Procurement Plans 

The next stage of the 2013 bid round approaches more quickly than we imagined. “Procurement Plans” are to be published today with the window opening on 10th September for completion of the ITT. You can read more details here. We will probably revise the webinar schedule in response, bringing the “Virtual Tour” sessions forward a […]

Back Soon 

I am off for a week from about now. I wanted a bit more of a flyer but it went nuts here this afternoon, in one way or another. We got our second CCA notification in a fortnight where we achieves a Cat 3 down to Cat 2 result on initial reps and before the […]

Civil 2013 Bid Round Advanced Notice 

Civil firms will be anticipating, perhaps not eagerly, the second element of the 2013 Procurement Round, due to commence in a few weeks time. At time of writing the precise start and close dates of the “window” have not been confirmed, the former being described as “mid September”. As ever, we will be offering support […]

The Motherlode 

This, by new find The Staves, is utterly enchanting. To my mind it’s a bit like Laura Marling meets First Aid Kit, and what could be better than that? We are already making plans to see them in the Autumn, can’t decide when and where yet – not least due to FAKs contemporaneous tour.

Bit of a TFF 

We end the week with the largest number of files in the office since the height of the “Contract Compliance Wars” half a decade ago. Even the traditional Costs Drafting summer lull has failed to materialise this year. This morning has also involved the dredging of memory surrounding the Tailored Fixed Fee scheme. This does […]

Ballance 

And sometimes a fee earner is just so, so wrong that for the tiniest fraction of a second you have a fleeting sense of empathy with the LSC assessor in Sector 7.

“Zero Tolerance” Watch 

We have been using this term to describe the Commission’s current attitude, especially on means assessments conducted by firms (LH and CDS 1&2). If you are not familiar with it Civil Contract Part E 12.2.4 it allows you to ring the Benefits Authorities to confirm that the client is on a passport benefit. You are […]

Verging on Hysteria 

The “self-verification” work we are currently engaged in at JRS HQ is of biblical proportions. (“Self-verification” has become short hand amongst our retained clients for “send those off to JRS to sort”) It is a complete and utter nightmare – applying 2012 “zero tolerance” interpretations to 5 year old files – especially when you are […]

Praise Due 

I contacted the Law Society yesterday in a last ditch attempt to provide definitive proof of Immigration caseworker accreditation. The LSC were contesting this (despite decent evidence to the contrary) with a nil assessment of a large file being contingent on this. In under an hour they provided incontrovertible proof that we are correct and […]

Weather Report 

In the last week we have encountered; A couple of termination notices, contract sanctions being imposed restricting new cases, Duty Solicitor suspensions, a mountain of self verification files, rejected civil bills Armageddon and now a Peer Review failure – yes that’s right not just the rare appearance of a PR but a failed one to […]