

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Management consultant charges mother £400 for each visit to nursing home – Court of Protection – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted October 29th, 2015 in expenses, families, news, powers of attorney, remuneration by sally

‘This Court of Protection case has, unusually, made the papers, and when you read the details you won’t be surprised. What the judge described as a “callous and calculating” son charged his widowed mother, who suffered from dementia, more than £117 000 for “out of pocket expenses” visiting her in her nursing home. He had been in charge of her expenses since 2004 when Sheila (the mother) had been admitted to hospital under the Mental Health Act 1983. But alarm bells only went off after her unpaid nursing bills reached nearly £30 000. The Public Guardian launched an enquiry that led to this hearing of an application for the court to revoke the son’s (Martin’s) Enduring Power of Attorney (‘EPA’) and to direct him to cancel its registration. The Public Guardian also applied to freeze Sheila’s bank account.’

Full story

UK Human Rights Blog, 28th October 2015

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Getting Paid For Sleeping On The Job – The National Minimum Wage – No. 5 Chambers

Posted October 7th, 2015 in contract of employment, minimum wage, news, remuneration by sally

‘In certain occupations, it is common for the employment contract to require the employee to sleep overnight at the place of employment some or all nights of the week and to be “on call” should any incidents arise. Typically those occupations attract low wages and include care workers, supervisors at boarding schools and porters in residential blocks of flats. If the employee is entitled to be paid for all the hours whilst they are present at the workplace, even when they are asleep, and not just those hours when they are attending incidents, then their average wage may fall below the National Minimum Wage [“NMW”]. What, then, is the test to be applied to whether hours spent asleep are to be taken into account?’

Full story

No. 5 Chambers, 30th September 2015

Source: www.no5.com

Travel time ruling will not automatically entitle UK mobile workers to extra pay, says expert – OUT-LAW.com

Posted September 15th, 2015 in contract of employment, EC law, employment, minimum wage, news, remuneration, working time by tracey

‘FOCUS The EU’s highest court has ruled that the time those with no fixed place of work spend travelling between home and their first and last places of work each day counts as “woking time” – but this does not necessarily entitle them to extra pay.’

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 11th September 2015

Source: www.out-law.com

Immigration rule ‘has split 15,000 children from a parent’ – BBC News

Posted September 9th, 2015 in children, families, immigration, news, remuneration by sally

‘At least 15,000 children are separated from a parent because of income rules affecting some migrants, says the Children’s Commissioner for England.’

Full story

BBC News, 9th September 2015

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

High Court finds Legal Aid Agency “asked itself wrong question” about means assessment – Free Movement

Posted September 9th, 2015 in evidence, law firms, legal aid, news, remuneration by sally

‘In a judgment that may be of interest to legal aid lawyers, the High Court has overturned a rejection by the Legal Aid Agency (LAA) of a legal aid claim by Duncan Lewis solicitors. The Legal Aid Agency should have considered whether the means assessment conducted by Duncan Lewis, which had assessed a client KW as having provided sufficient evidence to show that she came within the financial threshold for legal aid, had made a reasonable judgement. The LAA had erred in refusing to fund the case on the basis that the documents relied upon were outside of the ‘assessment window’, Cranston J held in the case of R (On the Application Of Duncan Lewis (Solicitors) Ltd) v The Lord Chancellor [2015] EWHC 2498 (Admin).’
Full story

Free Movement, 8th September 2015

Source: www.freemovement.org.uk

‘National living wage’ dodgers face higher penalties – The Guardian

Posted September 1st, 2015 in company directors, disqualification, employment, fines, news, penalties, remuneration by sally

‘Employers who fail to pay the new “national living wage” face increased fines under a crackdown on non-compliance announced by David Cameron.’

