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REPORT

1. Due to the Covid lockdown we have not had a meeting over the past few months but will be arranging a remote meeting hopefully before the end of October.
   1. Court Delays

The delays in the Court system appear to be getting worse. There appears to be no consistent approach by the courts as to whether or not to hear matters remotely by telephone or by Teams for example or to bring the parties in for a face to face hearing. There are reports of some face to face hearings now being listed but these have their challenges due to the limitations on the number of people who can physically be in the courtroom at any one time. There are equally virtually no real waiting facilities. The court is supposed to be moving to the new secure CV platform but we are not aware of this having been utilised locally as yet.

Read moreFamily Law Sub Committee

One Hour Live Webinar 9th November 2020 11.00am

Litigants in Person (LIPs) are appearing more frequently in Civil and Family courts.This can sometimes be a challenging experience for lawyers and the court.

This live webinar will provide guidance on how to conduct a case involving an unrepresented opponent. It gives practical suggestions and help as well as setting out the rules before, during and after a court hearing. It will consider the position of the McKenzie Friend and pressure to reform the courts’ approach to their role. The impact of Covid 19 on court hearings will be addressed.

Read moreWorking with Litigants in Person in Family & Civil Proceedings

As I’m sure all Wills & Probate practitioners will agree, the last few months have been a challenge. March saw a huge demand for Wills from clients, by both those who were half-way through arranging one and those who had kept meaning to get around to it.

Initial instructions have in some cases had to be taken over the phone, by letter or by video, leading to many of us becoming experts on Teams/Skype/Zoom/Facetime/What’s App !

Read moreDerby & District Wills & Probate Committee

President’s Bulletin 29^th July 2020

Hello,

I hope that you are all well and keeping safe.

We seem to be edging slowly towards life returning to normal but with the working world changing to such extent it seems that working life will never quite be the same again. Many legal practitioners I know are working from home, although a few like myself have returned to the office. Video conferencing and telephone appointments are now fast becoming the new normal and, in my case, form much of my daily clientele.

Read morePresident’s Bulletin 29th July 2020

I am deliberately writing this the day before the A-level results are released. After years and years of hard work my 18 year old will find out the results of the exams he never sat and which are the subject of much outcry even before they go public. Seriously as if times were not hard enough! At least my period of quarantine is now over. Thank goodness for working from home and supermarket deliveries.

Please keep checking the website (www.derbylaw.net) for updates on forthcoming events – or not as the case may be.  We still plan to run the Derby City Schools debate competition, because although it officially starts in September the debates themselves don’t take place until after Christmas. Obviously we will monitor government advice and work with the schools and the University and the event will only go ahead if it is safe to do so.

Read moreEditorial Bulletin August 2020

Chris Makin reminds us of the versatility of expert determination, and reports on some recent developments.

As a chartered accountant (FCA) who practises exclusively in legal matters – forensic accountant, expert witness, mediator, expert determiner – my experience is that expert determination (ED) is considered by litigation lawyers too infrequently.

Of course, it is common practice for company sale/purchase contracts and the like to include a dispute resolution clause (DRC), but how often would a lawyer in a contentious matter consider anything between negotiation or mediation at one end of the spectrum and arbitration or a court hearing at the other?  Litigators have a duty to keep matters proportionate, and there is always the threat of a refusal to mediate, per Halsey, when costs are considered, but other options are available.

Read moreExpert determination – what’s new?

Brian and Judith Holloway

For over forty years I, with others likewise, shared the privilege of partnership in Robinsons Solicitors with Brian; and friendship with Judith, his wife.

Even now we find it impossible to think of Brian, or imagine Robinsons, without also having vividly in mind warm thoughts of Judith: not only his wife but also best friend and undoubted soul mate from their first meeting  at (inevitably) Robinsons, he as Articled Clerk; she as secretary.

Read moreIn Memoriam: Brian and Judith Holloway

Ian Thompson 

Ian Thompson worked at Geldards in the Dispute Resolution Team in Derby for over 10 years, he mainly dealt with complicated commercial and property related disputes. 

He was well known and well respected in and around Derby by his peers. He was a very charming and sociable man, he was a great networker and organiser.  He loved and lived life to the full. He was a family man and was a very hands on father (3 children).  He had been a governor at Derby Pride Academy since 2015, as well as serving on a committee and being responsible for safeguarding at the school.  He was a very principled man. He was also an avid sport enthusiast, he loved all sports but especially Rugby and Sports Car Racing and he went to Le Mans every year. He always enjoyed the outdoors, scouting being his passion and when he left the legal profession he became a Forest School Practitioner.

We have now been in lockdown more than 100 days and the following is an update on the COVID related work the Law Society has been undertaking on your behalf.

Read more100 days since lockdown and the Law Society Response

COMMUNICATION IS THE KEY

Readers of a certain generation will no doubt remember Frank Carson – the Northern Irish stand-up comedian who used to say, “It’s the way I tell ‘em!”

Often they way one explains something can mean the difference between a client understanding you and not. A friend from my Hull University days – a tenant farmer’s youngest son – took a degree in biochemistry and applied for a job with an agrochemicals company that involved soil testing, and then recommending what supplements/fertilisers would improve the yield in that particular field. The candidates were narrowed to two – my pal and someone with a first class honours degree from Cambridge. My pal got the job, because although the other guy was brilliant at what he did, the firm needed someone who could talk to farmers, and not just blind them with science.

Read moreWords of Wisdom