Costs Round Up: Justice Demands a Level Playing Field
Legal Aid
“While commercial law firms continue to declare annual profits amounting to hundreds of millions, cuts to legal aid mean many people are suffering. Why not redress this imbalance?” Geoffrey Bindman writes on the Crisis in the UK Justice System . “ A means test is reasonable but the steady erosion of legal aid, both as to financial eligibility and the scope of the scheme, has severely undermined the principle of universal access to justice”.
Gordon Exall writes more on this topic in his new article on Court Fees and Stealth Taxes. Kerry Underwood has concluded ( on Twitter) that the new SI (due to come into effect on 06/03/17 and providing for a sharp increase in hearing fees and online casinos the scrapping of refunds) points to the introduction of the amendment to the small claims track limit by April 2017.
In case you missed it, A word to the wise on work Christmas parties and how to survive the office party may offer some timely advice for the festive season and if you are struggling to find that final Christmas present how about this for a guaranteed fabulous start to every morning in 2017?
Company News
As many of you know our London and South East manager Laura Searle gave birth to her son George in July. It wasn’t an easy journey following his birth and Laura’s story was shared in several national newspapers this week. Now that baby George has turned the corner, we are busy fund raising for Tiny Lives next week and you can follow our progress on the Company Facebook page