'Tis the season

The profession may have suffered a few bumps and scrapes, but here we are, still standing and looking ahead to 2015.

Throughout the year we have been tracking Chris Grayling as if he were the last turkey at Christmas. John van der Luit-Drummond recounts Grayling's year with a few suggestions as to why he might be glad to bid farewell to 2014, not least with the news that, as Lord Chancellor, he was once again left embarrassed after another High Court defeat. And, to compound matters further, there is the news that the Law Society is seeking a judicial review of the legal aid crime tender process. There will be a lot of paper to tear through before that present is eventually delivered sometime next year.

After the festive break we will be racing downhill to a general election. The season of peace and goodwill doesn't seem to have settled on Westminster just yet, though. Fighting talk was heard at Deputy Prime Minister's Questions this week and the first round was all about women.

Harriet Harman locked horns with PM2, Nick Clegg. The ears of many employment lawyers pricked at Harman's announcement that there had been a 95 per cent reduction in sex discrimination claims since the Coalition came to power. The introduction of tribunal fees - still under review - and the rise in costs risks for most claimants has led again to a 60 per cent reduction on claims year on year.

Yet, with the last quarter of tribunal statistics just released, claims of sex discrimination still stand at 17 per cent. Surely, in a country that introduced legislation outlawing discrimination in 1975, these claims should be non-existent?

The profession appears to be leading by example, as it is all change at the top of our various regulators. Enid Rowlands will take up her role as chair of the SRA at the start of the year and Catherine Dixon as the Law Society CEO. Across at CILEx, Mandie Lavin will replace Diane Burleigh OBE, and there will soon be a space at ILEX Professional Standards as its long-standing leader, Ian Watson, steps down in the spring. With such leadership in place, the profession is in a strong position to address head on any continuing gender imbalance.

Finally, whether you've been naughty or nice, may you get all you deserve, perhaps a kiss under the mistletoe and enjoy a wonderful New Year. We'll be back in print on 13 January 2015, but keep up to date with any breaking news at www.solicitorsjournal.co.uk and on Twitter @SJ_weekly.

Happy holidays! 

Kevin Poulter, editor at large

#SJPOULTER

editorial@solicitorsjournal.co.uk

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