Launch of The Student Lawyer online

Its great to to see a new online student magazine has launched over the summer, providing up to date news and views for young future lawyers.

The StudentLawyer (www.thestudentlawyer.com) is intended for law students of all levels, across the world and is entirely free. The StudentLawyer is packed full of up to the minute headlines, in depth and thought provoking features and a career roadmap: The Guide. The most important principle, always in the minds of the creators, was that the content should be accessible to young lawyers, no matter what stage they are at, their previous experience or knowledge and their background. They have also created an iPad edition, along with an iPhone version.

It can only be a good thing for young up and coming lawyers to have access to news and views of their peer group. Improved communication will help with the development of our profession, especially at a time of such change in the industry.

We wish them luck!

Why Should You Join one of The Inns of Court?

An interesting question was posted on  TraineeSolicitor.co.uk which we have used as inspiration for today's post!
"Does anyone have any advice about which Inn of Court they would suggest to join and why"
We felt that this warranted a lengthier response, as anyone wishing to train for the Bar must join one of the four Inns of Court as they alone have the power to call a student to the Bar.

They are Lincoln’s Inn, Inner Temple, Middle Temple and Gray’s Inn.

We asked Matthew Mason, In-house Counsel at MTA Solicitors LLP, for a little more insight in to the common considerations when making this important decision and the history behind this tradition.

The Inns are principally non-academic societies which provide collegiate and educational activities and support for barristers and student barristers. They all provide the use of a library, lunching and dining facilities, common rooms and gardens. They also provide a number of grants and scholarships for the various stages on the way to becoming a barrister. As well as awards and scholarships, the Inns are able to offer advice to their student members, for example, assistance with completing CVs and application forms for the Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC) and for pupillage. Each Inn also runs advocacy training courses for their pupils. These vary in format and length and combine advocacy training with lecturers on particular areas of law or forensic skills.

Late payment culture is getting worse

The trend towards delayed payment of invoices seems to have been made more prevalent since the recession took hold. Certainly we have noticed it. But the fact that so many businesses in the UK have become accepting of this 'late payment culture' is certainly a cause for concern as it is having major implications on the whole business community and economy.

 It is sad that it is the smaller businesses that take the strain and in the worst case scenarios have to fold.

 In some cases, there will be genuine reasons for late payments which are unavoidable but businesses shouldn't have to accept that this is somehow the 'inevitable' or the 'norm' because there are ways to combat this and keep your credit control in good shape.

 Without any current legislation in place, businesses need to have concrete terms and conditions in place and have the courage of their convictions to see them through. All too often businesses are allowed to get away with late payments as small businesses are worried about relationships souring and ruining repeat business.

 However business is business and cash flow is, and always will be king.

 More than 260 businesses across a number of industry sectors participated in a study recently, by positivecollections.co.uk, the online debt recovery service for businesses and consumers, which found that:

• Small to medium sized businesses are the most likely to suffer from late payers (with 74 per cent stating that they are likely to accept late payment excuses).
• 10 per cent of organisations avoid chasing debts in the first place as they are worried about losing future business or simply feel too uncomfortable about broaching the subject.
• 16.5% of businesses would try to chase debts but avoid legal action as they believe its too expensive

See www.positivecollections.co.uk

The Referrals Industry needs to be cleaned up not banned

The government is worried the current referral system has created a US-style "compensation culture", in which people are encouraged to launch frivolous claims by law firms who have bought their contact details and are offering to work on a "no win, no fee" basis.

Those in favour of a ban say it would force lawyers to win clients purely on the basis of quality and cost, as well as bringing legal fees down.

However a ban will make it harder for less well off people to gain access to justice, particularly if law firms are banned from working on a "no win, no fee" basis.

Handled correctly, the referrals system is a useful marketing tool for lawyers, and nothing more sinister for consumers than a form of targeted advertising.

The problems are occurring from unscrupulous claims management companies, who are illegally selling on details without the authority to do so. In this respect the industry needs to be cleaned up. 

However many insurers provide a valuable service in terms of quality control. service delivery and best practice for panel solicitors, which ultimately benefits the Client.

With Law firms having to work so much harder to stand out from the competition, something that is only going to get more difficult with the launch of the legal services act in October, it doesn't seem  fair  to ban a legitimate and successful marketing tool.

 

Phone Hacking at News of the World

The News of the World is in increasing dire straits this morning as allegations of phone hacking mount. If it is indeed true that the phones of Milly Dowler, Jessica Chapman, Holly Wells and the 7/7 victims among others, were hacked they are going to see the wrath of the nation in their sales figures.

 

People will have much more sympathy in these new cases than previous allegations of celebrities and politicians having their privacy invaded. The public horror that this kind of thing has gone on will no doubt have a massive impact on News of the World sales as people lash back in the only way they can and boycot the paper.

 

Already the News of World is seeing its advertising being pulled and mounting calls for Rebecah Brooks (nee Wade)  now Chief Executive of News International in the UK and previously the newspapers editor, to resign.

 

Business decisions have to be made but it just goes to show that even in the heat of the moment, when a deal is being done, you must act professionally, morally and do the right thing. Otherwise quite rightly you will pay the consequences. 

 

This is an interesting, informative blog on business ethics: http://tutor2u.net/business/strategy/business-ethics-introduction.html

 

Criminals could walk free if not charged in 96 hours - really?

This ruling announced today could have massive implications. Made by a district judge at Salford Magistrates' Court and backed by the High Court, the ruling means an end to the practice of releasing people on bail and calling them back for further questioning later - a common practice in most major inquiries.

Police forces can no longer put anyone out on bail for more than 96 hours without either being in a position to charge or release them. After the four days is up, officers can no longer question suspects and can only rearrest them if they have new evidence, the ruling says.

Apparently police chiefs have been left baffled by the "bizarre" ruling and both the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) are currently considering the ramifications for forces across England and Wales.

Surely the ruling will be overturned otherwise it will change the whole face of the justice system. There will be chaos, with many cases having to be shelved, to the massive to distress of victims. My guess is emergency legislation will have to be put in place. Let's wait and see.

New "Reasonable Force" Definition to help Homeowners and Smallshopkeepers?

Prime Minister David Cameron this week vowed to bring in stronger measures to protect homeowners defending their property.
He said: "We will put beyond doubt that homeowners and small shopkeepers who use reasonable force to defend themselves or their properties will not be prosecuted."


It will be interesting to see how this legislation develops and how the definition of 'reasonable force' pans out, as this, it seems to me will be the stumbling block

Already an extreme case has been highlighted today where a burglar has been stabbed by a homeowner in Salford near Manchester and subsequently died from his injuries. The home owner is in custody. See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-13885457  Surely it will still have to be assessed on a case by case basis, depending on the threat and the action taken in defence.

For more information about Property Law and Disputes please visit  http://www.mtasolicitors.com/Services/Civil_Litigation/Default.aspx