Full story

The Guardian, 1st September 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Petter v EMC: Employment Share Schemes, Choice of Forum and Anti –Suit Injunctions – did the CA take a step too far? – Employment Law Blog

‘In granting the anti-suit injunction against EMC Corporation in Petter v (1) EMC Europe Limited (2) EMC Corporation [2015] EWCA Civ 828, the CA considered that it was upholding the policy in section 5 of Regulation (EU) 1215/2012 for the protection of employees from being sued other than in the courts of their domicile. But was it exceeding the limits of its jurisdiction to regulate the lawful conduct of foreigners, and interfering in the process of justice in the court of a friendly foreign state?’

Full story

Employment Law Blog, 13th August 2015

Source: www.employment11kbw.com

Child abuse inquiry judge’s £500,000 pay package revealed – The Guardian

Posted July 14th, 2015 in inquiries, judges, news, remuneration by tracey

‘The New Zealand high court judge chairing a UK inquiry into child abuse is to receive a pay package worth £500,000 a year, it has been disclosed.’

Full story

The Guardian, 13th July 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Family Law Week’s Budget Briefing, July 2015 – Family Law Week

‘Richard Holme, Chartered Accountant of Creaseys, a firm which specialises in advising family lawyers on tax related family law issues, explains the Budget changes of most relevance to family lawyers.’

Full story

Family Law Week, 8th July 2015

Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk

Sainsbury’s faces equal pay battle with female shop floor workers – The Guardian

‘Sainsbury’s is facing legal action from four female shopfloor workers who claim they are paid less than men to do equally valuable jobs at the supermarket chain.
The case, which will be the subject of a preliminary hearing at a Birmingham employment tribunal on Friday, comes as a similar legal action involving 6,000 female Asda employees remains to be settled.’

Full story

The Guardian, 9th July 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

New UK immigration rules: will you be affected? – The Guardian

Posted June 25th, 2015 in employment, immigration, news, nurses, remuneration by sally

‘Migrants who have spent more than five years working in the country will be required to earn £35,000 per year or else face deportation, according to a policy that comes into effect in April next year. The policy, announced in 2012 by British Home Secretary Theresa May, has been criticised this week by the Royal College of Nursing. They predicted chaos in the health service, and urged the Home Office to add nursing to the list of occupations exempt from the rules and reconsider the salary threshold.’
Full story

The Guardian, 24th June 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

New immigration rules will cost the NHS millions, warns nursing union – The Guardian

Posted June 22nd, 2015 in deportation, hospitals, immigration, news, nurses, remuneration, statistics by tracey

‘New immigration rules that will mean lower-earning non-EU workers being deported will exacerbate the shortage of nurses in the UK and cost the NHS tens of millions in recruitment, the government has been warned by nursing leaders.’

Full story

The Guardian, 22nd June 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Decision on striking workers’ pay could make action less attractive, says expert, as Queen’s speech confirms new ballot rules – Out-Law.com

‘Employers may be entitled to deduct a day’s pay for strike action at the rate of 1/260th of the striking worker’s salary depending on contractual terms, the Court of Appeal has confirmed.’

Full story

Out-Law.com, 28th May 2015

Source: www.out-law.com

Hartley and others v King Edward VI College – WLR Daily

Hartley and others v King Edward VI College [2015] EWCA Civ 455; [2015] WLR (D) 216

‘Section 2 of the Apportionment Act 1870 applied to teachers’ contracts of employment, requiring that apportionment of pay be considered as accruing from day to day; but it was an error to construe the provision as though it also contained a principle of equal daily accrual.’

WLR Daily, 14th May 2015

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

SS (Congo) and others v Secretary of State for the Home Department – WLR Daily

SS (Congo) and others v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2015] EWCA Civ 387; [2015] WLR (D) 199

‘Where an application was made by a person for leave to enter the United Kingdom to join a spouse or family member who was a British citizen or refugee already residing there, but the application did not meet the minimum income or evidence of income requirements under the Immigration Rules for an application for leave to enter, compelling circumstances had to be shown to exist to justify the granting by the Secretary of State under her residual discretion of leave to enter outside the Immigration Rules on the grounds that refusal of entry would disproportionately interfere with the applicant’s article 8 Convention right to respect for family life.’

WLR Daily, 23rd April 2015

Source: www.iclr.co.uk