a grand day out

Whilst out for a run first thing on Monday morning along the seafront (baby safely at home with grandma and grandpa) I passed probably 20 sets of grandparents out with their grandkids – crabbing with bacon on a string off the slip, haring around on the field lobbing a tennis ball for grannies jack russel or buzzing along [...]

President’s Article

The Times is running a campaign for greater openness in the family justice system, which in many respects I support. The series of articles by Camilla Cavendish running this past week certainly make interesting reading. . In response comes Sir Mark Potter’s recent article in The Times  - it makes a lot of sense to me – [...]

The Charon Podcast

We barristers all love the sound of our own voices, to which end: my podcast with Charon QC

A child or not a child?

An interesting conundrum is posed by a comparison of these two recent authorities, both cases where Lambeth wished to refuse or discontinue s20 accommodation to a ‘child’ who they considered was in fact an adult. It seems that in some cases a Local Authority is the arbiter of whether or not a child is in [...]

Reforming the Grad Fee Scheme – Consultation Open

The Consultation Paper on Reforming the Family Barrister Fees Scheme has been published today. . Commenting on the consultation, Lucy Theis QC, Chair of the Family Law Bar Association, said:  . ‘The protection of children is a concern to all of us. A robust legal aid system is vital to prevent damage to children – [...]

Alien Landing

I had an email from a lawyer friend the other day confessing that on his return to the courtroom after a six month break due to illness he felt as if everyone around him was talking Martian. I certainly know that when I last returned from a 3 week holiday I was certain that I [...]

Judgment in B (Children) handed down

The judgment in B (Children) [2008] UKHL 35, handed down today is of significant importance in care proceedings. The leading judgment by Baroness Hale of Richmond is compelling reading, as is the secondary judgment of Lord Hoffmann. . Based on my first read-through of the judgment this evening the decision appears to amount to this: [...]

Absent Mothers

Just to note an interesting article in Tuesday’s T2 section of The Times about Mothers living apart from their children. It deals with various scenarios including the all too familiar example of a mother leaving an abusive relationship where, by the time she has got herself on her feet and obtained accommodation for herself and [...]

Well Street

READ THIS. For anyone wanting to get a realistic idea of what happens in the family court, particularly the FPC (Magistrates) and care proceedings this article is a great starting place. It also gives a better flavour of the work of the FDAC (Family Drug & Alcohol Court) Pilot which I posted about recently. . [...]

blustery days

Since my last post regarding the proposed cuts in family legal aid and the press coverage of it, it appears that matters have moved on. The CEO of the LSC has acknowledged that the figure of £140,000 quoted in the press (and arising from LSC private press briefings) as representing average earnings of family legal aid barristers [...]