Archive for March, 2007

A brave decision, Minister

Published
by
NL
on 19 March 2007
in Legal Aid
. 0 Comments

So far it is a bit short of stone throwing confrontations with riot police, but the current actions of our friends in publicly funded legal aid criminal defence are pretty much unprecendented, at least for lawyers. I hope the demo went well.

“What do we want? A reasonable level of public funding for access to justice. When do we want it? As soon as practicable and sustainable arrangements can be put in place that are agreeable to all parties”.

I’m still not sure how self-employed professionals work to rule, but I wish them luck with that too.What Price Justice

Above all, I hope the Law Society has the bottle to challenge the new LSC contract, not just for Criminal but Civil legal aid. So far, the Government has managed to ignore the protests from just about everyone involved in actually doing publicly funded work, or cast it as special pleading by a bunch of self interested fat cats. Something has got to convey to them just how serious this is.

I’m not quite so cynical as to believe that this Government actually wants to dispose of legal aid tout court, but it is getting harder and harder to hold to such a pollyanna-ish point of view.

Obvious filler 4

Published
by
NL
on 18 March 2007
in whatever
. 1 Comment

There is plenty of material that I ought to be writing about, but I’m going to have to pull a Pupilblogger, because I can’t talk about it now.

So, in the place of anything substantial, interesting or even legal, it is time once more to gaze in awe and bewilderment at search terms that brought people to this blog.

May I first say how proud I am that this blog is at the top of google’s second page of results for ‘Sally Field Naked’. A recent surge in people apparently wanting to inspect Ms Field for birthmarks has made this the 5th most common search term bringing people here in March.

Pride turned to mystification when faced with this:

Email contact @staff middle-class persons 2007 co.uk

Eh? and indeed Whaa? Then there are the terms that are all too clear, but perhaps give more of an insight into the searcher’s life than one might want:

is it legal in uk for a landlord to approach you in public about arrears?

is it legal to invite friend to a rented flat ?

illegal eviction wife

failing-at-interview

to which the answers are likely to be yes, yes, of or by? and tell me about it, respectively.

Naturally, this being the interweb, there are perversions. A search for

unlawful accommodation of donkeys act

had me curious enough to find this story from Ireland. Naturally, this being the interweb, there is no Unlawful Accommodation of Donkeys Act 1837, but I wish there were. Also tending to the spurious are

can i call myself a lawyer?

fake o level certificates

And lastly, a cry of despair that is all the more poignant because the author thought that they might find an answer on the internet…

i am a trainee solicitor - dont like it - what shall i do

Lessons from Lahore?

Published
by
NL
on 15 March 2007
in Legal Aid and whatever
. 0 Comments

With all due respect to the striking legal aid Criminal solicitors and the Law Society, this is an impressive bunch of protesting lawyers. A reminder that the struggle between the rule of law and rule by decree is sometimes literally that.

I do find myself wondering if these are the scenes we’d see on Fleet Street, should Blair (or later Brown or Little Lord Fauntleroy) attempt to rid himself of the turbulent Lord Phillips (or, more furtively, shift executive discretion out of the purview of the Courts). Perhaps street protest, barricade building and countering baton charges should be a compulsory on the LPC. But tear gas plays havoc with the billable hours.

Postponed assured trespassers verdict soon(ish).

Published
by
NL
on 13 March 2007
in Housing law
. 0 Comments

Knowsley Housing Trust v White on suspended possession orders and assured tenants is being heard on 14 March 2007 in the Court of Appeal. I don’t know when the judgement will be given.

Article Series - Tolerated Trespassers

  1. Tolerated Trespassers - the aftermath
  2. Tolerated trespassers: A Luta Continua
  3. Postponing Possession. Are you now and have you always been a tenant?
  4. Assured trespassers?
  5. Assured tenant or trespasser? The waiting begins.
  6. Postponed assured trespassers verdict soon(ish).
  7. Permanent trespassers and enforceable possession orders.
  8. More on London & Quadrant v Ansell
  9. White v Knowsley - Court of Appeal Judgment
  10. Reincarnation of Tenancy?
  11. S.85 Application Randomness
  12. Permanent trespassers - a fan letter
  13. Payne-less
  14. Post mortem revival of tenancy
  15. When does enforceability end?
  16. Tolerated trespassers in the House of Lords
  17. Knowsley v White etc. in more detail
Previous in series: :Next in series

What he said

Published
by
NL
on 12 March 2007
in law blogs and blogging
. 3 Comments

Corporate Law appears to be having a bit of a crise. I feel for him. As far as I can tell, Corporate doesn’t think his blog has been getting the attention/traffic that it should. If that is the case, then I’d agree. There are very few sites in this world that do detailed and complex corporate law together with rainbow coloured text, artistically blurred photos and ‘comedy links’; so the quality of the sole exemplar of this genre shouldn’t be overlooked.

But Corporate Law is not alone. It may be the onset of spring, it may be the early stages of a mid-life crisis (again), but I’m also having a ‘what is the point’ moment about this blog.

Although I grant that I occasionally fall under Corporate’s stereotype 2 (’the overly creative solicitor blawg’), Nearly Legal isn’t a gossip blawg, roman a clef or Bildungsroman, which are the modes of the moment, (it might have been a Bildungsroman, but the crucial element of development in changing circumstances is sadly a bit lacking). Neither is it particularly a personal vehicle for whimsy, bile or vituperation, although those may crop up.

There is some serious law on here, but only in part. It isn’t an exercise in self- marketing, because I am both anonymous, apparently untrainable and not writing a novel (at least, not based on this blog). Thankfully, the blog isn’t a diary, but it does get a bit self-reflective at times (like this) when blawging is the subject matter.

