HUMAN LAW MEDIATION

A merry Christmas and a happy New Year to you all

This will be my last post of the year.

On behalf of my firm Human Law, I wish all my clients and viewers of this blog a merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

I hope that 2006 will be a successful year for you all.

I will renew posts on this weblog in January 2006.

Podcast - Why the decline of print media is an opportunity for lawyers

In this podcast, I comment on two articles in the Telegraph and explain why the death of the traditional newspaper has a great deal of relevance to lawyers. 

Download Podcast17.12.mp3

   

Podcast - Why the Square Mile law firms need to be worried

In this podcast, I comment on the main headline in this week's  Law Society Gazette entitled "Rate cuts to dispel the aura of Square Mile"

Download Podcast16.12.05.mp3

Unfair dismissal compensation rises

I have just been informed by the employment law barrister, Daniel Barnett that the statutory instrument contianing the annual increase in compensation limits has been laid before Parliament.

The increases take effect, as always, on 1st February (2006) and applies to dismissals occurring on or after that date.

The key increases are:

• The maximum compensation award will rise from £56,800 to £58,400.
• The maximum on a week's pay to increase from £280 to £290.    

Human Law to provide online seminar

As part of the continued development of my firm, Human Law will be linking up with CPD4Lawyers to provide an online seminar on Employment Law in March 2006.

The CPD4Lawyers team is led by Richard Smithies, a partner with Bearders Solicitors. The team are specialists in Live Internet CPD/CPE seminars for solicitors, barristers and accountants. Delegates can attend the seminars from their home or office computer without the hassle of travel or loss of time.

Usually of one hour, delegates can follow the seminar with the provided notes and/or Power Point slides. Unlike recorded lectures, delegates can ask questions and interact with their fellow delegates using their microphone or using the online text facility. Because of their interactive nature, current research indicates that learning is 30% greater with live Internet lectures compared to recorded material.

Further details on the seminar will be given in the New Year.

A legal system for the 19th or 21st Century?

It is rare for me to write on matrimonial matters but read these words in yesterday's leader in the Times:

"Baby M is too young to speak for herself. She is also far too young to wait for a suitable opening to appear in a family court schedule. She has been separated from her mother since September and must wait until April at the earliest to learn whether she will be returned to her mother or given up for adoption. The reason, according to a study by the Law Society on which we report today, is that there is no earlier date available for a court hearing. And her story is not unusual. Another cited by the society involves a women whose husband has built a wall within their house to restrict her movements. She applied for an injunction in March but will not know if one has been granted until January....and the root causes are severe staff shortages in family courts — especially of judges. ."

Elsewhere you can read that the Lord Chancellor's department is in the midst of a campaign to enhance the diversity of the judicial profession and that Philip Waller, District Judge of the Principal Registry of the Family Division, has said: “We acknowledge the problem and are striving to do everything we can within limited resources.”

    

Podcast- Working Time opt out - Will this end?

To listen to our latest podcast on the Employment law subject of the individual's right to opt out of the maximum 48 hour week, please click on the MP3 file below.

Download Podcast9.12.mp3

The new law of the economy -Online libel and defamation

There is an interesting piece in Naked Law's weblog on Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia.

As Naked Law observe, the online encyclopedia, has been forced to change its submission rules following bad publicity by US journalist John Siegenthaler.

According to the Guardian there have been claims it had become a breeding ground for "false and malicious" information. After a week of blunders, the operators of the site - which allows anyone to write and edit articles - are banning anonymous changes and requiring contributors to register.

Mr Siegenthaler, a former assistant to Robert Kennedy, found his biography had been amended to implicate him in the assassinations of both his former boss and JFK.

This case once again highlights that one of the key issues within the New Economy is that of defamation and libel law.     

Podcast- Why the online revolution is destroying traditional media

In my firm's latest podcast, I give my views on the latest media headlines and explain why I think traditional media is dying.

To listen to the MP3 file, please click here:

Download Podcast8.12.mp3