
Alec Hancock
13 days ago
Hearing tomorrow at 11am by video. It is expected to be very hot. I have a little usb fan to keep my cool. Tomorrow’s hearing shouldn’t be happening. Dash cam footage shows my client was in the correct lane to leave the roundabout (where as the Defendant was in the incorrect lane to continue around). Many of these hearings now fall into the small claims track where legal costs aren’t recoverable and your insurers have to pay out money they cannot recover

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Shuhel - Midland Law
23 days ago
Sponsor licences for restaurants
A Sponsor licence enables your restaurant to sponsor the following employees from anywhere in the world:
Head chef
Chef
Chef manager
Pastry chef
Vat registration certificate and alcohol licence evidence not strictly necessary.

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Alec Hancock
1 month ago
I have several in person hearing next week, including Truro and Exeter. Fortunately I am just a train journey away from most courts in the south west. If you need representing at a county court in the south west (client, business or law firm) get in touch

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Alec Hancock
1 month ago
Going to Court for a small claims matter can be daunting for someone who doesn’t have any experience with the legal system and won’t know how to express their argument. The court will help you to an extent but the best thing it to have legal representation. You generally cannot recover legal costs even if you win. I offer low cost advice or possible representation depending on the case and facts. Get in touch to find out more

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Alec Hancock
2 months ago
Many are talking about the Vardy v Rooney libel case taking up court time. I don’t practice in the High Court but many devastating personal injury claims, family issues, etc are heard in the High Court and I can appreciate the frustration for those parties who desperately need a court to hear their case
The county court, where many if not most claims are heard, are overwhelmed and many cases get allocated to the small claims track where your ability to recover legal costs is practically non existent.
I am always happy to see how I can help clients in an affordable manner

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L365 Admin
2 months ago
Criminal legal aid sector ‘will disappear’, MPs hear
The criminal legal aid sector will disappear if the government does not invest the bare minimum recommended by Sir Christopher Bellamy following his independent review, the Law Society told MPs today.
Giving evidence to the House of Commons justice select committee today, Society president I. Stephanie Boyce said it had been 25 years since criminal legal aid rates had been significantly increased. ‘Failing to meet the minimum means firms will continue to disappear until eventually the entire sector disappears,’ she said.
Opening the session, committee chair Bob Neill MP pointed out that ‘that there was a bit of a change in tack’ in Chancery Lane’s initial response to the government’s proposed £135m reform package, which went from welcoming to critical.
Boyce said the Society welcomed the Ministry of Justice’s embargoed news release. But when it received the government’s response and impact assessment, ‘it was very clear within the detail of that it was not a 15% overall package for solicitors. It amounts to 9%.’ She added: ‘If there’s one flaw in the package, then the whole package is flawed.’
The committee heard that £11m had been earmarked for experts, £3.2m for the Public Defender Service and £2.5m for training grants, which the Society wants ‘repurposed’ to get solicitors to the minimum they need to survive.
Boyce: ‘If there’s one flaw in the package, then the whole package is flawed’
Boyce said the PDS was an expensive scheme and expensive to run. ‘We have already got an established skill set, an established structure and framework with the criminal defence solicitor profession.’
If rates are not uplifted by 15%, Boyce said the Crown Prosecution Service would continue to be more attractive than defence work and the inequality of arms will get worse.
Following Boyce’s evidence session, the committee heard from justice minister James Cartlidge MP, who was asked if the government’s proposals matched the central recommendation of the independent criminal legal aid review.
Cartlidge said: ‘Sir Christopher recommended £135m. We delivered £135m. We said we would increase by 15% most of the fees - we did not say all of them.’
On concerns that the extra cash will not land in practitioners’ pockets until 2023 at the earliest, Cartlidge said the government was moving as fast as it could. ‘In government terms, this is moving quickly.’
ref:https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/criminal-legal-aid-sector-will-disappear-mps-hear/5112311.article

