I've just heard that the man shot dead in the Chelsea siege last night was family law barrister Mark Saunders of Queen Elizabeth Building chambers (their website is currently unavailable). I'm not going to discuss the circumstances surrounding the incident here (see this story in The Telegraph), and I'm certainly not going to suggest that it was any more awful because the deceased was a barrister, but it is a tragedy not just for the family but also for the profession that such a promising career has been brought to an end in such an appalling way.

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"More reminiscences?" Giggled Muhammad, looking over my shoulder.

"As a matter of fact, yes." I replied, indignantly. " I thought I'd do a post about life before the word processor, when I first worked in a solicitors' office."

Muhammad laughed. "Do you think readers will be interested in the use of the quill pen?"

I ignored him. "The first office I worked in," I said, "had manual typewriters."

Muhammad yawned, wide pink. "Oh really?" He said, clearly bored with the subject.

I pressed on. "Yes," I said, "but they were getting electronic ones."

"With screens?"

"No, they came later. The first ones with screens could only display one line of text - so that the typist could check what they had typed, before printing it."

"Wow, high tech." Said Muhammad, sarcastically.

"Actually," I said, "that was the beginning of a revolution. Until then, all errors could only be seen when they were on the paper - correcting them meant either rubbing out the error, or covering it with correction fluid. Some documents, like wills, could not be corrected - they had to be completely re-typed."

"You mean, like when I'm having a wash, you handle me and I have to start all over again?"

"Exactly." I said, trying to mask my amusement at the comparison.

"That must have been bloody annoying." Said Muhammad with feeling, absently licking a paw.

"It was. Thankfully, those days are long gone."

Muhammad got up, stretched, and made his way towards the cat flap. "Yes, it was a long time ago." He said. "What's it like being old?"

My slipper hit the flap as it bounced shut.

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Last week I promised to explain how to trim your hedge so that criminals can't hide behind it. Unfortunately, my link up with Practical Gardening Weekly didn't work out, but so as not to disappoint, here goes.

What you have to do depends upon where you stand in the legal pecking order:

• Legal Aid lawyers: use a pair of shears.
• Private client lawyers: use electric hedge trimmers.
• Paul McCartney's lawyers: get your gardener to do it.

Easy!

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I see that the Gazette this week has picked up on the crisis facing many high street firms, a story I posted about a month ago. Their report talks of "a significant number" of firms being forced to shed staff due to a drop in fee income levels. Examples mentioned include a London practice letting go of nine of its 13-strong conveyancing team, another closing two of its four offices and an East Anglian firm reducing its opening hours to four days a week. There is talk of one firm "desperately trying to merge with another" and, indicating the country-wide scale of the problem, an Exeter-based management consultant stating that "‘waves of firms’ in the provinces were laying off people and many practices were up for sale".

Meanwhile, how is the Law Society responding to the crisis? Deputy Vice-President Paul Marsh is quoted as saying that "many high street firms were ‘healthy’, but some would always struggle from time to time, particularly with the impact of referral fees". Sticking his head in the sand, or trying to avert a panic?

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Unlike my previous Down Memory Lane posts (which you can find here and here), this one isn't exclusively about family law. Instead, I'm going to make all current practitioners envious of the way things used to be when I started out in the profession. In those days, the primary purpose of a lawyer was to simply do the job his or her client wanted them to do, rather than spending half of their time filling in forms and going through procedures. It was a time when lawyers were trusted, not just to know what they were doing, but also to use their common sense to ensure that risks to themselves, their clients and others were kept to a minimum.

Now, the simple act of starting a new matter involves a whole series of procedures and form filling - money laundering checks, risk management checks, conflict of interest checks, client care letters (how many clients read them?) etc. etc.. Only when all of these have been completed and dealt with can you turn your attention to actually doing the job the client has instructed you to do. I recall a time when you could start doing that job as soon as the client left the room.

