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Continuing our series on alternative dispute resolution

Part IV: Disputes solved through mediation

Today is the third part of our blog series on alternative dispute resolution. The two previous posts have looked at mediation in general and what types of disputes are suitable for mediation.

In this post we will be looking at arbitration, which will be continued in next week’s post when the focus will be on the type of disputes commonly solved through arbitration. (more…)

Ex-News International chief executive faces criminal charges

Rebekah Brooks, the former chief executive of News International (NI) and past editor of its now-defunct News of the World paper, was charged yesterday with three counts of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

This development comes only days after Brooks’ appearance at the Leveson Inquiry, which concerns the ‘culture, practice and ethics of the press’. (more…)

Husband tells court that wife must be “unstable” for wanting to divorce him

A man recently appeared in the Court of Appeal expressing his discontent with his wife’s decision to divorce him. Peter Savva, a 64-year-old chartered accountant, told the court that the relaxed nature of Britain’s divorce laws was to blame for the current state of the country.

The wife, 54-year-old teacher Nikki Savva, told the court that the marriage had irretrievably broken down and the pair had slept in separate bedrooms for the past eight years. (more…)

Panamanian castaway sues cruise-liner company over failure to rescue him

A cruise-liner company is facing a negligence lawsuit filed in a Florida state court, on behalf of 18-year-old Panamanian fisherman Adrian Vazquez.

Princess Cruise Lines is owned by troubled global cruise firm, Carnival Corporation. Carnival also owns the operating company of the Costa Concordia liner, which ran aground on the coast of Tuscany earlier this year causing some fatalities. (more…)

Free webinar

On Thursday 24 May we will be running a free online webinar promoting effective website strategies for client generation, and would like to invite solicitors to attend. It will be presented by Daniel Batten, one of our most experienced consultants.

It will run for about 30 minutes and will cover: (more…)

Top judge calls for end to hourly fees

Most solicitors these days charge hourly rates. These can be anything from £150 to £500 per hour, or even more for some specialised practices. For clients, this is an incentive to bring cases to a close as quickly as possible, but for lawyers it is precisely the opposite.

Of course, good lawyers will always put their clients’ needs first, but Master of the Rolls Lord Neuberger says the time has come for reform.

(more…)

BBC newsreader leaps into action against litter bug

BBC newsreader Alice Arnold has been hailed as a ‘litter queen’ by admirers this week, after she personally tackled an incidence of littering that she witnessed near Hampton Court in Surrey.

Arnold was in her car in a queue of traffic on Monday when she saw the occupant of the car in front throw a plastic bottle out of the window.
(more…)

Protesting prison officers threatened with injunction by Government

Early on Thursday morning, an estimated 80 per cent of prison officers throughout England and Wales walked out of their places of work. This was the first sign that an unofficial half-day of protest was taking place, and the unexpected walk-out was aimed at highlighting their objections to changes the Government is making to the retirement age.

The Prison Officers Association (POA) held protest meetings at all jails for members who ceased working. Only minimum cover was provided for inmates, who were fed but left locked in their cells.
(more…)

Queen’s speech criticised for ignoring employment problems

Yesterday’s Queen’s speech outlined the legislative reforms that can be expected from the Government. The speech officially opened the new session of Parliament.

The speech contained a range of measures, including the Government’s intention to reform the House of Lords and implement changes to family law. There was little mention of the weak financial climate but the Prime Minister, David Cameron, subsequently stressed in the House of Commons that restoring the British economy remained the Government’s priority. (more…)

Parents cleared of physically abusing son, who had severe rickets

Following a recent tragic court case, there is concern that some parents could have been prosecuted for physically abusing their children, when the broken bones found in their offspring were actually caused by childhood rickets. Rickets is brought about by Vitamin D and calcium deficiency, which causes the bones to be weak.

The case involves a young London couple, 19-year-old Chana al-Alas and 22-year-old Rohan Wray, who had their first baby boy, Jayden, when the mother was aged 16 years. The baby was taken to hospital at the age of 18 weeks, due to his deteriorating condition, and had multi-skeletal scans at two medical centres. These found multiple fractures in his body. (more…)

Continuing our series on alternative dispute resolution

Part III: Disputes solved through mediation

Today is the third part of our series on alternative dispute resolution. The last post looked at mediation in general, and today we will be looking closer at some forms of disputes that are particularly suitable for being resolved through this form of alternative dispute resolution.

