Justice minister pours cold water on growing calls to fund early legal advice – Legal Futures

Posted December 6th, 2017 in budgets, legal aid, legal services, Ministry of Justice, news by sally

‘The government yesterday damped down hopes that it would consider funding greater access to early legal advice.’

Full Story

Legal Futures, 6th December 2017

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

New hot-tubbing and ‘costs of costs management’ rules come into force – Litigation Futures

‘Variations that judges can adopt in orders for concurrent expert evidence – known as ‘hot-tubbing’ – came into force last week, along with a new provision that clarifies how the costs of costs management should be calculated.’

Full Story

Litigation Futures, 1st December 2017

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

High Court tells parties: Don’t abuse our tougher approach – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted November 29th, 2017 in budgets, delay, news by sally

‘The High Court has sent a message through a new judgment that litigants should not seek advantage from judges’ hardline stance on costs budgeting.’

Full Story

Law Society's Gazette, 28th November 2017

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Leading judge warns litigants not to start playing games over “minor procedural glitches” – Litigation Futures

Posted November 29th, 2017 in budgets, civil procedure rules, costs, delay, news, sanctions by sally

‘The incoming deputy head of civil justice has warned parties not to abuse the courts’ tougher approach to rule compliance.’

Full Story

Litigation Futures, 28th November 2017

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Making the most of Cost Budgeting – Hardwicke Chambers

Posted November 23rd, 2017 in budgets, costs, news by sally

‘Love it or loathe it (for most it is the latter), cost budgeting is here for the foreseeable future. It can be a time consuming and tiresome exercise. But unless lawyers roll up their sleeves and get stuck in they risk significantly disadvantaging their clients and opening themselves up to negligence claims. On the other hand, forethought and preparation can reap tactical and financial benefits. What follows is an outline of the budgeting process and some suggested methods of making the most of it.’

Full Story

Hardwicke Chambers, 20th November 2017

Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk

Re-classifying housing associations – Nearly Legal

Posted November 21st, 2017 in budgets, housing, local government, news, regulations by sally

‘Slightly under the radar (possibly), but of enormous significance, the ONS has re-classified housing associations (or private registered providers of social housing – in the new language which I can’t get used to) as private sector, and in so doing has wiped around £60billion off the public sector debt. It is this re-classification which has given Hammond room to manoeuvre in the coming budget (although the rumours are that he is going to put £5billion only, and that appears to be going towards home ownership – plus ca change), which kind of proves the value in spreadsheets and the significance of audit practices.’

Full Story

Nearly Legal, 21st November 2017

Source: nearlylegal.co.uk

MoJ reveals massive budget cut as new advice deserts open – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted November 20th, 2017 in budgets, legal aid, Ministry of Justice, news by tracey

‘The deeply worrying scale of the budgetary pressures bearing down on the Ministry of Justice is laid bare in new figures which will dampen already faint hopes of public funding reform. In a written parliamentary answer, justice minister Dominic Raab revealed that the MoJ will have suffered a cumulative 40% real terms cut in its budget over the fiscal decade ending in 2020.’

Full Story

Law Society's Gazette, 20th November 2017

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Bach to the future – Counsel

Posted November 17th, 2017 in budgets, legal aid, news, reports by tracey

‘Time for legal aid to break free from party political discourse? Yes, argues Lucie Wibberley, in light of the recommendations of the Bach Commission for a new Right to Justice Act.’

Full Story

Counsel, November 2017

Source: www.counselmagazine.co.uk

A cautionary tale on the importance of client service – Practical Law: Construction Blog

Posted November 16th, 2017 in budgets, construction industry, news by tracey

‘The recent decision in Riva Properties Ltd v Foster + Partners Ltd, considers the duties that an architect owes to its client, specifically in the context of working in accordance with the client’s budget. Helena White and Matt Malloy have recently written about issues of contributory negligence and evidence arising out of the case. One of the most interesting aspects of the decision for me is that, over the course of a searing 313 paragraph judgment, Fraser J delivers a forceful reminder that client service is at the heart of the construction industry. Although the case specifically concerns the provision of architectural design services, it is a cautionary tale of the consequences of failing to put clients’ objectives first, which is just as relevant to lawyers, professional advisers of any specialism and indeed to all parties involved in the delivery of construction projects.’

