Institute of Barristers' Clerks: News

MOJ Transforming Legal Aid Consultation

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 14:56:00 GMT

All chambers doing legally aided work should be aware of the current MOJ Consultation "Transforming Legal Aid: Delivering a more credible and efficient system". See: https://consult.justice.gov.uk/digital-communications/transforming-legal-aid .

The government is seeking to deliver savings of £220m per year by 2018. The proposals are hard hitting and will have a serious impact on both barristers and solicitors. The headline proposals are:

Restructuring of the current criminal Advocacy Graduated Fees Scheme to encourage more efficient working through a harmonisation of guilty plea, cracked trial and basic trial fee rates to the cracked trial rate; also a reduction in and tapering of daily trial attendance rates from day three.
Introduction of tendering in criminal work.
Reduction of all criminal VHCC rates by 30%.
Introduction of income thresholds above which defendants would no longer receive criminal legal aid.
Tightening of the rules regarding appointing multiple counsel in criminal cases.
Reduction in scope of prison law cases that are eligible.
Proposals to reduce solicitor representation fees in family public law cases by 10%.
A residence test for civil legal aid, restricting eligibility to those with at least 12 months' lawful residence.
Legal aid payments for judicial review cases to only be made if the permission application is successful.
Merits test in civil legal cases amended to have at least 50 per cent change of success ('borderline' cases no longer eligible).
Removal of 35 per cent uplift for Immigration and Asylum Upper Tribunal appeal cases.
Barristers' fees for civil (non family) proceedings in Upper Tribunal, County Court and High Court to be the same as other solicitor advocates. Meaning a substantial reduction in the rates paid to barristers (though there will be scope for enhancements).

Responses to the consultation are due by 4 June 2013.

Advocates Graduated Fee Scheme Claims Submitted For Payment Between April 2010 and April 2011 But Not Yet Processed

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 19:51:00 GMT

The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) has invited crime advocates to give them information of any Advocates Graduated Fee Scheme (AGFS) claims submitted to the Crown Court for payment between April 2010 and April 2011 but not yet processed. The LAA will make a payment on any claim that meets the agreed criteria.

This is the FINAL opportunity for these outstanding claims to be processed.

Details about the process and how to fulfill the evidence requirement is available on the LAA website.

We urge all chambers and barristers with outstanding claims to carefully read and adhere to the process for handling the claims. All information must be provided to the LAA by Friday 24 May 2013. Please circulate this email to all relevant chambers staff and chambers members to ensure that this final opportunity for processing is not missed.

If you have any questions about the process you should contact your Bar Contract Manager in the first instance. If your chambers has not been allocated a Contract Manager, please contact the Contract Manager responsible for the Circuit in which your chambers/office is located:

Midland - Henry Drake: Henry.Drake@legalaid.gsi.gov.uk

Northern - Tracey Courtenay-Williams: Tracey.Courtenay-Williams@legalaid.gsi.gov.uk

North Eastern - Tracey Courtenay-Williams: Tracey.Courtenay-Williams@legalaid.gsi.gov.uk

South East - Paul Benjamin: Paul.Benjamin@legalaid.gsi.gov.uk
South East - Carl Batty: Carl.Batty@legalaid.gsi.gov.uk
South East - Jenny Welch: Jenny.Welch@legalaid.gsi.gov.uk

Wales and Chester - Henry Drake: Henry.Drake@legalaid.gsi.gov.uk

Western - Paul Benjamin: Paul.Benjamin@legalaid.gsi.gov.uk
Western - Carl Batty: Carl.Batty@legalaid.gsi.gov.uk

The Bar Council Launches First Ever Bar Nursery

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 19:19:00 GMT

The Bar Council have launched a Bar Nursery at Smithfield House, which is a central London childcare facility, in partnership with Smithfield House Children's Nursery.

