• Legal Ombudsman wins Capacity Appeal

    Legal Ombudsman wins Capacity Appeal

    The Court of Appeal has reinstated a LeO finding against a family law firm over capacity and compensation. The court has reinstated an ombudsman decision that Aina Khan Law failed to assess a family client’s capacity properly and should pay…

  • Dieselgate Claimants hit by Service Failure

    Dieselgate Claimants hit by Service Failure

    Five thousand Dieselgate claimants have run into the least glamorous wall in civil litigation: effective service. A High Court master has refused to let the claimants join the Peugeot, Citroen and DS part of the Pan-NOx emissions litigation after their…

  • Solicitor struck off over client Money Misuse

    Solicitor struck off over client Money Misuse

    A veteran solicitor has been struck off after admitting he billed clients for work he had not done to stop his firm exceeding its overdraft. The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal heard that Mark Grenville Davies, admitted in 1985, improperly billed on…

  • Post Office lawyer prosecutions begin at SDT

    Post Office lawyer prosecutions begin at SDT

    The Post Office scandal has at last produced disciplinary charges against solicitors, though not the sort many campaigners had been waiting for. The SRA has named Jane MacLeod, the former Post Office general counsel, and Nick Gould as the first…

  • Free Court Transcripts Campaign Gathers Support

    Free Court Transcripts Campaign Gathers Support

    Open justice has discovered the ancient British art of saying “of course you may” while quietly reaching for the card machine. A cross-party early day motion is calling for court transcripts to be made freely available. The idea is almost…

  • School phone ban becomes statutory guidance

    School phone ban becomes statutory guidance

    Updated Department for Education guidance became statutory on 29 June. Schools in England should begin following it from 1 September. The guidance says schools should be mobile phone-free by default and should prohibit the use of phones and similar smart…

  • Rough sleeping no longer a crime in England

    Rough sleeping no longer a crime in England

    The Vagrancy Act was law written in the tone of a man irritated that poverty had chosen to be visible. On 29 June, the government repeals the remaining 1824 provisions which criminalised rough sleeping and begging. That ends a 202-year…

  • Crown Court backlog Jury Trials

    Crown Court backlog Jury Trials

    The Crown Court backlog has fallen by 37 cases, which is the justice-system equivalent of tidying one teaspoon in a burning kitchen. Fresh court figures show a tiny fall in the Crown Court open caseload while the row over restricting…