Legal Features

Articles

Friends in high places

'Diversification' is a buzz word very much in vogue at the moment. It is important to have a diverse profession, a diverse judiciary, and presumably diverse participants in the whole jolly thing, without whom we are all twiddling our thumbs and fiddling with paperclips. Curiously, everybody feels that they are on the wrong end of diversification, except for (almost) the very people without whom we are all twiddling our thumbs and fiddling with paperclips.

Carolyn Regan: legal aid is the fourth plank of the welfare state

The chief executive of the Legal Services Commission is on the 'most wanted' list of many legal aid lawyers. Nothing personal, they say, but Carolyn Regan just happens to be the person presiding over a range of unpopular reforms to the legal aid system initiated by Lord Falconer when he was Lord Chancellor.

Listening to reason

The courts will take a different view of landlords' rights on residential, as opposed to commercial, tenancies, and will be reluctant to make an order for possession on a property with a protected tenancy, warns Julian Sidoli del Ceno

Change of plan

The new Planning Costs Circular will affect local authorities and applicants alike, and both will need to consider the new wording and how to meet their obligations to avoid incurring costs, says Marco Mauro

Heading for the exit

Businesses looking to terminate contracts with suppliers should consider their tactics carefully and understand the commercial issues to ensure a successful exit, says Beverley Flynn

Update: employment

Sue Ashtiany considers holiday pay, the new 'fit note' scheme, the effect on employers of the government's new measures to deal with the flu epidemic, and disability discrimination

Causing a stir

The House of Lords has relaxed the rules on the admissibility of evidence of pre-contractual negotiations but the practical consequences are unclear, say John Bramhall and Simon Hodgson

Update: family (children)

Noel Arnold reviews cases on findings of fact, local authorities' involvement in public law proceedings, electronic tagging and interim orders