Media coverage

May 20th 2010 :
Virtual law firms : are they the place for you? article by Polly Bosford

People

Morag McNiven, our trainee, has passed her Legal Practice Course with distinction and has been awarded a prize for gaining the highest mark in family law.

Irene Solomon our former trainee has just qualified as a solicitor. Irene will be staying with us as an employed solicitor as she does not yet qualify to be a consultant. She will be developing a public law practice focussing on detained children as well as undertaking some general public law/prison law work.

Michael Turner, a clinical negligence consultant has recently accepted a Recordership (Crime) and will sit on the SE Circuit.

Lucy Scott-Moncrieff has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Kent.

Cases

The Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence Unit has recently concluded a range of cases.

• The partner of a woman who died after her GP failed to diagnose a pulmonary embolism has been awarded damages of £42,000.
• An elderly man whose lung was removed after he was wrongly diagnosed with lung cancer has received £75,000.
• A client has received a settlement of £185,000 following her wrongful discharge from hospital. Strong evidence that she was a suicide risk was ignored by the hospital authority. One day after discharge she tried to kill herself losing her arm and suffering other minor orthopaedic injuries in the process.
• Another client diagnosed with depression and schizophrenia was discharged from psychiatric hospital with insufficient medication to last until her first out patient appointment. She attempted suicide twice and was briefly sectioned for her own safety on both occasions. Following a complaint an exemplary care plan was put in place and the client is now studying with the OU. She has received a settlement
  of £7,500.
  

The CCRC and Appeals unit has won a case in the Court of Appeal. On the basis of new medical evidence a conviction for manslaughter (diminished responsibility) was substituted for one of murder. As a result of this decision the client received a hospital order.

The Prison Law Unit has won a judicial review against the Parole Board. This was a reasons and an irrationality claim. Despite all witnesses either recommending release of the client or a move to open prison the panel determined that he should stay in closed prison conditions. Three prison service witnesses made statements to the effect that the decision letter prepared by the Parole Board did not correctly reflect their evidence.

The Public Law Unit was responsible for the case of R (JL and LL) v. Islington LBC which held that the use of eligibility criteria for disabled children's services was unlawful in as much as they failed to distinguish between services the authority were under a duty to provide and those that they had only a power to provide. The court heard evidence of inconsistency in the provision of services between different local authorities, exacerbated by the lack of central government guidance. This resulted in a 'postcode lottery' for disabled children and their families. As a consequence of this decision all local authorities will have to review their eligibility criteria. The judge also called on the government to provide guidance for local authorities in developing such criteria.