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L365 Admin
2 months ago
NEWS
Magistrates' new jailing powers come in to force
The government has come under fire again for letting magistrates sentence people for up to a year in prison after the controversial power came into force yesterday.
The Ministry of Justice said the latest measure, announced in January, will free up to an extra 1,700 days of Crown court time annually.
Previously, magistrates could only issue a maximum six-month prison sentence, with cases warranting a longer custodial sentence being sent to the Crown court. They will now be able to sentence cases such as fraud, theft and assault.
The ministry said the Judicial College has provided all magistrates and legal advisers with ‘robust training’.
Magistrates' courts will now be able to sentence cases such as fraud, theft and assault
The department’s press release did not contain details of the training. Last month magistrates were informed they must complete half a day’s training prior to their new powers commencing, to be followed by webinars arranged locally in April and May.
Justice secretary Dominic Raab said today: ‘We are doing everything in our power to bring down the court backlog, and doubling the sentencing powers of magistrates will create more capacity in the Crown court to hear the most serious cases. Together with an extra 30 Nightingale courtrooms currently open, digital hearings and allowing the Crown court to hear as many cases as possible for another financial year, we will deliver swifter and more effective justice for victims.’
The new power was once again criticised.
Jon Black, a former president of the London Criminal Courts Solicitors Association, said: ‘Removing from society for six months (of a 12-month sentence) is too serious, has an incredibly wide knock-on effect and should be the preserve of professional judges with years of legal experience and training, not volunteers with spare time to give.’
High-profile blogger Secret Barrister said the new power would increase appeals from the magistrates’ court to the Crown court.

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L365 Admin
2 months ago
'Several hundred billion’ at stake in bitcoin case'
n intellectual property claim brought against two digital currency exchanges by the man claiming to be the inventor of the bitcoin cryptocurrency could be the largest ever seen in the English courts, it emerged today. The claims brought by Dr Craig Wright against Kraken and Coinbase 'are likely to be worth several hundred billions of pounds', a spokesperson for Wright’s solicitors said today.
The claim is the latest in a wave of litigation brought in the London courts by Wright, an Australian computer scientist resident in Britain. It arises from a bitter civil war which arose from a so-called 'hard fork' split in the bitcoin blockchain - the chain of encryption which validates the currency - in 2018. Wright, and two companies associated with him, accuse Kraken and Coinbase of passing off a product known as ‘Bitcoin Core’ (BTC) as bitcoin. Wright maintains that the only product which remains true to the original 2008 bitcoin protocol is ’Bitcoin Satoshi Vision’ (BSV).
The claimants contend that this misrepresentation by Coinbase and Kraken has led to confusion among digital currency asset holders as to the authenticity of the assets many have purchased and traded in. They seek an injunction restraining the defendants from promoting BTC as bitcoin.
Proceedings were filed last week in the Intellectual Property List of the Business and Property Courts of England and Wales, though neither defendant is in the jurisdiction.
Wright's solicitor, Simon Cohen of London firm Ontier, said: 'These actions are undoubtedly game changing for the digital asset market. Simply put, the claimants’ assertion is if your digital asset doesn’t strictly adhere to the bitcoin protocol and is linked to the bitcoin blockchain it is not bitcoin, and should not be marketed or referenced as such.
'While this is quite likely the highest value claim to have ever come before the English courts, in fact the arguments in support of our clients’ position are straightforward and verifiable.'
Another legal action brought by Wright, a defamation claim against bitcoin commentator Peter McCormack, is due to be heard in London later this month.
Wright is meanwhile appealing a jurisdiction ruling in a claim against several bitcoin developers to restore access to several billion pounds in cryptoassets.
reference:https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/practice/several-hundred-billion-at-stake-in-bitcoin-case/5112378.article)

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Alec Hancock
2 months ago
Slips or trips in public places such as supermarkets are common place but it’s not ‘open and shut’ just because there was a spillage. The Defendant can evade responsibility by demonstrating a reasonable cleaning and inspection system. I have years of experience in finding the holes that undermine the credibility/reliability of those record
I act on a no win, no fee basis - contact me to find out more

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Alec Hancock
3 months ago
T h i s w e e k I h a v e b e e n d e a l i n g w i t h a h o u s i n g d i s r e p a i r c a s e . A p p e a r e d i n c o u r t t o s e e k p e r m i s s i o n t o a d d p e r s o n a l i n j u r y t o t h e c l a i m a n d d e a l w i t h a n i s s u e o f a c o u n t e r c l a i m
