Autumn Budget
The Times (£) reports that criminal barristers may go on strike again as they claim the latest budget won’t reduce the Crown Court backlog or increase legal aid fees. Their view is that the 5.6 per cent increase for the Ministry of Justice will go mostly towards prisons and probation service.
Law Society president Richard Atkinson said that it “remains uncertain … whether the vital funding needed in civil and criminal legal aid and to address growing court backlogs will be forthcoming.
“Cases involving children being taken into care are often taking well over a year to resolve, against a target to conclude them in six months.”
TA6
Inside Conveyancing, Today’s Conveyancer, Solicitors Journal, Lexis Nexis (£) and Property Industry Eye cover our announcement that conveyancers can continue to use the TA6 form (5th edition) and TA6 form (4th edition, second revision 2020) beyond the January 2025 deadline.
Law Society chief executive officer Ian Jeffrey said: “I would like to thank our members for engaging so positively with this extensive consultation.
“It has become clear that January next year is not a realistic date by which to analyse all the evidence and take the next steps to ensure we have the best outcome possible.
“We have therefore decided to extend the period that both forms can be used until we have completed that work.”
Women in Law awards
Legal Technology reports that Stephanie Boyce, the first black president of the Law Society presented the solicitor of the year award to Jacqueline McGuigan, co-founder and principal of TMP Solicitors.
Also worth a read:
- Breakdown of US election results – Independent, BBC, New York Times, Sky News
- Will Trump’s victory spark a trade war? - BBC
- No 10 believes it has done its homework for a Trump presidency – The Guardian
- SRA’s reaction to the LSB’s independent review into the SRA’s handling of the Axiom Ince fallout - Gazette
- Robert Jenrick has been named as the Shadow Justice Secretary who advocated for the UK to leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) - Legal Cheek
- Proposals for SRA to tighten regulations of solicitors’ risk hitting investment – Times (£)
- SRA sounds warning on client account interest income – Today's Conveyancer
- Small law firms embracing AI as they move away from hourly billing – Legal Futures
- Former postal affairs minister apologised for allowing UK government to “arm themselves with lawyers” while attempting to sort out redress for victims of the Horizon scandal - Independent
- Post Office staff linked to the Horizon prosecutions also handled compensation claims – i news
- City analysts overwhelmingly predict Bank of England interest rate cut – The Guardian