Local authority

Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Chris Pamplin, editor of the UK Register of Expert Witnesses, examines the thorny issue of expert witness fees in legally aided cases. The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) enforces strict caps, only exceeded in ‘exceptional circumstances’. This often leaves local authorities footing the bill when experts charge more than the cap

If an expert charges more than the Legal Aid Agency’s fee cap, who covers the shortfall? Dr Chris Pamplin reports

Families and children are waiting two years to have their cases resolved, a report by the National Audit Office (NAO) has found

Neil Parpworth shares his reaction to the Charter for Londoners

Local authorities are increasingly using ‘deprivation of liberty’ orders to house troubled children in unregistered accommodation often many miles from home, the Law Society has warned.

Data is available for the first time on the policing of public processions & assemblies: what does it reveal? Neil Parpworth looks behind the figures

Can we ever truly know what lies beneath? The worst fears of property lawyers & their clients can come alive, as Andrew Francis, barrister at Serle Court, writes in this week’s NLJ

Andrew Francis considers two ‘subterranean’ property cases, highlighting the importance of knowing what’s underneath the surface—literally & metaphorically

A local authority can be vicariously liable for torts committed against a child by a foster carer who is also a relative of the child, the Court of Appeal has held