Legal Profession
News, analysis, comment and updates from ICLR's case law and UK legislation platform
A number of stories about legal services regulation have surfaced over the last few months, some of them calling into question the future of legal regulation, if not the professions they regulate, and most of them pointing back in some way to the regulators’ regulator, the Legal Services Board (LSB). This roundup covers the most… Continue reading
As she settles into her training for life at the Bar, Sophia Stapleton, winner of the inaugural ICLR Pupillage Award, has been collecting nuggets of advice from barristers and judges on what to expect and how to deal with it. In this post she shares some of those words of wisdom. Like many other… Continue reading
This first week of the Michaelmas Term is traditionally the time when pupils start their training for life at the Bar. His Honour John Samuels QC, Chairman of the Lincoln’s Inn Pupillage Scheme has some useful words of advice.… Continue reading
Sophia Stapleton, winner of the inaugural ICLR Pupillage Award, offers some advice based on her own experience in applying for, and getting, a pupillage. “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” — Albert Einstein Getting pupillage can be hard. A rejection does not mean that all… Continue reading
This is the first year that the ICLR have given a pupillage award, which is worth £12,000 for a barrister, taken on as a pupil in a set of chambers doing mainly publicly funded work, and in receipt of an existing pupil award from those chambers of no more than £14,000. The award was launched… Continue reading
Law reporters have always depended on the goodwill of advocates and instructing solicitors in providing copies of pleadings, skeleton arguments and authorities bundles to help in the process of reporting important precedents. In the past, such help was sought and given unofficially. Although there has been a series of practice directions on how court bundles… Continue reading
Guest post by David Burrows Confidentiality, privilege and the Panama papers The leak of information from a firm of Panama lawyers – the Panama papers – raises a variety of questions for English lawyers, notably in the areas of confidentiality and of legal professional privilege (LPP). Papers held by a lawyer are confidential –… Continue reading
What does diversity look like in the legal profession? How can law firms do more to encourage applicants from less privileged backgrounds? Are there relevant differences between law firms and their corporate clients, such as Tesco or the National Grid? Are there regulatory constraints which prevent the professions from opening up different ways in? These… Continue reading
The continued reduction in legal aid in cases involving family law, housing disputes etc, means that many people going to court are finding they have no choice but to represent themselves or try to get some help from someone other than an expensive lawyer. One such resource is a ‘McKenzie friend’. In this post we… Continue reading
What’s the difference between a “law report” and a “transcript”? This is one of those questions where the answer is as obvious to some as it is inconspicuous to others. It is also a question that may, quite reasonably, strike some as a bit pedantic. However, there is a distinction and it doesn’t hurt to… Continue reading
