Thanks to the always interesting Lo-fi librarian, I have discovered that DirectgovKids has solved the concerns of both Pupilblog and Lawyer-2-be. Click for bigger.… Read the full post
Monthly Archive for March, 2007
So that’s that, then. The Law Society takes advice on a last minute injunction to halt the process, but is advised against it. Partners’ arms are twisted. Deadline passes, contracts are signed or not.
So we’ll stagger, somewhat shellshocked, into next week with three questions awaiting answers.
1. What is actually going to happen around residual matters?
2. Is the scale of non-signing low enough to allow the LSC to claim business as usual? What level of loss would be fatal to the project? It is hard to say but my gut feeling is that anything over 30% would be not only disastrous but beyond the capacity of the remaining … Read the full post
Tomorrow, 30 March, is the deadline for signing the Unified Contract, even though the contract itself is actually unfinished.
Yesterday, the LSC attempted to turn the screws by sending a letter (PDF) to suppliers which effectively accused the Law Society of scaremongering and claimed, astonishingly, that some contentious clauses in the new contract are the same as the old contract. The Law Society responded angrily and, judging by the emails I have seen, firms are more than a little incredulous. The Law Society Council tonight topped this off with a unanimous vote of no confidence in the LSC’s decision to implement the contract.
There have been firms and Not-for-Profits meeting … Read the full post
I knew I was tempting fate. I made a comment yesterday on Pupilblogger’s post on litigants-in-person. Today came the swift nemesis to my hubris. A day full of new enquries fom what turned out to be l-i-ps. Not that they tell you that at first. Oh no. First comes the account of the problem, overflowing with history, personal upset and so on. Through this one might discern the outlines of a possible claim and it is while you are in pursuit of relevant detail (and wading through the digressions) that the first inkling that all is not well appears, usually as they blithely announce that they have already issued a … Read the full post
Le LSC a la Lanterne (or DCA, or both) continued.
Item 1. Fiona Woolf talks sense. Let the heavens shake. It is almost enough to make me apologise for this.
Item 2. Other civil firms going public on not signing include: Fisher Meredith and David Grey Solicitors as well as Bindmans. There are many others in my (geographic and legal) area apparently going the same way.
Item 3. According to a Law Society ‘click here’ style survey:
- 11% of firms are leaving legal aid, so not signing the contract.
- 47% of firms are considering not signing and so leaving legal aid work.
- 41% are
Ken Adams of adamsdrafting.com emailed me the other day. I’ve enjoyed dipping into his site, even though my area has nothing to do with contract drafting and a relatively small amount of contractual interpretation. I like the overlaying of semantics, rhetoric and practical issues.
Ken pointed me to a piece on an English judgment on ‘best endeavours and reasonable endeavours’. Having read it, I agree that the terms of the distinction drawn by the Judge don’t hold water, but I also disagree with Ken’s view that there is no distinction.
‘Best’ is a superlative. ‘Reasonable’ isn’t. One’s best endeavours would be the best that one could do, whereas reasonable … Read the full post
My, but the emails have been flying around today in the wake of Bindman’s public announcement, including Round Robins and emails with lists, admittedly of varying accuracy, of which firms are refusing to sign.
Some firms are definitely not signing, but I’m not saying which firms these are unless and until they make it public. But there are some big names involved (well, big for the legal aid sector), as well as a surprising number of small firms around my area. I take back some of my earlier doubts – there may well be a higher level of refusal to sign than I thought was likely. Bindman’s public stance appears … Read the full post
Recent Comments