Fuelling distrust of the courts
Ellie Cumbo, our head of public law, speaks with the Guardian about how attacks on judges and lawyers are fuelling distrust of the courts and the legal system.
The piece looks at the growth in the number of protesters citing 'wildly out of date' laws long superseded by the modern court system and civil procedure rules.
"You might ask whether some government rhetoric around judges, such as during the Brexit debate and the case relating to the prorogation of parliament, has played a role," she said.
Also picked up in JNews, MSN and Yahoo!
No justice without a defence
New Law Society research shows the number of duty solicitors under 35 has plummeted across England, which has prompted calls for the UK government to implement immediately the 15% funding increase recommended by an independent review.
Law Society president I. Stephanie Boyce tells the Gazette: "There can be no justice without a healthy defence profession and there can be no more delay in ensuring it remains available to all of us whenever we might need it."
SRA's fining powers should not be hiked to £25k
Inside Conveyancing, Legal Futures and the Gazette report our response to the Solicitors Regulation Authority's consultation on hiking its fining powers from £2,000 to £25,000.
I. Stephanie Boyce said: "We suggest a more appropriate rise – based on statistical data from the SDT [Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal] – would be somewhere between £5,000 to £7,500, based on analysis of previous fines imposed over the last three years."
Gender pay gap
Our gender pay gap report for 2021 is covered by Today's Family Lawyer.
"Around 61% of our workforce is female, with women continuing to be well represented across all pay quartiles," said a Law Society of England and Wales spokesperson.
"There is, however, still work to be done to ensure the gender balance in the upper middle and top quartiles better reflects the gender split in the rest of the group."
Leasehold reform becomes law
The Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act received Royal Assent last week. It will set the ground rent to zero on new leases from this summer and save future leaseholders hundreds of pounds a year.
We welcome the passing of the act.
I. Stephanie Boyce tells the Gazette: "Whilst this act will address ground rents for flats in new developments, the Law Society will continue to make the case for prospective buyers of leasehold properties in existing developments to be given key information about leasehold terms at the very beginning of the process, so they can make an informed decision as to whether to view a property.
"We secured several important improvements to the bill during its passage through parliament. We hope the act will create the foundation for a new regime for the ownership of flats and we await the further legislation that government has promised will be brought forward in this parliament."
Read more about leasehold reform
Also worth a read:
- Public inquiry will examine wrongful convictions of Post Office sub-postmasters and mistresses – BBC
- PM announces two new freeports in Scotland – FT (£)
- Ukraine crisis: urgent push to avoid war – Guardian
- Hackney bar collapse: Seven more people rescued – Sky News
- Winter Olympics: Kamila Valieva doping ban overturned – Mirror
- Salary wars: Junior lawyers should not accept exploitation – Gazette