NEWS... NEWS... NEWS
check here for the latest news from access law
Latest News added at the top!
July results:-
- 60 new client instructions in July including 41 family cases and 8 conveyancing;
- 31 of these clients (52%) were Legal Aid cases;
- Over 77% of our new instructions came to us as established clients or by way of some form of recommendation or referral (many thanks to the increasing number of Solicitors, Estate Agents, Brokers, Established Clients and others who continue to refer clients to us);
- We answered a 22 email requests for advice and information in July including 11 on family matters and 6 conveyancing and received 2 new client instructions as a result.
access law passes LSC Financial Stewardship Audit
On 28th July 2010 the Legal Services Commission conducted a Financial Stewardship Audit of access law, sampling 20 randomly-selected case files and analysing them to check we had conducted the cases properly, particularly with respect to monies claimed from the LSC for work undertaken. We passed this audit with no corrective action required.
access law secures Legal Aid contracts
From October 2010 the LSC are awarding
contracts authorising firms to offer Legal Aid services under various
categories of work. These contracts require that firms have
qualified specialists in the appropriate categories of work and also
stipulate that firms meet defined standards of quality service.
access law have been awarded contracts under this procedure to carry
out Legal Aid work in Family (including divorce, children disputes,
finances and care work); Child Abduction; and Mental Health.
The awarding of contracts for family cases is based on a points system
depending on the number of specialists, number of cases undertaken in
the past and quality of service. access law obtained maximum
points under this system and were ranked Number 1 in the Southampton
Procurement Area.
News Archive
access law passes Legal Services Commission audit with flying colours!
On 10th December 2009 access law were audited by the Legal Services Commission (LSC) and passed with no remedial action or rectification of any kind required. In his letter to access law, the auditor stated:-
"... I have not asked for any corrective action to be carried out. The audit is clearly excellent and you and your team should be very pleased with the outcome"
Derek Parsons has become an accredited member of the Law Society
Family Law Advanced Panel which signifies his expertise in complex family law cases, particularly matters of child abduction and children cases.
access law passes SRA audit
On 5-6th February 2008 access law was subject to a routine audit by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and passed with just a few minor amendments required (which have already been made).
Wendy Hewstone appointed to the Law Society Access to Justice Committee
In January 2008 Wendy Hewstone was officially appointed to the Law Society Access to Justice Committee
Wendy Hewstone elected to the Law Society Council
In November 2007 Wendy Hewstone was elected to the Law Society Council as the Legal Aid Practitioners Group (LAPG) representative.
Derek Parsons comments on the McCartney v Mills divorce
In a letter to The Observer newspaper published 11th November 2007, Derek Parsons commented on the very public divorce of Paul McCartney and Heather Mills:-
"...As
a divorce lawyer of some 20 years who has dealt with those whom I would
describe as 'high profile', the difference between my cases and the
McCartney v Mills case is that, in the latter, both parties are seeking
to court public opinion. What is no different, and this applies to
virtually every divorce case, is that each party feels the other is
plotting revenge. The reality is often that the other is actually only
thinking of themselves.
... if Heather (Mills) kept a dignified silence then I suspect public opinion would be more sympathetic"
Wendy Hewstone contributes to the debate on the future of Legal Aid
On 19th March 2007 Wendy Hewstone appeared on BBC Radio 5 Live where the proposed changes to Legal Aid were discussed with Caroline Regan, Chief Executive of the Legal Services Commission (LSC). Wendy argued that although the LSC wanted to improve quality of service to the Clients, this would not be possible unless adequate funding was made available to allow firms to cover their overheads and expenses.
Wendy Hewstone interviewed on the BBC's Politics Show
On 18th February 2007 Wendy Hewstone was interviewed on the BBC's Politics Show (see also The BBC's Politics Show page). The BBC reported:-
"40%
of her (Wendy's) firm's workload is legal aid funded but she thinks
they will have to scale back the amount they do. That will mean having
to turn people away."
'If it
is a domestic violence case we try to go to court the same day with the
client to get an injunction. But if we cannot take action immediately
the person could be assaulted again'"
Legal Services Commission Contract Audit
On 20th April 2006 we underwent our first Legal Services Commission Contract Audit and passed with flying colours with only one minor problem which was rectified immediately.
Derek Parsons Interviewed on Radio Solent
On 7th March 2006 Derek contributed to a discussion on Radio Solent concerning the Hague Convention regarding a case where a mother had brought her children home to England from Switzerland where they had been brought up and was ordered to return them as she had breached the Convention. As a member of Reunite with many years experience in such cases, Derek was able to provide the legal background to what is a very emotive and controversial issue.
Wendy Hewstone's article in the April 2008 issue of the Legal Aid Review, published by the Legal Aid Practitioner's Group (LAPG) entitled "Shades of Grey" provided information and advice to other Solicitors together with commentary on the LSC's Key Performance Indicators:-
"[outcomes] cannot be judged in such monochrome terms as the LSC seems to require - family cases often have shades of grey"
Wendy Hewstone's article in the June 2007 issue of the Legal Aid Review, published by the Legal Aid Practitioner's Group (LAPG)
entitled "Changes on the Horizon" provided an overview of some of the
changes to the Legal Aid scheme in relation to Family Law and expressed
concern about how these proposals would affect the provision of Legal
Aid and create so-called "advice deserts" where in some regions no law
firm is available to provide advice:-
"...the proposals do not seem to be complying with the stated aim [of the Legal Services Commission] of ensuring quality justice is available to all and it is likely the issue of 'advice deserts' will continue."
Wendy Hewstone's article entitled "Domestic Violence, Contact and Legal
Aid" in the March 2007 Legal Aid Review, published by the Legal Aid Practitioner's Group (LAPG)
highlighted concerns about the Courts allowing contact in cases where
there have been allegations of violence and in particular the need for
specialist lawyers and the problems over provision of Legal Aid:-
"where are these specially trained lawyers going to be found... particularly after October 2007 when the new Legal Aid changes are likely to come in?"
Wendy Hewstone's article in the December 2006 Legal Aid Review, published by the Legal Aid Practitioner's Group (LAPG) was entitled "What wouldn't we do?". It took a humorous look at some of the stranger incidents that have occurred in her 22 years as a Legal Aid lawyer but the underlying message was clear:-
"we are not fat cat lawyers but the fourth emergency service on a par health and educational providers"
"These varied and challenging cases (as described in the article) show that a small firm has been able to help disadvantaged and dispossessed people. It also shows that that each case is very different and that the 'one size fits all' fixed fees approach does not work"
In an article published in the January/February 2006 edition of Delia
Venables' Internet Newsletter for Lawyers, Gordon Hewstone questioned
the usefulness and necessity of Case Management Systems for
conveyancing:-
"Any computer-based system is at best only as good as the people operating it. Our conveyancing is always done by a Solicitor - who (and this may come as a bit of a shock to some) can actually remember details about a case without the need of a case management system. We are not dependant on underpaid and overworked clerks inputting data, or on systems which force us along rigid and inflexible flow charts which exclude flexibility, intelligence and common sense or on the whims of monolithic IT companies who want us to bend to their concepts of workflow."
Read the full article here
Wendy Hewstone contributed to an article on Domestic Violence published
in The Law Society Gazette which included the following:-
"We need more criminal prosecutions for domestic violence, which despite being as much of an assault as any other, is often treated as a lesser offence. We still have people coming to us who have been told by the police to obtain an injunction, rather than the police conducting an arrest and criminal investigation."
Read the full article here