Full Story

Practical Law: Construction Blog, 15th November 2017

Source: constructionblog.practicallaw.com

Police ‘to give up on minor crimes without major funding increase’ – The Guardian

Posted November 15th, 2017 in budgets, news, police by tracey

‘More police forces are poised to give up investigating minor offences such as car crime and retail thefts without a significant funding increase in the budget next week, police and crime commissioners have warned.’

Full Story

The Guardian, 14th November 2017

Source: www.theguardian.com

Rogue landlords enjoy an easy ride as councils fail to prosecute – The Guardian

‘Councils across Britain have been accused of letting rogue landlords off the hook, after new figures revealed that most have failed to secure a single prosecution.’

Full Story

The Guardian, 28th October 2017

Source: www.theguardian.com

Don’t be late – Hardwicke Chambers

Posted October 20th, 2017 in budgets, civil procedure rules, costs, delay, news, sanctions, time limits by sally

‘Much has been written about the court’s discretion to grant relief from sanctions pursuant to CPR 3.9 over recent years, due to the reformulation of the rule in April 2013 and the landmark Court of Appeal decision in Mitchell MP v News Group Newspapers Ltd [2013]. The strictness of the approach in Mitchell led to an outcry from academics and practitioners, but that has now been allayed by the Court of Appeal in Denton v TH White Ltd [2014].’

Full Story

Hardwicke Chambers, 5th October 2017

Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk

Transactions in land tax rules: unexpected implications – OUT-LAW.com

Posted October 18th, 2017 in budgets, news, sale of land, taxation by sally

‘New ‘transactions in land’ UK tax rules took effect from 5 July 2016. The rules were aimed at larger property developers with the means to implement cross-border structures to avoid UK income or corporation tax.’

Full Story

OUT-LAW.com, 17th October 2017

Source: www.out-law.com

Understandable Relief – CPR 3.9 Appeal – Late Filing Of Costs Budget – Zenith PI

Posted October 17th, 2017 in appeals, budgets, civil procedure rules, costs, delay, news by tracey

‘I recently represented the Claimant/Appellant before HHJ Gosnell in Leeds in relation to an appeal against the refusal of an application for relief from sanctions at first instance. The appeal was successful, with relief being granted and the Claimant being permitted to rely on his costs budget, despite it having been served over two months late, rather than being treated as having filed a budget comprising only the applicable court fees.’

Full Story

Zenith PI, 16th October 2017

Source: zenithpi.wordpress.com

Senior judge warns over ‘shaming’ impact of legal aid cuts – The Guardian

‘One of the most senior family court judges has warned about the impact of legal aid cuts and said it was “shaming” to preside over cases in which individuals are forced to represent themselves.’

Full Story

The Guardian, 13th October 2017

Source: www.theguardian.com

Low-level crimes to go uninvestigated in Met police spending cuts – The Guardian

Posted October 16th, 2017 in budgets, crime, London, news, police by sally

‘The Metropolitan police are to stop investigating many lower level crimes as a result of spending cuts, a senior police officer has said.’

Full Story

The Guardian, 16th October 2017

Source: www.theguardian.com

Judge warns against ‘hindsight’ to justify indemnity costs – The Guardian

Posted October 10th, 2017 in budgets, costs, indemnities, negligence, news by sally

‘The High Court has rejected the chance to approve indemnity costs against a losing party after it found the bringing of the case could be justified.’

Full Story

The Guardian, 10th October 2017

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

High Court to hear appeal over decision to cut hourly rates in budget after doing same to incurred costs – Litigation Futures

Posted September 19th, 2017 in appeals, budgets, costs, news by tracey

‘The High Court is set to provide guidance on whether a costs judge who reduces the hourly rates for incurred costs should then do the same to budgeted costs.’

Full Story

Litigation Futures, 19th September 2017

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Court of Appeal hears key case on wellbeing provisions of Care Act 2014 – Local Government Lawyer

Posted August 22nd, 2017 in appeals, budgets, disabled persons, news by sally

‘The Court of Appeal last week heard a case under the Care Act 2014 for the first time, with a disabled man challenging a High Court decision that a county council had acted lawfully in deciding to reduce his weekly personal budget by 42%.’

Full Story

Local Government Lawyer, 21st August 2017

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

High Court approves increase to defendants’ £1.8m costs budget – Litigation Futures

Posted August 18th, 2017 in budgets, costs, news by sally

‘The High Court has approved an increase to defendants’ costs budget against the opposition of the claimants, a rare reported example of an application for variation.’

Full Story

Litigation Futures, 17th August 2017

Source: www.litigationfutures.com