FJC Distances Itself from Experts Report

The letter below has just appeared in my inbox. It answers some of the questions I had been pondering, and a few I hadn’t thought of. For ease of reference other relevant reading on this blog can be found here: Experts in Family Courts, Experts Upon Experts, and Experts, the Press and a Sloppy Approach [...]

Experts in Family Courts

I don’t subscribe to The Times, but whilst waiting for my taxi to court yesterday I came across [a letter in*] yesterday’s edition from Psychologist Sam Westmacott: Sir, Professor Jane Ireland shocked psychologists when she published her research on expert witnesses (“The shocking tale of a mother seeking help” Camilla Cavendish, Opinion, Apr 12). Her [...]

The Ethics of Friending

The Bar : meet Social Media…Social Media : meet The Bar. How doo you doo? *whispers – don’t shake hands whatever you do!* The blogging bar is small but has grown exponentially since I struck out almost alone in 2007, to the snooty derision of certain colleagues. Even those members of the bar who still [...]

Experts upon Experts

It’s been a few weeks since the Ireland report regarding expert evidence in family proceedings was published. Apologies for not getting to it before. It coincided of course with a rash of articles about George Hibbert, one such expert who is the subject of outstanding complaints and disciplinary proceedings. I wrote about the George Hibbert [...]

ISWs throw in the towel

Community Care reports on the prospect of Independent Social Workers quitting over the fees cap to be introduced by the LSC in October. What the article fails to disentangle (in fact it rather adds to the confusion) is the distinction between ISWs contracted by CAFCASS on a self employed basis to carry out Guardian or [...]