Features

Giles Murphy and Rachel Stone suggest how to improve financial discipline and create a clear human resources policy within chambers. In any professional services business, having good people and sufficient cash are pre-requisites. However, in many chambers, both often receive insufficient attention. So what should you be doing to reduce risk and maximize the opportunity from both?   

As a minimum, the management team should receive a set of regular management accounts on at least a monthly basis. The management accounts need to be accurate, but more crucially, they need to be timely. It is much better to have a prompt set of management accounts, say within 10 days of the month end that incorporate some estimated figures, than to wait several months for precise data which is then out of date. 

Dr Fiona Leverick discusses the role of the UK’s Supreme Court in Scottish criminal matters

The recent judgments of the United Kingdom Supreme Court in Cadder v HM Advocate [2010] UKSC 43 and Fraser v HM Advocate [2011] UKSC 24 have whipped up something of a storm in Scotland. In Cadder, the Supreme Court (“SC”) overturned a decision of seven judges of the Scottish High Court of Justiciary (“HCJ”) and held that the use at trial of admissions made by a suspect who had not been offered legal assistance violated his right to a fair trial under art 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights (“ECHR”). In Fraser, the SC quashed the conviction of the defendant on the basis that he had been denied a fair trial due to the non-disclosure of information by the Crown. His appeal had been unanimously refused by the HCJ. 

John Maher recommends the wines from Valencia.   

They make a perfect accompaniment to every dish, he enthuses. 

John Maher recommends the wines from Valencia.   

They make a perfect accompaniment to every dish, he enthuses. 

Toby Craig and Charles Hale give Counsel an overview of this year’s party conferences

When surveying the Parliamentary terrain, particularly over the course of party conferences, there are always particular issues or events which stand out and capture the imagination. It might be a policy division, a sartorial misjudgement, or a “catty” remark in a speech. It is also an opportune moment for negative stories, which have been in the pipelines, to spill out. This year’s conferences proved no exception, though understandably, most eyes fell on the Conservative conference, which drew in the largest numbers. 

Matthew Amey looks at the removal of recoverability of success fees and ATE insurance premiums, and the impact this will have on commercial litigation counsel

Losing recoverability means losing control. Over the past decade, not all barristers have  embraced the idea of sharing risk with their clients through conditional fee arrangements (‘CFAs’). Indeed, some  felt that it adversely affected their independence when providing advice to the client, particularly with regard to settlement offers. 

Timothy Hanson explains the role of the Jurats in the Channel Islands and asks whether this is a system that the English courts should adopt.  

Many legal systems place great importance upon lay persons adjudicating in courts and tribunals but how those persons are chosen, the precise role that they perform and the qualities that they are supposed to bring to the legal process are issues that often excite lively debate. 

An enthusiastic return to the Temple and to Chambers as the summer fades away and autumn begins to fall 

October 10, 2011: “The robbed that smiles, steals something from the thief.” ~William Shakespeare, Othello

Dr Kevin Smith discusses the revised Achieving Best Evidence guidance aimed at improving the quality of video-recorded interviews in criminal proceedings. He also analyses the implications of recent amendments to special measures legislation 

Adam Sampson, Chief Legal Ombudsman, looks at the impact of Alternative Business Structures on the Bar itself and its reputation, and at whether it is ever appropriate to name a lawyer involved in a complaint.  

I know from the barristers I talk to that the term “Alternative Business Structures” is not exactly on the tip of every counsel’s tongue. So few of you I suspect have been following the fall-out from the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s recent announcement that the October deadline for their launch was not going to be met. But as with many of the changes the profession is facing, what is happening in one area of the profession potentially has major implications for their colleagues elsewhere.