I’m not sure how long it can carry on in its present, somewhat scattershot, form. That it is also an unfashionable form is merely the flake in the 99. Corporate appears to have reached some conclusions on where he is headed. Hopefully, I’ll reach some soon.

Not Exactly a Matinee

Published
by
NL
on 9 March 2007
in job
. 0 Comments

Just in case anyone had picked up on the nervous tension from the last post, the result was… a reserved judgement.

The others side did indeed try to spring something at the last minute, thankfully this was waved away first thing by the Court, limiting their options more than somewhat. Then, according to Counsel, it became a long drawn out grind as the other side desperately scratched at anything and everything, no matter how relevant or significant. The Court had to keep pulling them up or insist the questioning was redirected.

Apparently my client did well on the stand, which is a relief as I was a little concerned about the client’s response under pressure. But, due to the opponent’s faffing about, time ran out before judgment. The Court sat over time, just to complete submissions.

So, now we have to await a date for judgement. Counsel’s view is that we won, but quantum is anybody’s guess. Oh well. We’ll wait for the date.

Not Exactly Stage Fright

Published
by
NL
on 6 March 2007
in job
. 2 Comments

I’ve got a trial hearing listed for a full day tomorrow on one of my cases, which has been rumbling on for months due to a whole series of failures by the other side.

This is always a nervous moment. Maybe it is my relative inexperience, but from observing my supervisors, I’m not so sure.

At this stage, everything that could be done to back up the case has been done, every move by the other side countered as far as possible. Any remaining lacunae or evidential grey areas are just going to have to play out in court, with Counsel briefed as far as possible on strengths, weaknesses and counter arguments.

And then the case is out of my hands, and usually I won’t be there for the trial. We don’t get paid for attending fast-track trials without good reason.

Tomorrow’s trial is particularly butterfly-worthy, for two reasons. The other side have behaved oddly throughout and, although their defense is downright weak, I am not at all sure about what they might try on in court. I know that is Counsel’s job, but I do like to have a strong sense of how matters are likely to play beforehand, so that countering materials are to hand. I don’t like to rely on unpredictable responses from the client alone.

Secondly, it is one of the rare occasions where a disrepair claim, rather than counter-claim, actually goes to trial. So, not only have we got to win, there are a whole range of uncertainties about the court’s possible assessment of quantum (soon to be the topic of another post, although not this case specifically, for obvious reasons).

I haven’t even had to rush on this one; had the bundle ready and served ahead of time, counsel confirmed and briefed with a follow up call, the client prepared and Court time and place confirmed. Dammit, it has all gone too smoothly. What is going to go wrong tomorrow? I will be jumping at every phone call.

Leaving the territory of thought

Published
by
NL
on 3 March 2007
in whatever
. 3 Comments

Not that there isn’t a valid discussion to be had, but did the Law Society’s Fiona Woolf really have to announce that the Law Society is looking to encourage a discussion about flexible working and job satisfaction in these words?

And so, given its ever-increasing importance, the Law Society has taken the bold decision to enter, for the first time, the territory of thought leadership – to facilitate a better understanding the issues around staff retention and job satisfaction by exploring factors that help to meet the needs of not just fee earners but their supervisors and employers too.

Dear God in Heaven. What did the poor long-suffering English language do to deserve this? And who can we shoot to stop it happening again?

I used to be an academic and what I don’t know about jargon-ridden obfuscation can be written in 18 point on the smallest of post-it notes, but this is worse than any of the sins I ever committed (and for which I am eternally damned). It is banality posing as iconoclasm, the bleeding obvious clothing itself as professional insight and the tragically overdue flouncing about as ‘bold’ innovation.

What does this piffle actually say? A translation:

‘Given its ever increasing importance’

‘It might be a bit late in the day’

‘Taken the bold decision’

‘a lot of firms are going to ignore us’

‘the territory of thought leadership’

‘we’re going to suggest some ideas’

‘facilitate a better understanding’

‘point out the bleeding obvious’

‘exploring factors’

‘let other people also point out the bleeding obvious’

‘help to meet the needs of not just fee earners but their supervisors and employers too’

‘it won’t cost too much and might save you money in the longer term, maybe’.

So the whole thing boils down to

‘It might be a bit late in the day, but we thought we’d try to offer a few obvious pointers to firms about job satisfaction and why people leave. We know that some firms won’t like this or listen at all, but it might not cost too much’.

It is impressive that the same standard of language is maintained throughout the whole article, culminating in the glorious

There are great examples of not just lowering recruitment costs but of improving productivity and profitability as a result of debating the issues and matching expectations.

which sounds like it should make sense, but becomes more and more meaningless the longer you look at it. Excellent.

So long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Goodbye

Published
by
NL
on 1 March 2007
in Legal Aid and job
. 0 Comments

Not to me, at least not yet, but to 253 housing law LSC contracts between 2000 and 2006 (down from 840 to 587).

I’d missed this article in the Gazette, until alerted by Tessa at Landlord Law. The figures make interesting, if dispiriting, reading. I don’t think it is a simple as losing 253 contracts, a certain number of takeovers and mergers will be involved. This is what happened to my previous firm.

The figures on cases started (excluding ‘acts of advice’ which includes the CLS Direct phone line) show an overall increase between 2004/5 and 2005/6. However, there is no breakdown by area on those figures, which cover all of civil legal aid. I’d like to see a breakdown by contract area.

However, even though things may not be as bad as the headline figure suggests, it is clear that a lot of housing contracts and firms have gone. This was pre-Carter. Given the reaction to Carter and after, there is not going to be any increase in the number of contracts taken on, quite the reverse.

Past performance is no guarantee of the future, as we are continually reminded by pension mis-sellers, but, mischeviously, it is worth pointing out that if this trend were to continue, there would be no housing contracts at all within 14 years.