What's New ?
Current News: 2010 - 2007
|
|
The Chairman
is speaking at this Conference. Follow link to read <the Flyer> and to book your
place. |
|
|
The Chairman,
as President of ACSeS, has organized a very special ACSeS’ First Leadership
Summit, which is being held on board HMS President, moored on
the River Thames, Follow link to read <the Flyer> and to book your place. There is a very special gift for the first 20 fee paying delegates. |
|
|
http://www.dontdelaymagazine.com/Desktopmodules/OnlineMagazine/OnlineMagazineSpring2010/ |
|
|
|
|
|
The Chairman has been closely associated with this important LGA initiative for local government. Follow link to read the article: http://www.lawgazette.co.uk/in-practice/local-government-general-competence-restore-vires-confidence |
|
|
To read the Chairman’s Annual Monitoring Officer
Guidance to all Members and Chief Officers of Birmingham City Council, sent
in December 2009, on the build up to and how to deal with Elections Purdah
Period issues <follow this link> |
|
|
The Chairman has gone public over the second
Consultation Paper issued by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority on the
proposed changes, during 2010, to the Solicitors’ Practising Certificate
fees. The current fees paid by local government solicitors are grossly
unfair, feather bedding the legal profession and against the public interest.
The Chairman has argued strongly that the statutory exemption applicable to
the Government Legal Service should be equally applicable to local government
and other public sector employed solicitors. To view the article published on the Local Government Lawyer website: |
|
|
¨ The Chairman was elected the President of the Association of
Council Secretaries & Solicitors (www.acses.org.uk
). ü
To
read the Key Highlights of the Presidential Speech : <follow this link> ü
To
view the Powerpoint slides used for Presidential speech : <follow this link> ü
To
see a copy of Birmingham City Council’s Press Release : <follow this link> ü
To
view the article published in the Municipal
Journal: <http://www.localgov.co.uk/index.cfm?method=news.detail&id=83931>
ü
To
view the article published on the Local
Government Lawyer website: |
|
|
|
¨ The Chairman is profiled, with photo,
in the Business Section of today’s The Times (page 79) on the
extension of powers under the Proceeds of Crime Act to local authorities: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/public_sector/article6896042.ece
|
|
|
|
5th October 2009
: Important news from the
General Council of the Bar for England & Wales – CHANGES
CONSEQUENT UPON THE INTRODUCTION OF THE LEGAL SERVICES ACT (LSA) 2007 (I) PRACTISING CERTIFICATES Barristers should note that Section 14 of the LSA
2007 provides that any person who undertakes a reserved legal activity, such
as exercising a right of audience, without being entitled to do so will be
committing a criminal offence. This will come into force on 1 January 2010. A
barrister is not authorised to carry out reserved legal activities unless
he/she has in force a certificate issued by the Bar Council authorising him
or her to do so. It is therefore more important than ever this year,
that all barristers who wish to exercise reserved legal rights have paid the
Practising Certificate fee for next year prior to 1 January 2010. The Bar
Council Records Office will provide, before the end of October 2009, all
concerned with details of the fee owed and the methodology for payment. (II) ADMINISTRATION OF OATHS Barristers will be aware that to date they have
been advised that they are permitted to administer oaths and that this right
does not depend on whether they have a right of audience or a practising
certificate. This position is set to change on 1 January 2010. Section 4 of Schedule 5 of The LSA 2007 also comes
into force on 1 January 2010. From this date, the right to administer oaths
will be restricted to authorised persons. Section 4 (4) of Schedule 5 of the
Act defines “authorised persons” as individuals who have “in force a certificate
issued by the General Council of the Bar authorising the person to practise
as a barrister”. The practical effect of this is that from 1 January
2010, when the relevant section of the Act comes into force, barristers
without a current practising certificate will be prohibited from
administering an Oath. Barristers without practising certificates who have
queries about administration of oaths should contact the ethical queries
helpline on 020 7611 1307 or see the Bar Council website www.barcouncil.org.uk |
|
|
|
July 2009 : ¨ The Chairman’s Local Authority has
advertised for a Pupil Barrister -
which may be the only such position in local government. Revised deadline for
