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UpTights was a bundle of energy at chambers tea yesterday. “I had the most terrible experience on my way to court,” she said. “What? Your witch’s broomstick came unstuck?” said OldSmoothie. “I was dashing for the start of a trial over the road when a seagull landed one on me from a great height. Not… Continue reading

Like legal regulation, civil litigation is peppered with acronyms and abbreviations, which it can sometimes be hard to keep up with.To make life easier, they have all been set out in a glossary, below, to which we will link in future postings where relevant. ADR Alternative Dispute Resolution CFA Conditional Fee Agreement DBA Damages Based Agreement… Continue reading

This year has seen the government mount a two-pronged attack aimed at reducing the cost of legal aid, by introducing measures to reduce spending on both criminal and civil legal aid. Last week, following a heated summer of discontent from the legal profession, its proposals in relation to criminal legal aid, based on the introduction of… Continue reading

At the end of last month the Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates got the go-ahead from Legal Standards Board, the über-regulator of law professions. In a series of posts we’ve looked at what this means for barristers and other professional advocates. In this third post we look at some of the main criticisms levelled at… Continue reading

Last week we reported that the Legal Services Board had finally given the green light to the Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates (QASA), and looked at the background to this scheme, proposed by the Joint Advocacy Group, to ensure that advocates from different sectors of the legal profession (whether barristers, solicitors or legal executives) conform… Continue reading

Legal professionals are subject to no fewer than SEVEN professional regulators, whose names and functions are often referred to in a bewildering Scrabble tray of acronyms and abbreviations. Apart from (1) the BSB which deals with barristers, (2) the SRA which deals with solicitors, and (3) the IPS which deals with legal executives and paralegals,… Continue reading

Earlier this week the Legal Services Board finally approved the Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates, the first phase of which will begin on 30 September 2013. In a series of linked posts, we set out the pros and cons of QASA and examine its relationship to  PCT and LASPO. (Unfortunately, the regulatory framework of the… Continue reading

When you’re doing a job you hate, what makes it even worse is when everyone else seems to be out enjoying themselves. All the more so when the sun is shining and worse still a few of your good friends are emailing you photos of their latest catch from your local river whilst you’re sitting… Continue reading

HeadClerk called an emergency Chambers Meeting yesterday. “I’m afraid that we need a bit of a shake-up of our practice structure.” A general groan before OldSmoothie said, “Yes, yes. Time for us all to work harder and bring in a few more solicitors.” “Quite the contrary,” said HeadClerk. “In the light of the government’s proposed… Continue reading