And even if your client wanted legal aid the situation wasn't much worse. A full legal aid application form comprised only three sides of A4 - and all you had to put on the third sheet was one figure for the client's income. Now, if you are unfortunate enough to do legal aid work, a whole rain forest has to be chopped down each time an application is made.

One of the reasons I gave up legal aid work was that I preferred actually doing the job to form filling. However, now there is an ever-increasing number of forms to fill in even if you don't do legal aid work. This is especially so if your firm has Lexcel, Investors in People or some other bollocks accreditation mark, in which case expect your productive time to be further reduced by such delights as appraisals, file reviews and file closure procedures. I know it must be hard for some people now to understand how you could possibly run an office without a manual to tell you how to do it, but I can confirm that it really did happen.

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Congratulations to District Judge Edwina Millward upon being appointed the first woman president (remarkably) of the Association of District Judges. I have had the pleasure of appearing before her on a few occasions, and I am sure she will do an excellent job. Her appointment could be of particular significance to family lawyers as she has a special interest in family law matters, as demonstrated in this interview in Solicitors Journal.

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Now here's a surprise. The Office for Judicial Complaints has dismissed the complaint by Simon Eades against the President of the Family Division Sir Mark Potter, for providing a character reference for Bruce Hyman. The Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice jointly "decided that the action of Sir Mark Potter in providing a reference, limited to his knowledge of Mr Hyman as a friend, cannot reasonably be considered to affect his suitability to hold judicial office". What will this do for the public's perception of the judiciary, and the profession as a whole?

Update: Simon Eades has made a complaint to the Judicial Appointments and Conduct Ombudsman, Sir John Brigstocke KCB, about the handling of his complaint.

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When a solicitor instructs counsel, they want someone who will go that extra mile to achieve the result the client seeks. He may, to coin a phrase, come at a price, but clearly Geeklawyer is one such counsel, as demonstrated by this post, in which he oils up and waxes lyrical. Brilliant stuff.

[Update: I'm pleased to report that Geeklawyer's 'proper' blog is now back up.]

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Feeling in a generous mood, I thought I would again respond to some of the search queries that have recently found their way to Family Lore. Once again, my Disclaimer (see the sidebar) applies to what follows.

how do i get a court order to stop my wife from taking the net proceeds from sale of house

Presumably, the house has already been sold and is/was owned solely by your wife, in which case you can apply to the court for an injunction order restraining her from taking the money. If it has not been sold yet then you can register a matrimonial home rights notice at the Land Registry, which will have to be removed before the sale can be completed - you will only agree to its removal once you are satisfied that the net proceeds will not be distributed until their division has either been agreed, or determined by the court. If the house is or was owned jointly, then the conveyancer dealing with the sale should not distribute the net proceeds without the agreement of both parties, or a court order.

what is a draft consent order

And, by the same searcher:

is a draft consent order legal document

A consent order is simply an order, the provisions of which have been agreed by the parties. The term most commonly refers to financial/property orders in divorce proceedings. A draft order is usually prepared by one of the parties' solicitors, agreed with the other party's solicitor, and then sent to the court for approval. If the court approves the draft, then it will make an order in those terms. The question then arises: is an agreed draft consent order enforceable? The answer is that it probably is, unless it states that the agreement contained in the order will only be binding upon the parties in the event of the court making an order in its terms.

who killed shafilea ahmed

We don't yet know, but the police are investigating a number of possible leads, following a recent appeal on the BBC Crimewatch programme.

lawyer deliberately makes it worse for their client

Oh dear. Sounds like this could be a matter for the Legal Complaints Service.

csa liability order can't pay

A liability order enables the Child Support Agency to take action to enforce payment of child support. What happens next depends upon what type of enforcement action the Agency decides to take. For example, they could instruct a bailiff to take possession of the non-resident parent’s belongings and sell them to raise the money the non-resident parent owes, they could take enforcement action in a county court, or they could apply to a magistrates court for the non-resident parent to be committed to prison. Note that on a committal application the court must consider the non-resident parent's means, and whether there has been 'wilful refusal or culpable neglect' on their part.

