Family

Articles

Who you gonna call?

The green paper post-mortem paints a bleak picture of what civil legal aid provision will look like if the MoJ gets its way. For firms intent on continuing to provide legal aid services, the proposed ten per cent fee cut will slice such a large chunk off their thin profit margins that their very existence will be in question, possibly leaving only large volume suppliers in that space. Some sectors are already predicting that practices will have to turn away half of their clients, making substantial restructures, redundancies and closures a distinct possibility. So, as firms begin to digest the details of the coalition's consultation on legal aid cuts, the worst hit offer a snapshot of what their services may look like come the revolution.

Update: family

Lynne Passmore reviews Radmacher and the future of prenups, document disclosure, the extravagant lifestyle of a divorcing couple, and a TOLATA claim on the significance of the parties being engaged

Out in the cold

Lawyers must step in to fight the systematic neglect of homeless people caused by cash-strapped councils, says Zia Nabi

Update: commercial property

Ben Brayford and Eugene McMahon consider the recent OFT guidance on land agreements, what recent case law tells us about tenants' break clauses and a ruling on how to fend off a fixtures and fittings dispute

Public backs legal aid for child protection but not divorce

The public believes child protection should be the priority for civil legal aid funding but divorce-related work should come last.

Cruising in

Does the new legal offering from the AA and Saga pose a real threat to traditional law firms? Jean-Yves Gilg investigates

Lawyers hit back at victims' champion's attack on criminal justice system

Calls from the victims' commissioner to save cash by blocking jury trials for either-way offences have been ridiculed as “disjointed and haphazard”.

Labour's ASBO apparatchik warned to keep her hands off trial by jury

Calls from the victims' commissioner to save cash by blocking jury trials for either way offences have been ridiculed as "disjointed and haphazard".