Pink Tape

a blog from the family bar

Granny v Gay Adoption

I came across this article in the Telegraph which deals with the decision to place two young siblings for adoption in preference to leaving them with their grandparents in a kinship placement. Although I don’t know any more about this case than I have read in the article I want to offer a few thoughts [...]

Advertising Bar

I noticed the full page advert on the front inside cover of last month’s counsel magazine and raised an eyebrow. It was a ‘desperately seeking pupillage’ advert from an individual. Determined, I thought. Creative. And pretty cringeworthy. But the boundless entertainment that Counsel provides no doubt drew me onwards and I passed over it without much [...]

Recent Addition

The ‘recent additions’ feature on bailii.org is useful – it highlights not only recently promulgated decisions but also those that are perhaps a little older but have only recently been made available on bailii. So, for example, listed at the moment is the case of OS v DS (Oral Disclosure: Preliminary Hearing) [2004] in which Coleridge J [...]

Participation of Children

An interesting article by District Judge Crichton (Inner London FPC, champion of the Drug & Alcohol Court Pilot) about enhancing the participation of children in Family Proceedings. He suggests that children of an appropriate age should be routinely asked by CAFCASS about the possibility of meeting the judge and that judges should not be reluctant to [...]

Computer says 'NO'

I’ve often read s47 reports, core assessments and reg 38 assessments which find themselves in amongst my case papers and wondered what purpose they serve other than to obfuscate questions of risk.  Chatting the other week with a social worker confirms anecdotally at least that some social workers agree. These documents are ridiculously long and [...]

Green Shoots

I know it’s supposed to be quiet in January at the Bar, but I have never found January to be a very quiet month. This year has been a slow starter but WHAM! this week has been a busy busy one. Rest assured I haven’t given up posting, but all evenings this week have been [...]

In Train

A wealth of little family law stories in this morning’s Metro: ‘homebuyers returning to the market’- first time buyers apparently are out in force trying to bag a bargain, but of course a large number of them are likely to find it difficult to raise funds unless they have a hefty deposit. ‘police deal with 20,000 [...]

82% Happy

John Bolch at Family Lore posts about the pushing of telephone advice from not-necessarily-lawyers to those with family problems. 82% of callers able to resolve their problems  – begs several questions: what is ‘resolved’? Having your immediate question answered or actually going back and fixing the problem between two parents / an ex-couple? For how [...]

WHO ARE YOU?

I really REALLY want to know – who IS it that is reading this Blog? Are you barristers, solicitors, wannabee lawyers, parents involved in the family justice system, generalised web addicts, insomniacs??? Just an interesting little experiment to see how many of you will comment on this post telling me who my readership are…I seem to remember [...]

Beta That

@kevinokeefe has been tweeting about this new tool: www.lexisweb.com – currently in beta and hence free, for the time being. Have yet to seriously play with it but it is another weapon in the arsenal of information management / search tools. this however is not the primary focus of blogging discussion about the ‘BIG, BAD’ Lexis Nexis [...]

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  • About

    A blog in which I ricochet from too serious to too flippant, and alternate between a bit clever, a bit interesting and a bit ranty: Pink Tape neatly functions as both a blog about family law and a therapeutic escape valve for me. >>more




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