what to do if you have been named as the person involved in adultery

If you have been named as a 'Co-Respondent' in divorce proceedings, then you will have been served with a copy of the divorce petition, together with a form of acknowledgement, which you should complete and return to the court, stating (amongst other things) whether or not you admit the alleged adultery. If you do, then the court could order you to pay all or part of the Petitioner's costs of the divorce. You should seek legal advice if you are not sure how to complete the form.

i want to change the arrangements for our children

The first thing you should do is to try to agree any change in arrangements with the other parent. If this is not possible, would they agree to discuss the matter with you and a mediator? If all reasonable efforts to agree fail, then you may make an application to a court for an appropriate order (which will depend upon the nature of the arrangements which you would like changed).

taking advantage family court

Huh? Who's taking advantage of who, and how?

remarriage legal advice child support

Remarriage by itself does not affect liability for child support, but if the non-resident parent's new spouse has dependent children, then the liability is reduced when the NRP and his/her spouse live together.

english family law wife equal

Yes - of course.

county court procedures decree absolute

The procedure on applying for the decree absolute depends upon whether you are the petitioner or the respondent. The petitioner may apply after six weeks have elapsed since the date of the pronouncement of the decree nisi, by completing a simple application form and paying the court fee, currently £40. The court will then send out the decree absolute. The respondent may apply three months from the date when the petitioner can first apply, but the procedure is considerably different, and may involve a court hearing. Note that if either party applies after 12 months have elapsed since the date of the decree nisi, then they will need to explain the reasons for the delay, whether there has been any resumption of cohabitation since the decree nisi, and whether the wife has given birth to any child since the decree nisi.

what to dress in law court

Well, I wouldn't recommend a black cocktail dress, fishnet stockings and high heels, as an American judge was found wearing recently (albeit not in court), even if you're a woman. I assume that the query comes from a non-lawyer (hopefully lawyers know what to wear), in which case there is no dress code, but I would recommend wearing something smart, such as a suit.

set aside consent order for material non disclosure

I suspect that this query may have come from a lawyer, so I'll be brief (look it up yourself!). Any order, made by consent or not, can be set aside for a material non-disclosure, but before you make the application ask yourself: would the court have made a substantially different order if the disclosure had been made?

grandparent's rights in divorce

Grandparents (presumably of the children of the divorcing couple) have no rights in connection with the actual divorce proceedings. If the query relates to contact with the grandchildren, see this post. Otherwise, the only other scenario in which grandparents may be involved is in any property settlement on the divorce, where they claim to have an interest in the property.

application for an order for disclosure of child's whereabouts

See this post.

application for ancillary relief for dismissal purposes only

These are required with applications for ancillary relief (i.e. financial/property) consent orders (see above) - the financial claims have to be made, so that the court can dismiss them. They are made by completing a Form A, and heading it with the words 'For Dismissal Purposes Only'.

complaints about mediators divorce

The mediation service should have its own complaints procedure. If you are not satisfied with the outcome, then you may make a complaint to the UK College of Family Mediators.

Lastly, a question that I can't answer:

why marry?

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I know this has been around for a while, but I only came across it today. You could call it a surefire way to attract divorce clients...

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I did another session at the Kent Law Clinic last night. For those who have not read my previous posts about it, the Clinic is run by the Kent Law School at the University of Kent, with the objectives of providing a service for local people who need legal advice and representation but cannot afford to pay for it, and enhancing the education of students in the School. I'm sure the Clinic fulfils these objectives, but should such a service really be necessary in a country with a legal aid system? Surely, such a system should ensure that all people have access to justice? Patently, it does not, and the Government therefore relies upon people providing their services for free, to prop up a system that is failing in its objectives.

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I haven't read every English blawg over the last month, but I've read quite a few. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think any blawger has mentioned the crisis that many solicitors' firms are currently enduring. Well, it may be 'business as usual' for blawgers, but it certainly isn't for many high street and provincial practices. The utter collapse of the housing market has meant that the 'bread and butter' regular domestic conveyancing income that such practices rely on has almost dried up, with the result that many firms are having to lay off staff.

