Family
The power of words: project aims to change the language of family law
A project seeks to make family law easier to understand and less hostile – between both parties and lawyers – has been launched by a London solicitor.
Raab eyes “drastic action” to keep family disputes out of court
Justice secretary Dominic Raab is “in the market for something quite drastic and bold” to reduce the number of private law family cases in the courts, he said yesterday in a wide-ranging discussion.
Acting for both sides “may become the norm” in divorce work
A future where lawyers act for both sides of divorces as a matter of course and others exit regulation to offer a new kind of service has been sketched out by Resolution.
Toning down the theatrics: Barristers “less aggressive” in remote hearings
A significant number of expert witnesses who have been appeared in court remotely over the past 18 months say barristers have been “less aggressive” in their cross-examination.
Lawyers the only winners in “nihilistic” divorce dispute, says judge
The lawyers are the only beneficiaries of a “nihilistic” divorce dispute that has cost £2.3m in legal fees, with the couple’s children the main losers, a High Court judge has ruled.
Unbundled family law service to expand as SRA eyes pilot
A pilot version of an unbundled family law service for litigants in person has enabled them to save 70% on legal fees and is to be expanded; meanwhile, the SRA is to run its own unbundling pilot.
Judge dismisses 28 “identical” divorce petitions from online provider
The High Court has dismissed 28 divorce petitions drafted by online service iDivorces because they contained “absolutely identical” particulars. The company said the judge was “very understanding”.
Leading solicitors’ mobile phones hacked, Court of Appeal rules
The mobile phone of top solicitor Baroness Shackleton was hacked on the authority of the ruler of Dubai and she was alerted to it by Cherie Blair QC, an extraordinary Court of Appeal ruling has revealed.
MoJ: “Strong justification” for increasing 129 court fees
There is “strong justification” for increasing 129 court fees by inflation, backdated to 2016, the Ministry of Justice has said.
Start-ups boosted by £1.2m investment and top judge hire
PocketLaw, a start-up aiming to provide a one-stop shop for the legal needs of SMEs, has secured further funding of £1.2m, while an online divorce service has named a top judge as an advisor.
Blog
Change in regulator shouldn’t make AML less of a priority
While SRA fines for AML have been climbing, many in the profession aren’t confident they will get any relief from the FCA, a body used to dealing with a highly regulated industry.
There are 17 million wills waiting to be written
The main reason cited by people who do not have a will was a lack of awareness as to how to arrange one. As a professional community, we seem to be failing to get our message across.
The case for a single legal services regulator: why the current system is failing
From catastrophic firm collapses to endemic compliance failures, the evidence is mounting that the current multi-regulator model is fundamentally broken.
