J Howard Shelley

  • Letters
    Opinion

    Slaying the costs monster

    1 October 2018

    Time to simplify absurdity of costs arrangements.

  • Opinion

    ​Barrier grief

    9 October 2017

    ‘Wild West Law’ seems like a good name for a thrusting firm of media lawyers (‘Chancery Lane slams “Wild West” regulation’, 2 October)

  • Opinion

    ​Justice is not a feminist issue

    10 April 2017

    Prison does not work for anyone, woman or man. The criminal justice system needs to be rethought for everyone

  • Car crash
    Opinion

    PI: putting a premium on ethics

    28 November 2016

    Insurance companies need to tackle fraudulent claims more robustly and handle reasonable claims in person with more sensitivity.

  • Opinion

    A matter of public interest

    29 February 2016

    The AG is a lawyer and therefore independent, in theory, but he is also a member of Cabinet and open to accusations of ostensible bias.

  • Opinion

    Priced out of justice

    28 September 2015

    The cost of securing an award of damages on behalf of a client.

  • Opinion

    Squeezing out claims

    23 March 2015

    Access to justice is becoming a qualified right which is obliged to be set against the contents of the public purse.

  • Opinion

    Dissenting on judicial diversity

    12 January 2015

    Here is my ‘narrow’ set of parameters.

  • Opinion

    Salford civil centre: playing it safe

    14 July 2014

    Until Salford claims centre can be trusted with electronic money transfers, I’ll stick to cheques – at least they can be stopped.

  • Opinion

    No head for management

    28 April 2014

    Effective management requires a very wide focus and arguably therefore the best lawyers are likely to be the worst managers.

  • Opinion

    Aggression will trump co-operation

    27 January 2014

    In case management the pendulum has swung too far the other way – parties will deliberately make the opponent’s life difficult.

  • News

    Poor argument

    2012-06-08T00:00:00

    I can see the argument that trainee minimum salaries amount to an anti-competitive measure. If the SRA had justified its decision to abolish the minimum on those grounds I might not have been driven to comment, but the suggestion by the regulator that this measure will result in greater diversity ...

  • News

    Passing the buck

    2012-03-15T00:00:00

    I was consulted by a client who had become completely lost in the claims management process, and even now I am unsure that I have managed to untangle the complex relationships between the various corporate bodies involved.

  • News

    Pots and kettles

    2011-09-29T00:00:00

    I read Guy Platt-Higgins' comments about referral fees with interest (see [2011] Gazette, 22 September, 13). I should set out my stall. I am absolutely opposed to referral fees as I consider them incompatible with a profession that holds itself out as adhering to the highest ethical standards.

  • News

    Misinformed view that legal aid is too easily available

    2011-08-04T00:00:00

    I write in response to Mr Comport’s letter. I do not think he is ‘reactionary’ in respect of legal aid – he voices the legitimately held view of many people in the UK. I do however think he is misinformed.

  • News

    Insurer confusion

    2011-07-07T00:00:00

    The tedious discussions regarding whether referral fees are right in principle or unacceptably distort the market will undoubtedly continue ad nauseam.

  • News

    Respect atheism

    2011-05-26T00:00:00

    I am an atheist who is married to a Christian and who is the father of another Christian.

  • News

    Don't worry about swear fees

    2011-03-17T00:00:00

    I cannot agree with R M Napier . The reality is that swearing documents is now an anachronistic process that should be consigned to the dustbin of legal history. Few documents now need to be sworn and, where they do, it serves little purpose and is very inconvenient for ...

  • News

    Unbalancing the scales of justice

    2011-02-02T00:00:00

    I admit to a certain amount of grim amusement at the howls of protest from the profession at the proposals in respect of legal aid and conditional free agreements (I have clients who fund their cases under both regimes).

  • News

    Audit training

    2010-12-02T00:00:00

    A law degree (or CPD) plus Legal Practice Course is insufficient preparation for practice, and so there has to be an element of practical training. At the moment there is little quality control of training contracts; if you can last the two years, then you are in.

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