I've been in this profession since 1980. During that time, I've seen a few ups and downs in the domestic conveyancing market, and I've heard of firms making staff redundant before, but never on this scale. Hardly a day seems to pass without news of another firm laying off staff, and not just one or two people - I've heard of firms laying off eight, ten or even fourteen people. I'm sure some firms may have to close completely, and wouldn't be surprised if this hasn't happened already. Of course, I only hear of firms in my area, but I'm sure this scenario is being repeated across the country.

Why has the housing market ground to a halt? Well, I'm not a conveyancer, but I've discussed the matter with conveyancing colleagues and it seems to me that there are two main factors: the problems with the mortgage market stemming from the US sub-prime mortgage crisis, and the introduction of Home Information Packs ('HIPs'). Colleagues suggest that the bigger of these factors is HIPs, which became compulsory for all house sales on the 14th December last, and the expense of which is deterring many potential sellers from putting their properties on the market. HIPs have also given more power to estate agents, who are directing sellers to their HIPs providers and, inevitably, to their own conveyancers (who will have prepared the HIPs) - so firms that don't have a business arrangement with a large chain of estate agents are being left out in the cold, and may therefore continue to miss out when the housing market recovers.

Does all of this matter if you're not a conveyancer? Well, as I've said, for many small firms domestic conveyancing provides a regular income upon which they rely. If that goes, there will be an inevitable knock-on effect in other areas of their work, and some firms may go out of business entirely, reducing consumer choice.

I may have been a little harsh on fellow blawgers at the beginning of this post. Few of them are solicitors, and I suspect that most are therefore ignorant of the problem - certainly I've not seen it mentioned in other areas of the media either. I'm afraid it's somewhat upsetting to see the suffering of colleagues in the profession being met with complete indifference.

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The Times today reports the case of barrister and Crown Court Recorder Lincoln Crawford, who was convicted for harassing his ex-wife and her new partner in September 2005. Crawford had successfully argued that his conviction should not be reported because the publicity would be harmful to his two children. However, on Friday the High Court ruled that the anonymity order should never have been made, after hearing submissions from The Times.

The report seems to suggest that Crawford was using his position as a barrister and judge to receive special treatment from the court, but I am not so sure. Counsel for the Crown apparently said: “Barristers and part-time judges with children today, politicians tomorrow: where does it end?”, and Lord Justice Thomas said in his judgment that everyone was “equal under the law”. However, there is nothing in the report to suggest that Crawford had argued anything other than that the publicity would be harmful to his children, something that anyone with children can argue, although obviously only cases involving people of public standing or celebrities are likely to attract publicity. Having said that, I agree with the High Court ruling - anonymity should only be granted where there would be particular harm to the children, and the High Court found this not to be the case.

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I received an email last night from Lee Rosen, founder of the Rosen Law Firm, of North Carolina. Lee's biggest claim to fame may be that he is a distant cousin of William Shatner, alias Captain Kirk, but he has created a very different kind of family law firm, as a quick look at their website will confirm. The site is packed with helpful advice and tips for clients going through divorce and separation, much of it in video form, and even includes a forum where visitors can post questions on legal issues and get a response from an attorney. The firm also has another site, Stay Happily Married, "dedicated to providing resources to help couples who want to stay together".

The website explains that they "are a law firm that serves mainly, but not exclusively, technology and business people, and our practice is adapted to serve that highly trained and sophisticated population". This clearly comes through in the design of the website, which gives visitors as much information as possible, something that such clients would expect.

Although I have visited a number of US law firm websites, I do not consider myself to be an expert. I have not previously seen a site like this, and would suggest that UK law firms might learn a thing or two from a visit.

