I have been waiting for a good new Xmas Friday Song for years, we have run all the classics. Boy was this worth the wait. Tracey Thorn was one half of Everything But The Girl with a parallel solo career dating back to the ’80s. “Tinsel and Lights” is her new Xmas record, from which […]
For reasons dating back eons, JRS has a quaint Xmas shutdown. That means our Middlesbrough HQ will be closed from tea-time today. Andy and I will still be available on the mobiles but with an obvious warning about advice given being potentially influenced by “Xmas Cheer”. We will be up and running again on 2nd […]
Strangely, with only a couple of months to go till LASPO Contracts, the LSC have again, seemingly, branched out into advice provision. They have tried doing Crime via the failed Public Defenders Service but now they feel that they have sufficient, in-house, specialist Employment Law expertise to pass judgement on the efficacy of Contracts of […]
I have no expertise when it comes to NHS services and funding arrangements. That said its easy to “extrapolate” your experience elsewhere into circumstances like these. Perhaps this is the only way to manage out-of-hours GP services (though I doubt it). It does however seem another case where an almost ideological, governmental commitment to “out […]
It is not clear if The Civil Wars exist in any meaningful form following the collapse of their UK tour. Here however is “Barton Hollow” which topped our poll. Sort out your “issues”, as the Americans say, and get back to it.
Chris Grayling is once again using “last refuge of a scoundrel” arguments about Legal Aid – you guessed it, the “fat cat lawyers” ones. There is a good summary, and reply, by Catherine Baksi here. I wrote these thoughts for our friends at the Justice Gap when he used the “unworthy defendant” version last month. […]
Great start to the day, twisted back (ice in park) and bad ICA decision, followed up by indecipherable nonsense to a client about the use of Devolved Powers. Irritability not assisted by noisy workmen. At least Andy and Dean are making progress and enjoying Lebanese food – the latter really cheers me up. As Prof […]
I accept that I might, just might, be a bit of a pedant on this topic but seriously does nobody even give the LSC Manual and/or the website an occasional once over? In casual use of today’s new Manual I have found an out of date Head Office address and that the error in the […]
It is the final Webinar of the year this Friday and we are trying to make it a bit lighter and festive. JRS Big Fat Quiz of The Year or “Everything you ever wanted to know about Legal Aid but were afraid to ask” Sadly neither a one off celebrity special nor one involving a […]
Andy and Dean flew to Dubai on our first International job yesterday – that’s if you exclude occasional trips to British West Hartlepool. It is a very novel and interesting Lexcel project which they, obviously, hope to replicate. Whilst they are lazing in 27°C climes we will be answering all their phone queries in near […]