Sheffield’s Taylor&Emmet LLP is expanding the in-house services it offers from its new Rotherham office, with the appointment of a local family law specialist. Dawn Lowry has joined the firm to provide advice on all aspects of family law, including domestic abuse, as well as Legal Aid funded mediation. Having Read more…
In December 2017 the Government announced that the rules on the evidence required to obtain Legal Aid in domestic abuse cases would be relaxed. At that point it was not clear exactly what the rules would be and whether there would still be a requirement that the evidence must show Read more…
On 4th December 2017 the Ministry of Justice announced that victims of Domestic Violence would find it easier to obtain Legal Aid in family cases. Dominic Raab the Justice Minister stated: “We have listened to victims’ groups and carefully reviewed the criteria for legal aid for victims of domestic abuse Read more…
On 31st March 2013 whole swathes of the population were stopped from accessing legal aid as a result of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012. Legal Aid was removed for the majority of advice and representation on immigration, employment, welfare benefits, debt, housing and family law Read more…
It is concerning to note that government statistics recently released seem to demonstrate that there has been a significant downturn in the take up of legally aided mediation for family cases in the last three months of 2016. Despite the same statistics stating that there is a high (62%) success Read more…
Earlier this month an article in The Guardian looked at one consequence of the cuts to legal aid – that perpetrators of domestic abuse are being given the opportunity to cross examine their ex-partners in court. This however only makes up a very small part of the bigger picture on Read more…
Coeliac disease is a lifelong autoimmune disease caused by the immune system reacting to gluten, the protein found in wheat, barley and rye, and in some cases in oats. It is neither an allergy to wheat nor a food intolerance, both of which are common misinterpretations. When a person with Read more…
Whilst there is much debate in the media about who is to blame for the recent spate of football violence during Euro 2016, at home the warnings are that domestic abuse incidents are likely to rise during the tournament. Research shows that excessive alcohol consumption coupled with the heightened tensions Read more…
On 17 May, the Home Secretary Theresa May said that the police are still not taking domestic abuse seriously enough as a crime. Domestic violence – or to use the wider term domestic abuse – was redefined in 2013 as: “any incident of controlling, coercive, threatening behaviour, violence or abuse Read more…
Following on from my previous blog it has now been confirmed by the Court of Appeal that the 24 month time limit imposed by the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) is invalid. LASPO was introduced in April 2013 and resulted in the majority of people who had Read more…