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A certain facial likeness may not be the only thing that Law Society President Andrew Holroyd OBE shares with film director and actor Ron Howard. Just as Howard directs actors on the film set, Holroyd is using his presidency to direct and encourage lawyers back to the roots of what it means to be a lawyer, i.e. to uphold the rule of law. This is why he is so passionate about the work that the Society has been doing to support lawyers and human rights, not just in Pakistan and Zimbabwe, but also in this country, as clearly came out in his podcast with Charon QC this week, which I would recommend to all readers.

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In a fit of excitement last night I woke my cat Muhammad to tell him my brilliant idea for drumming up new business.

"The trouble is," he said, yawning, "you don't have the body to appear in Playgirl."

"No." I agreed. "My body would put people off."

"Maybe you could have a body double. How about George Clooney?" Suggested Muhammad.

"Yes, that could work." I said. "But what would we call my advice column?"

"How about 'The Lawyer of Lust'?"

"Now you're talking." I said.

Muhammed paused for a moment, thoughtfully scratching his ear with a back paw. "So," he said, "how do we get you known to Playgirl? We have to do some outrageous advertising campaign."

"Ah." I said. "That could be a problem."

Muhammad's green eyes lit up. "I've got it." He said. "Advertise yourself on condom wrappers, with the slogan: 'Protect Your Assets With Johnny Bolch!'"

"Perfect!" I said. "Call the advertising agency!"

Muhammad sighed, and went back to sleep.

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Continuing my reading of this month's Family Law, I came across a most gratifying quote from Lord Justice Thorpe. In an article about statutory arbitration in ancillary relief (i.e. enabling the decision of the arbitrator to be binding), he discusses the efforts of lawyers in the development of alternatives to litigation, referring to the Resolution code of practice, mediation and collaborative law. He comments upon how few specialist practitioners nowadays have a "lust for fighting" cases, and concludes:

"There can be no doubt that the cases that fight bitterly are driven by one or both of the parties rather than by the lawyers who represent them."

I've been saying this for years, although I wouldn't put it quite so clearly - there are still a few dinosaur family lawyers out there who conduct their cases with unnecessary aggression, to the cost of their clients (his earlier comment acknowledges this). Still, it is extremely satisfying that one of the most senior family judges recognises that the blame for acrimonious and expensive family litigation usually lies squarely with the parties, rather than their lawyers. All we have to do now is make the public realise that this is the case.

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Here's another great idea for advertising your services as a divorce lawyer, this time from Romania. Apparently, Romanian lawyers are not allowed to advertise, so advertising agency Propaganda Bucharest has tried to circumvent this for a divorce lawyer client, with a little creative use of the business card concept. I'll let them take up the story:

"Since "advertising" was illegal, we focused on his business card. We put the contact information of our client on condoms and distributed them at the front desk of an out of town motel. We thus got the information to people who were most likely having an affair and could have been in need of both condoms and our client's services."

Genius.

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I never thought I would include a link to Playboy on this blog, but I guess you never know where serious legal reporting will take you...

Long-time readers of Family Lore may recall the wonderful advert of Chicago firm Fetman, Garland & Associates, with the subtle caption "Life's short. Get a divorce." Well, partner Corri Fetman has now found a new outlet for her (indisputable) talents. She now has a column in Playboy as the 'Lawyer of Love', answering legal questions for readers. Not only that, she has posed for some quite (ahem) interesting photos for the magazine, and she apparently featured as "Boss of the Month" in the February 2008 edition. Further, she has revealed that the shapely figure in the aforementioned advert was hers (the male figure was that of her personal trainer), and she is now appearing as a dominatrix on the firm's new advert, with the slogan: "Take Control. Get a Divorce.":


Who said family law was boring?

[I hasten to add that I do not normally read Playboy. I came across the above via this story, in the Earthtimes. Honest!]

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Charon QC was kind enough to mention Family Lore in today's Audio Newsbrief on Consilio. These newsbriefs are a new idea, designed to satiate lawyers' hunger for the latest legal news, in an easily digestible four-minute snack. As Charon says, the idea is still experimental, but it seems to me that it could be a useful way for busy lawyers to keep up to date. You can either listen online or download the file to your mp3 player and listen wherever and whenever you wish.

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