So Long 

I have just sent in my latest contribution to Independent Lawyer. It is the last to be produced under founding editor Fiona Bawdon with whom we have greatly enjoyed working over recent years. It remains an excellent publication well worth subscribing to. Can we take this opportunity to thank her for her hard work and […]

Good Start to the Week 

Regular readers might remember this story. We have just had the result in and this looks like a very acceptable outcome. We didn’t win every point but were successful in overturning the “Singh” reduction, got back most of the enhancement and the disallowed attendance at the second post mortem. Oh and we got the costs […]

Odd Job Day 

Today has been a real mixed bag of jobs. Looking at possible PoPs on an unsuccessful CCA appeal (yes we do have them), a client complaint going to an adjudicator and two firms experiencing financial difficulties. Of the latter both are crime only, and hence Legal Aid only, practices. One of them is of a […]

Coming to the end of the CCA Road? 

The difference in interpretation of Contract between Regional Offices continues to surprise me. I’ll save you the (somewhat dull) detail but how can polar opposites be argued at two different Cost Committees, 7 days apart, by LSC representatives? Fortunately I only have 3 ongoing CCA appeals left (and hopefully not many more to follow) and […]

Results Service 

The week begins with another piece of good news in the form of a further successful appeal against a termination notice. Do not however take this as a green light to go slow on franchise requirements, especially file reveiw. Off south again later today for another appeal hearing tomorrow. Will attempt a post from the […]

Preferred Supplier? 

Yesterday I teed up a story about the LSC’s latest gaff. If you go here you can download a PDF version of the public information leaflet “CDS services at the Police Station and in Court”. So far so good. If you’ve done that and you are viewing on your monitor, as I initially did, what, […]

Shocking the Unshockable 

I shocked my wife last might with a story about the LSC. You must bear in mind that having lived with me for the entire period of my interaction with them this makes her somewhat unshockable. Consequently she is blase about massively wrong initial CCA categorisations and things like this. Indeed I was quite shocked […]

All Dressed Up With Nowhere To Go 

Today should have involved a return to the Top 10% Club with a face to face meeting between us and the LSC. They however are double booked so I’m all back in front of the PC with a specialist fraud panel application to produce. Yesterdays hearing ended with what might be a sensible compromise and […]

Off Again 

Another week another appeal hearing in London to prepare for. This is a fairly straight forward immigration CCA appeal (if there was ever such a thing). It is the one involving the issue discussed here. I am still finding it hard to see how this has gone to Committee not least that the LSC’s arguments […]

Final Score 

Earlier in the week we posed a question. For those awaiting the answer it is 8.1%. That’s right an initial audit rating of 84% reduced to single figures, an “acceptable” Category 1 outcome, on appeal. A massive relief for the firm but little compensation for the months of worry about the prospect that the practice, […]