Mediation is a popular dispute resolution method for family and employment disputes, as well as personal injury conflicts. Regardless of the nature of the specific dispute, it is important that the parties are willing to negotiate and are not too entrenched in their positions. The success of mediation rests on the parties’ ability to compromise and come to a joint agreement. (more…)

Youngest person to complete a full sex-change competes in Miss England contest

Jackie Green, an 18-year-old from Leeds, has reached the semi-finals of the Miss England competition, to be held later this month. Jackie’s achievement is remarkable because she is the youngest person ever, at 16 years of age, to have a full sex-change operation.

Jackie, originally named Jack by her parents, went through a difficult time growing-up as she always felt uncomfortable as a boy.  Jackie preferred to wear girl’s clothes even in her toddler years, but later on she was bullied at school and became depressed. (more…)

Tenants facing eviction as Olympics come to town

The tourist industry is benefiting from the Olympics coming to town as non-Londoners are looking for accommodation and many will be visiting the capital’s many sites and restaurants. The Games are expected to give a much-needed boost to several London businesses.

However, many tenants renting accommodation in London are less pleased with the coming sporting event as their landlords are looking to evict them and let the properties during the busy summer weeks for a high sum of money. (more…)

Drug-driving to become a specific offence under new legislation

The Coalition Government has announced plans to make a specific criminal offence of driving under the influence of drugs. The measure will be included in the Crime, Communications and Court Bill, which covers England, Scotland and Wales. The Bill is to be announced in the Queen’s speech to Parliament this Wednesday.

There has been a campaign for a change in the law by the family of a 14-year-old schoolgirl, Lillian Groves, who was killed in 2010 by a driver who had been smoking cannabis. The Prime Minister, David Cameron, met the Groves family at Downing Street last year. (more…)

New riots response figures released by MoJ

The legal response to last summer’s riots continues and the Ministry of Justice has just released more official figures.

The crown prosecution service, the legal body responsible for bringing criminals to trial, is currently processing 450 more defendants. More are coming in all the time as police sift through hundreds of hours’ worth of CCTV footage.

(more…)

New director intends to re-focus ailing Serious Fraud Office

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has been linked to a series of failed prosecutions in the recent past. One example is the high-profile case earlier this year involving the property tycoon Tchenguiz brothers, who were linked to the collapse of the Icelandic bank Kaupthing in 2008.

However, the SFO now has a new director.
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Coroner finds dead spy was probably murdered

The inquest into the death of MI6 cryptologist Gareth Williams has ended in a narrative verdict. The coroner found that there was insufficient evidence to find that he was murdered, but said an open verdict would not have served justice.

Mr Williams was discovered dead in his Bristol flat in 2010. He had been locked into a North Face bag and placed in the bath.

(more…)

Court rules The Pirate Bay file-sharing website must be blocked by ISPs

Virgin Media has become the first Internet Service Provider (ISP) to block its customers from access to the Swedish file-sharing website, The Pirate Bay.

The media company is complying with an order granted by the High Court this week. Other providers named by the judge, including TalkTalk, Sky, Everything Everywhere and O2, are expected to take the same action in the near future.
(more…)

Government looking to tackle false whiplash claims

The number of cases involving a car whiplash injury has increased dramatically over the past few years. This, in turn, has led to the price of car insurance soaring.

During a recent motor insurance summit in London, ministers stressed that the Government is looking to tackle what it perceives as the high number of false whiplash claims. (more…)

Drought orders and hose-pipe bans to stay despite downpours

This April has been the wettest since records began in 1910, with 132 flood alerts issued in England and Wales during the past few days. Furthermore, 33 more serious flood warnings have been given out by the Environment Agency.

Home-owners and businesses in low-lying areas are understandably apprehensive about the current weather. The Meteorological Office data for the last month revealed that 121.8mm of rain fell on average. This is almost double the usual amount of precipitation for this time of year. (more…)