All articles by David Pickup – Page 12
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News
A holistic approach
I have recently been on two courses on the forthcoming changes to the legal aid scheme. One was organised by the Law Society and the other by the Legal Services Commission. They were, more accurately, roadshows presented around the country and most were well supported. I will not say which ...
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News
Flotsam and jetsam
On a slow day recently I blew the dust off some files and looked in cabinet drawers that had not seen the light of day for many a year. When we started this firm I had one file for administration; now I have cabinets full of papers. So this was, ...
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News
Hiring and firing - duty solicitor rotas
There is scene near the beginning of Thomas Hardy’s Far from the Madding Crowd where the hero has just lost his farm. He goes to the local town for the annual hiring fair when farm workers get taken on in new jobs. Gabriel joins the crowd of unemployed men looking ...
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News
How to be an excellent work experience student
It is probably safe to come out of my room. Throughout the summer we have had the usual crop of internees, work experience candidates and volunteers - call them what you will. They were all keen, pleasant, polite, and frighteningly intelligent and some even really impressive. Work experience is an ...
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News
No holiday from clients
I am beginning to think that you and I are the only people who are not on holiday. Clients, judges, officers seem to go away. Everything gets slower at this time of year from the point of view of getting decisions and things done. Yet the pace of work in ...
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News
Ten reasons not to go on holiday
You can work on indemnity insurance proposal forms that are being sent daily by email, post, dx and by hand. Or alternatively use them to redecorate your office. You may miss your best ever case and your only chance to make legal history. Or you may ...
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News
Ten reasons not to go on holiday
You can work on indemnity insurance proposal forms that are being sent daily by email, post, dx and by hand. Or alternatively use them to redecorate your office. You may miss your best-ever case and your only chance to make legal history. Or you may ...
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News
End of term report on legal aid: could do better?
I do not think anyone would claim the legal aid scheme is perfect anymore than the NHS is. Far from it, most people would say, but both could be worse. The NHS has much more support from the public than legal aid is ever going to get. The perception of ...
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News
Mix and match
First let me say how pleased I am the Law Society backs the idea of a standard professional indemnity insurance proposal form. The process of getting quotes for indemnity insurance is made much more time-consuming by having to fill out a form for each broker or insurance company. I would ...
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News
Don't exclude future legal aid lawyers
I am disappointed to see that my name has been missed off both the Queen’s birthday honours list and the Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year (LALY). I suppose they should now be Public Funding Lawyer of the Year but PFLY (Phillies?) does not have the same ring to it. ...
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News
First in, last out
I was sat at my desk well before 8am on a day when I had had the possibility of a holiday but it had not happened for one reason or another. This happens if you are a partner: you earmark time off but something urgent always comes up. A colleague ...
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News
My first jumbo
I was reading one of those booklets that get sent out by indemnity insurers to remind us how to avoid claims. Most of them are very good. They are readable and clear and will not give you too many nightmares. No one likes waking up in the middle of court ...
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News
The right kind of feedback
This week in a gap between seeing clients I went to buy a light bulb for my car. I had noticed I had not been very bright (if you see what I mean). It is the sort of thing you usually never get around to sort out. Buying a new ...
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News
Green forms and fixed fees
I am impressed by the number of people who fondly (I think fondly is the correct word) remember Green forms. I wonder how many of you recall five-pound fixed fees. It had a certain ring to it. If your client was not eligible to sign the Green form then you'd ...
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News
Bring back Green forms
Those of us of a certain age will remember 'Green' forms. They covered legal advice and meant that virtually anyone could get advice on anything, from any solicitor, if they could not pay for it. You filled in the client’s means on the front and you had something called a ...
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News
Witnessing financial documents
A lady comes to the office clutching a mortgage and says it needs witnessing by a solicitor. She explains she is raising money to pay off the victims of her husband’s fraud. The solicitor advises her not to sign it and she goes off. The solicitor is later sued (probably ...
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News
Money and clients in 2012
There has been a bit in the press recently about the rush of clients we get the first day back at work after Christmas. It is a busy time for family lawyers as sadly there are many people wanting advice about divorce. I do not think it just that people ...
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News
New year resolutions
I was ill just before Christmas, which is not a good time to be off for various reasons. I will not bore you with the details but it was unpleasant. However, it gave me a chance to get up to speed on the mysterious world of daytime television. Most of ...
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News
A Christmas carol for solicitors
It was Christmas eve and I had invited the staff to have a festive drink with me. Sadly those who were still left in the office seemed to want to go as soon as possible so I decided not to waste the cooking sherry, and instead had value packets of ...
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News
Recruiting staff
We recently went through the process of advertising a vacancy. No really, we had an opening for another member of staff. We advertised online and in print. One of the main reasons to advertise a vacancy is really to advertise the firm. It tells people ...