applications is 7th September 2009. ¨ You can download the ¨ 2009 Article on Pupillages
in Local Government |
|
|
|
June 2009 : ¨ The Chairman was a speaker at The
Lawyer Conference on Local Government Legal
Services Reform Conference in Westminster on Wednesday 17 June 2009. <http://www.thelawyer.com/councils-emulate-private-practice-models-in-modernisation-drive/1001127.article> The Alexander Maxwell Law Scholarship
Trust (AMLST) ¨ AMLST exists to promote legal writing
and legal research through making a series of grants. The Trust is unique in
that it is committed to favouring projects put forward by those actively
involved in legal practice - often young practitioners. ¨ In 2009 awards were made to Keith
Shaw, solicitor at Pinsent Mason LLP, to support his work on a new
publication titled Vacant Possession:
Theory, Law and Practice and Tom Hickman, a barrister at
Blackstone Chambers, to support his work on a new publication titled Public Law After the Human Rights Act. ¨ Further details about the Trust and
the latest call for applications can be found at http://www.amlst.org.uk/. The
deadline is 31st October 2009. ¨ Alternatively, you may contact Richard Crouch, Business Unit Director, Practice Area Solutions - Sweet & Maxwell, Thomson Reuters (richard.crouch@thomsonreuters.com) |
|
|
|
29th – 30th March 2009 : ¨ The Chairman attended the LB Cambridge
Spring School as a Wise Counsel (http://www.lbcwisecounsel.com/lbcambridge/
). |
|
|
|
7th March 2009 : ¨ The Chairman received the “Public Lawyer of the Year Award 2009”
from Paul Marsh, the President of The Law Society for England & Wales, and
Nazir Afzal OBE, Director of CPS on behalf of the Society of Asian Lawyers,
at the Millennium Gloucester Hotel, London : <Picture> (http://www.societyofasianlawyers.org/)
|
|
|
|
18th February 2009 : ¨
The
Chairman is speaking at the ACSeS
Monitoring Conference in London. This will be repeated on |
|
|
|
29th January 2009 : ¨
The
Chairman has agreed to take part in the Black Lawyers Directory’s Legal Launch Pad event being held at DLA
Piper offices in London. (www.onlinebld.co.uk
) ¨
The
Chairman’s Legal & Democratic Services Department was “Highly Commended” in the Midlands Excellence Awards.
The Ceremony was held at the ICC, |
|
|
|
14th January 2009 : The Chairman has been confirmed as Corporate Director of Governance at Birmingham City Council. He
has been Acting up in this position since January 2007. (See
link to Press Release) |
|
|
|
5th January 2009 : The Chairman has been profiled in this week's publication of The Lawyer magazine as one of their "Hot 100" for 2008. There
were only two lawyers from Local Government in the "Hot 100" and
the Chairman leads the list from Birmingham, which includes Nicola Hart of
Pinsent Masons, Alex Jones of Mills & Reeve and Ralph Lewis QC of No 5
Chambers. (View article) |
|
|
|
1st & 2nd December 2008 : To
mark the 10th anniversary of the introduction of the Civil
Procedure Rules in England and Wales, Oxford Law Faculty will be hosting a
conference at the British Academy in London. Further details, including the programme and
registration form, are available from the conference website: www.law.ox.ac.uk/cpr10. There
is no charge for this event, which is generously sponsored by Herbert Smith
LLP. Registration is essential as space is limited. The event is
registered for 12.5 CPD points. If you have any queries about the event, please
contact the conference organiser Dr Deirdre Dwyer (deirdre.dwyer@law.ox.ac.uk ). |
|
|
|
9th July 2008 : -
The Chairman received the Honorary
Degree of Doctor of Laws (LLD) from Manchester
Metropolitan University in
recognition for “his exceptional service
to the legal profession, his work on ethical governance, human rights and
freedom of The Awards Ceremony was webcast live round the
world. To view the University’s Press Release,
Awards Ceremony 9 (Faculty of Humanities, Law and Social Sciences, at 6 pm)
and Birmingham City Council’s Press Release, please follow the links: - ü
http://www.mmu.ac.uk/news/news-items/894/
ü
http://www.mmu.ac.uk/graduation/archive/2008/
ü
http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/GenerateContent?CONTENT_ITEM_ID=136835&CONTENT_ITEM_TYPE=9&MENU_ID=276
In his
thanksgiving speech to the MMU and congregation held at the Bridgewater
Concert Hall, Manchester, he paid tribute to and thanked, in particular, all
the hard working Councillors and staff of Birmingham City Council (past and
present), his colleagues at the Association of Council Secretaries &
Solicitors and Debo Nwauzu, the Founder & Managing Director
of the Black Lawyers Directory. A copy of his bullet
point script appears <here>.
