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...
Conversation -v- Contract
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...
Ah! ça ira, ça ira, ça ira
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...
More than reasonable?
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,...
More Contract refuseniks?
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...
Age Bar
I read Lawyer-2-be's comments on diversity and age in relation to entry to the Bar with interest. As regular visitors will know, the problems of mature entrants to the legal profession is something of a (self-interested) hobbyhorse of mine. Pleasing though...
Legal Aid. It's all kicking off…
In the face of the 30 March deadline for signing the new unified contract, today the opposition got serious. The Law Society instigated Judicial review proceedings. The Pre-Action protocol letter can be read here (pdf). Bloody well done. The mutterings...
That was the week that might be…
As we await the Law Society's decision on whether to challenge the new legal aid contracts - apparently due this week, as it must be, given that the contracts have to be signed by 30 March - there are interesting mutterings that some civil legal aid sectors...
A brave decision, Minister
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...
Obvious filler 4
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...
Lessons from Lahore?
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...
Postponed assured trespassers verdict soon(ish).
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.