The Bar Nursery at Smithfield House offers flexible childcare facilities near the Inns of Court and special rates for members of the Bar, chambers staff and Bar Council employees. Whilst initially this has been set up in London, further nurseries may be established outside of London, similarly geared to the working lives of barristers with young children, depending on local demand.

It is located close to the Old Bailey, in Smithfield Market, and is open to children aged eight weeks to five years between 07:00 and 19:00, five days a week. The nursery offers flexible full-time and part-time day childcare packages, and importantly also emergency packages to cater for those who face unexpected problems with their existing childcare.

The facilities at Smithfield House Children's Nursery are said to be outstanding and there is an Open Day taking place on Saturday 27 April 2013 between 10am and 4pm (booking required*).

For further information, to *book on the open day or book a place, please contact barcouncil@smithfieldnursery.co.uk or 020 3556 1594 and quote Bar Council, or visit http://www.smithfieldnursery.co.uk/.

More information can also be found in the parental support hub page on the Bar Council website or by downloading this leaflet.

2013 Queen’s Counsel Appointments

Mon, 3 Dec 2012 17:56:00 GMT

February 2013

The full list of appointments may be found in the document below. 84 new appointments as Queen's Counsel, from 183 applicants, were announced on Wednesday 27 February 2013.

Progress of the 2012-13 QC Competition

Please note that the timings below remain best expectations. We will update this website if/when this information changes.

The Queen's Counsel Selection Panel hope to send out notification letters to interviewed applicants from the 2012-13 competition on Monday 25 February, using their preferred address. If an interviewed applicant does not receive a letter by noon on 26 February, they may call or email the QC Secretariat and ask for an email to be sent, this will not include the enclosures. The letter to successful applicants encloses information on the ceremony, currently planned for 27 March 2013, and the letter to unsuccessful applicants following interview, encloses feedback from the Panel.

The names of the successful applicants are likely to be publicly announced on 27 February 2013.

Details may be found on the QC Appointments website: http://www.qcappointments.org/?page_id=14 .

December 2012

Please note the following message from the QC Appointments website:

"We hope that the outcome of Silk applications can be announced by around the end of February 2013, with the Ceremony about a month later. Expectations are currently that the Silk Ceremony may be held on Wednesday 27 March 2013. Please note that these timings remain provisional and will need to be confirmed in due course. This website is constantly updated."

For further information, please follow this link to the QCA website:
http://www.qcappointments.org/

One to One personal service from Ede & Ravenscroft, for your newly appointed Silk

Please view the offers below from Ede & Ravenscroft, regarding ceremonial wear for the 2013 Queen's Counsel Appointments Ceremony.

New distance learning route to management qualifications for Barristers’ Clerks launched

Tue, 16 Oct 2012 13:34:00 GMT

Following the successful launch of the ILM Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management course for Barristers’ Clerks in London this autumn, UMD Professional and Warner Consulting have announced a distance learning option to provide Clerks and Practice Managers unable to attend a workshop-based course with a route to achieving this management qualification. The distance learning course is a two year programme specially designed for Clerks, and comprises monthly study modules, video material and webinars, combined with regular support by telephone and e-mail from a dedicated tutor.

Clerks and Practice Managers who successfully complete the level 5 Diploma can build on their qualification by taking a further distance learning course with one of UMD Professional’s partner universities and achieve a BA (Hons.) in Professional Studies or Business Management.

Fiona Stuart-Wilson, Director of UMD Professional said. ‘Attending a course in London is simply not an option for many Clerks whose Chambers are located outside the capital or who cannot commit to attending regular workshops. We are very aware of the importance of ensuring that this course is not London-centric and making the qualification more widely available, and believe that this new distance learning programme extends the choice of development opportunities available to Clerks and Managers.’

Peter Warner, Principal of Warner Consulting, said, ‘We have had considerable interest in a distance learning course as Clerks appreciate the need for developing their business and management skills to compete in the new legal landscape. This new course has been designed to deliver the same practical benefits as the current workshop – based programme, and to ensure that Clerks develop the skills and knowledge to be successful managers in a rapidly changing environment.’

