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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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

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

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

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

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.

'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)

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

Another case dropped ….

Another great result …

F

This week I have been dealing with a housing disrepair case. Appeared in court to seek permission to add personal injury to the claim and deal with an issue of a counterclaim

Last week I was able to help an individual set aside he default judgment for a debt he accepted he owed but wasn t aware of the court proceedings as he was in prison. The judge agreed that this was one of the rare occasions where there was a good reason that default judgment ought to be set aside. The client now can now start to move forward from the errors of his past and focus on making up for his mistakes

When you instruct a law firm you usually get allocated a lawyer. When you instruct a consultant lawyer, you are choosing the lawyer. All legal work is carried out through a regulated lawyer. I act for clients (as I say) from bean to cup. In some firms you can be passed from one lawyer to another as the firm reallocates resources. Some clients have so many different people acting for them they lose track. This doesn t happen when you instruct a consultant

Today s debt recovery trial against a litigant in person was taxing. The Judge needed to make sure the Defendant wasn t disadvantaged by not being legally represented and I was questioned repeatedly by the judge in my client s case. Fortunately I had reviewed the papers throughly and was able to answer all questions.

Yesterday I had a hearing where there was a dispute as to whether my client slowed down as he approached a stop section. The rear view dash cam footage showed my client came to a stop very smoothly. The judge accepted my tea test  analogy that the stop was so smooth and quick that the conclusion was that he was slowing down as per his evidence.

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I ve had a hearing every day this week but I ve still had time to ensure my litigation clients  cases are looked after. One of the the perks of being a consultant lawyer is that I don t have to worry about being over burdened with work to ensure my clients  cases get the attention they need

Automated contracts happening now  says master of rolls Digital contracts offer 'the most exciting technological opportunities since computer processing power and the internet', said Sir Geoffrey Vos. The 'smarter contracts' project aims to promote the move from paper to digital media when creating legally binding contracts. So-called smarter contracts are widely defined, ranging from the application of electronic signatures to machine-readable digital documents, to self-executing  contracts, which may be integrated with blockchain technology. -Contract management tools enabling contracts to be read by both machines and humans so that the data they contain can be instantly extracted -The use of digital documents and blockchain technology in supply chains -Smarter parametric insurance contracts allowing for immediate payments to be made as soon as the relevant data is recorded - for example, when flights are delayed or storm damage occurs ( -Self-executing contracts being central to renewable energy microgrids, with the automatic recording of transactions and immediate payments for small amounts of energy -Smarter contracts and blockchain technology being used to expedite the sale, purchase and registration of homes ( -Smart legal contracts and non-fungible tokens being securely linked to the ownership of physical assets. " The Smarter Contracts report is a living demonstration of use cases including automated contracting, the automation of house purchases, smart supply chains reducing friction in global trade, digitized insurance pay-outs, smart energy microgrids, and artworks bought and sold as non-fungible tokens. These are not things that might happen in years to come. They are happening now" said the master of rolls.