Law firm announces training scheme for graduates
A new training programme offering a different route to qualifying as a solicitor has been launched by a northern based law firm. Cartmell Shepherd Solicitors, which operates across Cumbria and Northumberland, say the new scheme will provide opportunities for new recruits to work while they study. The firm state the training programme offers law graduates […]
The modern family: Juggling mixed families
There is no denying that modern family life is constantly evolving. The traditional family structure of a married heterosexual couple with 2.4 biological children is not as commonplace as it once was. The “blended” and “cohabiting” family model with children from previous marriages, a rise in second (and sometimes third and fourth) marriages, civil partnerships […]
Lubna Shuja inaugurated as president of the Law Society
The Law Society of England and Wales has confirmed that Lubna Shuja was this week inaugurated as its 178th president, becoming the first Asian, first Muslim, and seventh female president of the Society. This is the first time in the organisation’s 200-year history there will be two consecutive female presidents. What’s more, one of the […]
Report recommends overhaul of family justice system in effort to improve access to justice
All-party law reform group JUSTICE has published its latest report – “Improving Access to Justice for Separating Families”. It makes 43 ambitious but realistic recommendations related to child arrangements problems and their resolution in England and Wales. The central question for their Working Party of experts has been how to better secure access to justice […]
Women’s Aid and Mothers’ Union launch campaign to end domestic abuse
The charity Mothers’ Union has joined together in partnership with Women’s Aid to support the Come Together to End Domestic Abuse campaign, urging everyone to play their part in ending domestic abuse. Women’s Aid estimate that 1.6 million women experience domestic abuse every year, though many victims don’t report abuse due to fear of being judged […]
Figures reveal domestic abusers breaching protective orders rising, but convictions falling
Victims state orders “aren’t worth the paper they’re written on” Government figures for domestic abuse protection orders shows prosecutions for breaching protective orders have fallen by 40% in recent years, despite reported breaches rising. These orders aim to protect victims from their abusers, but figures indicate that these are not being properly enforced by the […]
Children’s Commissioner sets out visions and ambitions for children’s mental health
The Children’s Commissioner for England, Dame Rachel de Souza, has published a report detailing her vision for children’s mental health as part of a wider effort to improve children’s health, wellbeing, and care. Here’s what De Souza had to say. Today, I am publishing a report, “A Head Start: Early support for children’s mental health”, […]
“Embryonic” Family Court for Non-Muslims put to the test
London-based Burgess Mee Family Law has advised on a reported precedent-setting forum case that impacts divorcing internationals based in the UAE. The Burgess Mee team, led by partner Natalie Sutherland and assisted by senior associate Olive Gathoni and paralegal, now pupil barrister, Eno Elezi, advised an Abu Dhabi-based British man whose wife had issued divorce […]
Ofsted renews focus on early help for families
New guidance has been published by Ofsted in relation to its thematic focus on early help for families as part of their programme of joint targeted area inspections (JTAIs). Local areas’ multi-agency arrangements for helping children and families early will be the focus of upcoming thematic JTAIs carried out by Ofsted, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and […]
High Court rules on disadvantageous post-nuptial terms in guideline ruling
Pre-nuptial and post-nuptial agreements that do not fairly meet the “reasonable needs” of one divorcing party or the other are unlikely to be worth the paper they are written on. The High Court made that point in refusing to hold a wife to the disadvantageous terms of one such agreement. The couple’s tempestuous marriage lasted […]
Why has family law arbitration never really taken off?
As the pressure to divert the disputes between separating couples away from the court system to alternative forms of dispute resolution, such as mediation, it is perplexing that there is not more reliance on the arbitration route for couples. It is more cost-effective and gives parties significantly more control over timings, procedure and expenses. So, […]
Cyber attacks in the legal sector
It can’t have escaped your notice the spate of highly publicised cyber attacks hitting the legal sector, Ward Hadaway, The Bar Council and Bar Standards Board and Tuckers have all been crippled making firms sit up and take notice. Types of attacks hitting the legal sector In the world of cybercrime Law firms’ data is […]
