Solicitors hold often substantial sums in their client account, from transactions especially property. A client will pay them a deposit which they will pass on, on exchange of contracts perhaps some weeks later. The same on completion. Also the client will pay an amount of costs for a retainer, which is not disbursed immediately e.g. on barristers’ fees. This forms a very large amount of solicitors’ income and I have known some conveyancing solicitors who earn more from the interest, than fees. The government now wants to tax the solicitor on the money. This is intellectually dishonest. The money belongs…
The centuries old Scottish jury verdict of ‘not proven’ has just been abolished. From now on an accused can only be convicted in Scotland if at least 10 members of a 15 person jury agree on a guilty verdict, rather than eight at present. The Scottish criminal courts can either rule guilty or not guilty but not “not proven”. In Scotland now some limited research into how juries reach their verdicts will be allowed but not elsewhere in the UK. Until 1967 jury verdicts in England and Wales had to be unanimous but then majority verdicts were introduced. January 2026…
A great friend of Winston Churchill’s was F E Smith, later Lord Birkenhead. He was so self-important that after taking silk, that is becoming a King’s counsel, he never again flushed the chambers’ lavatory. He had his clerk do it for him. You couldn’t make it up. Happy New Year. December 2025
We think of barristers as fat cats, in beautiful suits with polished shoes, who swan in and out of court and then go off to fashionable wine bars, whether they have won the case or lost it. The reality for Legal Aid barristers, especially on family cases, is quite different. Some work 70 hours a week and one calculated she was earning £7 per hour, below the minimum wage. Court conditions have deteriorated with dispensing machines that do not work, lack of drinking water, heating or wheelchair access. The result is a huge number of litigants in person who, unless…
To the surprise of many, David Lammy has aligned himself with other European countries keen to turn Human Rights Legislation on its head. He has joined other European countries in trying to have the protocol and law changed to stop the deportation of illegal immigrants. It is all posturing, because unless all European countries agree, nothing is going to happen. They know all this but do not tell you because they lie regularly. If a businessman lied as our politicians do, they would be charged with fraud. December 2025 Rodney Hylton-Potts
An alleged murderer or rapist will have the right embedded in our constitution to have his or her case heard by 12 ordinary members of the public his peers who can decide his future. Juries take their duties seriously. They are not as people think 12 ordinary people coming in from the rain looking for a few quid. It is the bedrock of liberty and a safeguard. Statistically judges and magistrates have a much higher conviction rate and there have been huge miscarriages of justice. Suppose you are an accountant an upstanding member of the community. You have a family…
A Magistrate has been issued with formal advice for misconduct by the Lord Chancellor. She went for desk-banging, audible sighing and swearing, use of inappropriate language and prolonged eye contact with a directed party. Witnesses interpreted her behaviour as frustration but worse, partiality and bias. Her name was Amy Delicate. November 2025 Rodney-Hylton Potts
Benefit cheats are now using AI to fool the Department of Work and Pensions. There are tools and bots designed to exaggerate conditions, complete the forms (often with no face to-face check). Interestingly, in the work I do, suddenly “fog brain” has appeared for those who get caught. This is a completely new word but has now spread like wildfire. Everybody has great anxiety and depression, but also “fog brain”. Funny that. November 2025 Rodney Hylton-Potts
Recent publicity focuses on the fact that more than one million people are claiming Universal Credit, without the need to search for a job. The true situation is much worse. Those people claiming benefit who are supposed to search for a job are not checked. In my long experience of benefit fraud work, helping claimants in trouble, I cannot think of one occasion when any claimant was criticised for not seeking work. They simply do not bother and often get cash jobs for delivery drivers, mini cabbing or drug dealing. The news looks bad but in fact it is much…
Despite the stain from the murder of Jamal Khashoggi seven years ago, murdered in Istanbul by a 15 strong team of Asians, and constant human rights violations including locking up people for casual social media comments on the regime, the lure of black gold in Saudi has caused an explosion of law firms to move there. These firms trumpet their diversity and commitment to human rights and yet benefit from the regime that abuses human rights. Long sentences are handed down and sometimes the death penalty after unfair “so called trials” related to peaceful online expression. Should they put profit…