The distance learning course is open to all Senior Clerks and Practice Managers and can be started at any point in the year. Fees can be paid in instalments but there is a discount for payment in full at the start of the course. IBC members who apply before the end of 2012 will receive a further discount on the course.

For more information about the course please contact Peter Warner on 01844 201846 or Fiona Stuart-Wilson on 020 8255 2070 or fiona@umdprofessional.co.uk or visit http://www.umdprofessional.co.uk/ to download a full prospectus.

- end -

Contact:
Fiona Stuart-Wilson
UMD Professional Ltd
SBC House
Restmor Way
Wallington
Surrey SM6 7AH
Tel: 020 8255 2070
Mobile: 07974 750537
e-mail: fiona@umdprofessional.co.uk

Peter Warner
Silver Birches
Carters Lane
Long Crendon
Bucks HP18 9DE
Tel: 01844 201846
Mobile: 07796 262595
e-mail: info@warner-consulting.co.uk

Case Management Reports

Mon, 15 Oct 2012 09:18:00 GMT

Received from the Legal Services Commission two documents which identify the volumes of claims made and paid as well as the LSC's performance against its published targets. It is hoped that your own records will tally with the statistics that the Commission has provided and that these tables will now be published every other month.

Paul Benjamin who is one of the LSC's Contract managers has asked for the following statement to be published with these tables:

LSC caseworkers are currently rejecting around 1 in 5 Family/Civil claims and 1 in 10 Crime claims. Payments could be made 10-20% faster if greater care was taken to sign claims and provide all of the documentation required to process them.

Please use the Form Completion Guidance documents on our website and follow the guidance communicated via the Bulletins to help us drive down the number of rejected claims. A large number of claim rejections could be avoided with better communication between the instructing solicitor to confirm that a certificate's scope and cost limitation is sufficient to cover counsel's fees before the claim is submitted.

We accept that on occasions a claim may have been incorrectly rejected and we have introduced the Priority Return system to ensure that errors are rectified quickly.

New Standard Contractual Terms to take effect in January 2013

Wed, 10 Oct 2012 11:40:00 GMT

Further to my notice of the 14^th September I am pleased to report that the BSB have agreed that the New Standard terms will take effect from 31^st January 2013. I very much hope that this window will enable you to prepare for the implementation of these changes.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Carolyn McCombe, Howard Rayner and Jon Robinson for their extensive efforts in helping the IBC to achieve this extension for its members.

NEW STANDARD CONTRACTUAL TERMS TO TAKE EFFECT IN JANUARY 2013

The Bar Standards Board (BSB), the regulatory body for barristers in England and Wales, has agreed that the new Standard Contractual Terms will now take effect on 31 January 2013.

The new terms were previously scheduled to take effect on 31 October 2012 but, following feedback from a range of stakeholders, the deadline was extended to enable instructing solicitors, barristers' chambers, their practice managers and software providers to adjust to the changes being proposed. All chambers will be expected to comply with the new provisions from 31 January 2013.

The new Standard Contractual Terms aim to modernise the process of referral of work to barristers. Increasingly, barristers are seeking to agree contractual terms with solicitors instead of the traditional default system of non-contractual arrangements (which in certain cases had the potential to create difficulties enforcing and recovering fees).

The Legal Services Board (LSB) approved a Bar Standards Board amendment to the Code of Conduct, under which the cab rank rule will apply to both the new Standard Contractual Terms and to barristers' own contractual terms, as published on their chambers website. Previously, clients had been denied the benefits of the cab rank rule when instructions were made on a contractual basis and this represents an important modernisation of that rule. In all other respects, barristers and solicitors are free to negotiate such terms as they see fit.

The existing exclusions to the cab rank rule, such as conflict of interest or not being available, will continue to apply.

David Barnes
Chairman