Category: practice directions

Lawyers highlight poor practice in private law cases and the impact on families – Transparency Project

Posted February 17th, 2020 in domestic violence, false accounting, families, family courts, news, practice directions by sally

‘A new research report paints a very alarming picture of the way in which some family courts are dealing with cases where there is domestic abuse, ignoring the procedures put in place by court rules. Academics at the University of Sussex conducted a survey of 88 lawyers who act in private law proceedings in Sussex.’

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Transparency Project, 14th February 2020

Source: www.transparencyproject.org.uk

‘The crisis in private law’ – by Sir James Munby – Transparency Project

Posted February 11th, 2020 in children, families, family courts, news, practice directions by sally

‘This is a talk by Sir James Munby (lately President of the Family Division of the High Court of Justice of England and Wales) at the Conference in Edinburgh on 10 February 2020 of Shared Parenting Scotland.’

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Transparency Project, 10th February 2020

Source: www.transparencyproject.org.uk

President in call for evidence as part of Transparency Review in Family Court – Local Government Lawyer

Posted February 4th, 2020 in anonymity, confidentiality, family courts, news, practice directions by sally

‘The President of the Family Division, Sir Andrew McFarlane, has issued a call for evidence as part of the Family Court’s ‘Transparency Review’.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 4th February 2020

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Disclosure pilot for the Business & Property Courts – Counsel

Posted December 5th, 2019 in budgets, codes of practice, costs, courts, disclosure, news, pilot schemes, practice directions by sally

‘A cut out & keep guide to Practice Direction 51U and overview of the changes to disclosure procedures in the Business and Property Courts.’

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Counsel, December 2019

Source: www.counselmagazine.co.uk

Counsel’s fee in portal drop-out case included in fixed costs – Litigation Futures

Posted October 30th, 2019 in accidents, appeals, barristers, children, civil procedure rules, compensation, costs, fees, interpretation, news, personal injuries, practice directions, road traffic, solicitors by sally

‘Counsel’s fees for an opinion on quantum in a traffic accident involving a child are included in the fixed costs for the case and cannot be claimed separately, the Court of Appeal has ruled.’

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Litigation Futures, 30th October 2019

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

‘One lawyer is enough’: family judge issues court guidance – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted October 14th, 2019 in family courts, legal representation, news, practice directions by tracey

‘Solicitors with cases being heard at Central Family Court have been told they do not always have to turn up with their barristers. The suggestion is one of 24 contained in wellbeing guidance issued this month by His Honour Judge Robin Tolson QC.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 11th October 2019

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Cut-off between budgeted and incurred costs to be clarified – Litigation Futures

Posted September 19th, 2019 in budgets, civil procedure rules, costs, drafting, news, practice directions by tracey

‘A change to the CPR coming into force on 1 October should provide clearer guidance on the cut-off between budgeted and incurred costs, it has been argued.’

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Litigation Futures, 19th September 2019

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

High Court: Silence in disciplinary proceedings can lead to adverse inferences – Legal Futures

Posted August 19th, 2019 in civil justice, criminal justice, disciplinary procedures, judicial review, news, practice directions, solicitors, tribunals by tracey

‘Disciplinary proceedings are not a “criminal/civil hybrid” and tribunals may draw adverse inferences from respondents staying silent, the High Court has made clear.’

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Legal Futures, 19th August 2019

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Expert Evidence on Share Valuations: When to use hot tubbing in unfair prejudice petitions – 4 New Square

Posted August 1st, 2019 in accountants, civil procedure rules, company law, expert witnesses, news, practice directions, shareholders, unfairly prejudicial conduct by sally

‘A critical part of any unfair prejudice petition is the valuation of the minority shareholding. Paul Mitchell QC and Nigel Burroughs of 4 New Square were counsel on different sides in Swain v Swains Plc, a case in which the expert share valuation evidence was taken concurrently. They look at the pros and cons of hot tubbing, and offer practical advice on how to approach the way experts should give their evidence.’

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4 New Square, 22nd July 2019

Source: www.4newsquare.com

CA threatens costs penalty for non-compliant authority bundles – Litigation Futures

Posted July 23rd, 2019 in appeals, case management, costs, judgments, law reports, news, penalties, practice directions by sally

‘The Court of Appeal has warned parties that they can expect to be denied recovery of the costs of preparing non-compliant bundles of authorities.’

