If you cannot pay your debts you could be made bankrupt, or make yourself bankrupt. Other options are an individual voluntary arrangement (‘IVA’) which means that you pay your creditors a percentage in the pound over a period such as 2-5 years. 75% of your creditors by a value have to accept that arrangement. It can avoid terminal damage to your credit rating, and means that the creditors get something. Institutional creditors like banks and finance companies have a different policy. American Express has a different policy from Diners Club. Expert legal advice should be taken at an early stage.…
An excellent article in the Law Society Gazette 26 January 2015 (www.lawgazette.co.uk) gives guidance on spousal maintenance. Mr Justice Mostyn the leading Family Court Judge, setting the pace and tone of reforms and developments. The first question is whether spousal maintenance should apply at all. The most common reasons were motherhood has interfered with the career of the mother making it necessary for her to need support. The exception is should sharing and compensation principles apply and the Family Court Judges including those in London, will follow Mostyn’s comments carefully when he says that the court must consider a termination…
Litigation gets people irate and often rightly. Nevertheless there is no certainty, and it is often worthwhile considering an out of Court settlement even if you do not get all that you want. Far better to “split the difference” with your opponent and go down to the pub for a stiff drink and to put it behind you, than risk more stress and expense in going through with a full Court hearing. This is not weakness but good commercial sense. If you are involved in litigation and want to talk settlement take expert legal advice at an early stage. …
Housing law covers homelessness possession proceedings and other issues covering your home. If you fall behind with your rent or mortgage the landlord or lender can take you to court. He must take you to court and cannot just evict you which will be a criminal offence. If your landlord or lender has evicted you without a Court Order you can go to the police who should take your side, break back in and get an injunction and damages against the landlord or lender which could easily write off the arrears so do not be downhearted if that happens. Hit…
An excellent article by Frances Gibb in the Times 19 January 2015 (www.thetimes.co.uk page 6) tells us about the proposal that victims will be briefed on how to give their evidence when being cross-examined by the accused’s lawyers. The danger in this is coaching. It is very easy to cross the line especially if one lacks experience. There will be huge pressure on these “experts” to respond to “How should I answer that ?” and this must be resisted. It is quite legitimate to inform witnesses of the layout of the courtroom, what sort of questions are likely to be…
A High Court Judge has given hope to pensioners by quashing a decision to revoke a 78 year old’s driving licence. The DVLC took the view that age alone was sufficient to remove a licence. The Judge stamped on that idea. There has to be medical evidence to show that the advanced age has impaired the fitness to drive. An incident of bad driving which results in a decision of revocation, could be due to something else such as lack of skill, anxiety, nervousness, poor driving habits but not age of itself. If your licence is threatened with revocation or…
Employment tribunal is usually made up of three people one of whom is an employment judge a lawyer specialising in employment law cases. He may sit alone or with lay members such as trade union officials or employers representatives. Either way they will have experience of dealing with work pay disputes and will have received specific judicial tribunal training. You call the tribunal “Sir” or “Madam” as the lay members. Because there may be three, you have to take copies of everything for all three members of the tribunal plus the clerk yourself and the other side so…
Consider what witnesses you want to bring who have personal knowledge of the facts and events. Get witness statements from them. If they are elderly get letters signed early in case they die or are not well enough to attend Court. You may need to get expert evidence such as a letter from a doctor architect surveyor or quantity surveyor. Even if you are litigant in person you might want to bring in a fixed fee specialist lawyer to help. You will not get the cost back but it could be money well spent. Litigant in Person – keep your…
An excellent article in the financial times 17 January 2015 www.ft.com highlights the issue of a company receiving negative feedback on a reviewer’s website. A customer can made a complaint as is anybody’s right, but where the compliant is defamatory the victim company can hit back. Consider whether you should contact the former customer direct to see if the relationship can be repaired. You can respond publicly on the website to try to counter the negative comments, or request that the website removes the comments after considering its user rules and guidelines. There is another remedy which has court action…
Have a look at an excellent article in the Independent (www.independent.co.uk) on 6 November called “Spies Eavesdrop On Lawyer Client Communications”. M15, M16 and GCHQ routinely listen in to conversations between lawyers and clients whether at a meeting, on the telephone or on a prison visit. This strikes at the heart of one of the fundamental legal rights of defendants to communicate in complete confidence with a lawyer. Unless an accused can have that right he cannot mount a proper defence nor is he likely to say anything much at all, resulting in more not guilty pleas the clogging…
