The Solicitor's Regulation Authority have certainsly done this by bringing the care home campaigner, Yvonne Hossack before the Solicitor Disciplinary Tribunal. Is it relly possible that a person who campaigned tirelessly and without personal reward for the old and disadvantaged could bring their profession into disrepute.
It's the regulation of the profession which has been brought into public disrepute.The almost carte blanche clearance of Solicitor Yvonne Hossack was inevitable after full details of her campaigning pro bono actions of behalf of the most vulnerable of clients was aired.
But all this was known to the SRA when they processed the prosecution and determined to visit the sanctions of the Tribunal upon her.
Sunday, 20 September 2009
Friday, 11 September 2009
Solicitors repay money wrongfully taken
Solicitors have handed back more than £1.5m to injured former miners under a new voluntary repayment scheme after wrongly deducting fees from miners’ government compensation awards.
Wednesday, 9 September 2009
Solicitor's insurance premiums.
The Times reports that thousands of Britain’s high street solicitors are facing devastating increases of about 20 per cent in the cost of their annual insurance premiums because of the threat of negligence cases arising from the recession.
The reality is surely that the negligence claims are because the solicitors have acted negligently rather than because of the recession. What an example of a profession blaming something else for its misfortune.
The reality is surely that the negligence claims are because the solicitors have acted negligently rather than because of the recession. What an example of a profession blaming something else for its misfortune.
Monday, 7 September 2009
Mediation.
Divorcing and separating couples could be compelled to consider mediation before going to court under plans being examined by the Ministry of Justice.
Sunday, 6 September 2009
Legal Aid
More people are being denied access to civil legal aid despite a huge increase in demand fuelled by the recession, Citizens Advice has warned.
A report published, No time to retire – legal aid at 60, shows fewer people are qualifying for civil legal aid, and barriers such as patchy geographical provision, long waiting times and complex qualifying criteria are preventing eligible people from getting help.
A report published, No time to retire – legal aid at 60, shows fewer people are qualifying for civil legal aid, and barriers such as patchy geographical provision, long waiting times and complex qualifying criteria are preventing eligible people from getting help.
Legal Representation in Children Cases
Lawyers acting for children have spoken out this week about the dire quality of representation that some solicitor firms are offering. Stories have been told of cases being handled by staff who are clearly not qualified for the job – in the most extreme instances, a receptionist and a secretary, but also frequently paralegals who are not experienced in family work.
Also stories about qualified solicitors who have taken on parents’ cases and then done absolutely no work on the case, not even responding to correspondence.
Christina Blacklaws, Law Society council member for child law, said some criminal law practices had begun to act for parents in child care proceedings. ‘They are using people who are not only not experienced in family law, but not experienced at all,’
Also stories about qualified solicitors who have taken on parents’ cases and then done absolutely no work on the case, not even responding to correspondence.
Christina Blacklaws, Law Society council member for child law, said some criminal law practices had begun to act for parents in child care proceedings. ‘They are using people who are not only not experienced in family law, but not experienced at all,’
No win-No fee legal charges.
Solicitors have hit out at a report claiming that the market in personal injury claims is failing because legal fees are out of control.
Arguing that fees could be reduced without restricting access to justice, a study commissioned by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) said there were insufficient market constraints, because the use of ‘no win, no fee’ agreements means clients have no role in influencing the level of solicitors’ costs.
Even when solicitors reduce their costs through efficiency, larger referral fees simply fill the gap, it said, with the average fee of £600 in 2007 now £1,000 in some cases.
Arguing that fees could be reduced without restricting access to justice, a study commissioned by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) said there were insufficient market constraints, because the use of ‘no win, no fee’ agreements means clients have no role in influencing the level of solicitors’ costs.
Even when solicitors reduce their costs through efficiency, larger referral fees simply fill the gap, it said, with the average fee of £600 in 2007 now £1,000 in some cases.
Tuesday, 1 September 2009
When legal help is not available.
People denied access to family justice in the wake of the latest legal aid cuts could resort to "self-help", including violence, Lord Clarke, the Master of the Rolls, has warned.
"It is dangerous because if the family and civil justice systems were inadequate to the task of determining such disputes fairly, impartially and at a cost that litigants could afford, those litigants might lose such confidence in them that they would resort to self-help.
"Resort to self-help could take a benign form. It could, however, also take anything but a benign form. It could see the law not being applied by court decisions but through violence and the threat of violence.
"It is dangerous because if the family and civil justice systems were inadequate to the task of determining such disputes fairly, impartially and at a cost that litigants could afford, those litigants might lose such confidence in them that they would resort to self-help.
"Resort to self-help could take a benign form. It could, however, also take anything but a benign form. It could see the law not being applied by court decisions but through violence and the threat of violence.
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