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Litigation Futures, 22nd July 2019

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Family President to issue guidance to courts on secure accommodation placements and statutory regime – Local Government Lawyer

Posted May 15th, 2019 in children, families, family courts, housing, local government, news, practice directions, statistics, statutory duty, weapons by sally

‘The President of the Family Division has said he will issue practice guidance to the courts before the end of July so that more can be done to bring secure accommodation placements within the statutory regulatory scheme.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 14th May 2019

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

The President’s guidance on anonymisation in published judgments – Transparency Project

Posted March 13th, 2019 in anonymity, child abuse, children, codes of practice, expert witnesses, families, family courts, judgments, news, practice directions, privacy by sally

‘On 7 December 2018, Sir Andrew McFarlane, the President of the Family Division, issued some practice guidance to judges entitled Practice Guidance: anonymisation and avoidance of the identification of children and the treatment of explicit descriptions of the sexual abuse of children in judgments intended for the public arena(see January [2019] Fam Law 68). In it, he refers to a report written by Julia Brophy and published by the Association of Lawyers for Children (ALC) in July 2016 (J Brophy, Anonymisation and avoidance of the identification of children and the treatment of explicit descriptions of the sexual abuse of children in judgments intended for the public arena: judicial guidance, available on the ALC and Nuffield Foundation websites).’

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Transparency Project, 12th March 2019

Source: www.transparencyproject.org.uk

Closed judgments: security, accountability and court processes – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted January 28th, 2019 in closed material, disclosure, evidence, human rights, immigration, news, practice directions by sally

‘A new practice direction reveals some valuable progress in the management of closed judgments, but leaves uncertainty and, very worryingly, indicates that some judgments will be destroyed.’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 25th January 2019

Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com

Analysis: New Practice Direction signals further step forward for online divorce – Family Law

Posted January 24th, 2019 in divorce, electronic filing, families, internet, litigants in person, news, pilot schemes, practice directions by tracey

‘Emma Chowdhury, of the International Family Law Group, discusses new Practice Direction FPR 2010 PD 36L whichs allow some litigants in person to pilot the next stage of the online divorce system.’

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Family Law, 24th January 2019

Source: www.familylaw.co.uk

Experts’ Agendas – a Warning from the Bench – No. 5 Chambers

Posted December 14th, 2018 in civil procedure rules, expert witnesses, news, practice directions by sally

‘“It certainly should not become routine to provide two versions which, as here, travel over much of the same ground. That approach tests the patience of the experts (and frankly of the court); produces a lengthier joint statement; potentially increases costs and is simply not the best way to focus on the issues. I do not think that anything further needs to be said or done in this case. However, if this worrying trend continues, parties may find that courts begin considering costs consequences.” – Mrs Justice Yip commenting on the experts’ agendas in the recent case of Welsh v Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust 2018 EWHC 1917 QB.’

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No. 5 Chambers, 10th December 2018

Source: www.no5.com

Speech by the Right Honourable Lady Justice Rafferty to the Criminal Law Review Conference – Courts and Tribunals Judiciary

Posted December 13th, 2018 in criminal justice, criminal procedure, judges, practice directions, speeches by tracey

‘Speech by the Right Honourable Lady Justice Rafferty to the Criminal Law Review Conference.’

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Courts and Tribunals Judiciary, 12th December 2018

Source: www.judiciary.gov

New pilot FPR 2010, PD 36J – attendance at court of ‘legal bloggers’ – Family Law

Posted August 29th, 2018 in family courts, media, news, pilot schemes, practice directions, reporting restrictions by sally

‘A pilot Practice Direction 36J comes into force on 1 October 2018 to allow certain lawyers to attend family proceedings in the Family Court and Family Division of the High Court with a view to reporting on proceedings. These persons are colloquially described as ‘legal bloggers’. The pilot will run for nine months and concludes on 30 June 2019.’

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Family Law, 27th August 2018

Source: www.familylaw.co.uk

International child abduction proceedings: key points to note from the latest President’s guidance – Family Law

Posted March 23rd, 2018 in case management, child abduction, family courts, news, practice directions by tracey

‘On 13 March 2018, a new practice direction was issued by the President concerning Case Management and Mediation of International Child Abduction Proceedings.
A practice direction tells anyone involved in judicial proceedings how to manage the case and interpret the Court rules. The practice guidance has been issued by the President to ensure all applications are appropriately case managed – whether commenced by a without notice application or on notice. The guidance deals with a number of aspects of child abduction proceedings, but practitioners should take note in particular of the changes made in relation to without notice applications and mediation.’

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Family Law, 21st March 2018

Source: www.familylaw.co.uk

Costs judge calls for “authoritative guidance” on applications by former clients for their files – Litigation Futures

Posted February 5th, 2018 in civil procedure rules, costs, documents, law firms, news, practice directions, solicitors by sally

‘Authoritative guidance on whether clients can demand their full files from previous solicitors would help the Senior Courts Costs Office deal with the large number of applications it is facing, a costs judge has said.’

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Litigation Futures, 2nd February 2018

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

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

Posted December 4th, 2017 in budgets, Civil Justice Council, costs, evidence, expert witnesses, news, practice directions by sally

‘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.’

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Litigation Futures, 1st December 2017

Source: www.litigationfutures.com