A graduation picture with
Professor Ann Holmes, Dean of Faculty, and Miceal Barden, Head of MMU’s |
|
|
|
26th June 2008 : - The Chairman’s Legal & Democratic Services Department
won Municipal Journal’s Legal Achievement of the Year Award. It was also a Finalist in The Lawyer Awards 2008
in their In-house Public Sector Team of the Year, held in London on 24th
June 2008. |
|
|
|
2nd June 2008 : -
The Chairman will be speaking on Good Governance at the CIPFA (Scotland)
Conference being held in Edinburgh. View details at :- http://www.cipfascotland.org.uk/events_details.cfm?events_ID=3976
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
24th
April 2008 : The Chairman was featured in the Law Society Gazette – View link
to their website or view
attachments : page 1, page 2, page 3. |
|
|
|
11th & -
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
8th February
2008 : A copy of the letter from the Baroness
Prashar, Chairman of the Judicial Appointments Commission re High Court Selection Exercise 2008 is
attached. |
|
|
|
21st February 2008 : Middle Temple is celebrating its 400th anniversary
during 2008. A special reunion dinner was organised for employed barristers
belonging to the Middle Temple. Check out the details: <Employed Bar
Dinner: 21/02/2008> |
|
|
|
25th November 2007 : The
Chairman has written to various Editors
‘Re -
Government Consultation Papers on Local Strategic Partnerships’. A copy of the letter to
the Right Hon Hazel Blears MP (and enclosure) are also now attached
(22/12/2007) <read letter to
Editors: 25/11/2007> / <read
LGC article: 29/11/2007> / <read
letter to Blears MP: 26/11/2007> / <read enclosure to Blears MP> |
|
|
|
22nd
November 2007 : The Chairman spoke at the CIPFA Conference for Local Government: “Good
Governance and Leadership: Is the Chief Executive ready for the Mandatory
Statement?” at the Hesperia Hotel, |
|
|
|
22nd
November 2007 : The Chairman spoke at the CIPFA Conference for Local Government: “Good
Governance and Leadership: Is the Chief Executive ready for the Mandatory
Statement?” at the Hesperia Hotel, |
|
|
|
14th
& 15th November 2007 : The Chairman spoke at the ACSeS Annual Conference : “The Knowledge” at the Tower Hotel, London |
|
|
|
9th
November 2007 : The Chairman spoke at a meeting, in London, of the Chief Executives
of the UK Association of National Parks to discuss “Good Governance”. |
|
|
|
15th
& 16th October 2007 : The Chairman contributed in The Standards
Board for England’s Annual Assembly at
the ICC, Birmingham. http://www.annualassembly.co.uk/Programme/Sessionmaterials/
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<Covering Letter>, <Programme>, <Registration
Form> |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
9th
July 2007 : The Chairman was
profiled in The Lawyer magazine. <read article> |
|
|
|
May
2007 : Advance notice – This
year’s Bar Conference (Human Rights - Taking Liberties) was held on 3 November in London. This
year’s Conference Chair is Catherine Addy of Maitland Chambers, London. The full
Programme and registration form will be available from mid-June. In the
meantime, colleagues may find the attached helpful: <draft Programme>
|
|
|
|
3rd
May 2007 : Three new research
papers in the policy area of education & training for the Bar of England
and Wales have been published and can be downloaded from the following
links: 1
= Macey-Dare, Dr. Rupert,
"Economics of Pupillage" (2007). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=967619,
Abstract published in: Legal Education 2 = Macey-Dare, Dr. Rupert, "Economics
of Deferral of Call" (Spring 2007). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=969817 ,
Abstract published in: Legal Education 3 = Macey-Dare, Dr. Rupert, ""New
Certificates of Eligibility", Training and Entry to the Practicing Bar
of England and |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
February
& March 2007 : The Chairman spoke at the LGG Annual Monitoring Officer Conferences
held in |
|
|
|
10th
February 2007 : The Chairman was profiled in the Inaugural Muslim Power 100 at a
Gala Evening Event held at the Hilton Hotel, Park Lane,
London, and he was also awarded their Public Sector Excellence Award.
A copy of the article appearing in their publication and Press Release are
attached: <Article> / <Press Release> |
|
|
|
January
2007 : The
Chairman’s evidence to the Parliamentary Select Committee, in December 2004,
is available on line at: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200405/cmselect/cmodpm/60/4120602.htm
|
|
·
Other Previous News