Writing in NLJ this week, columnist Jon Robins, talks about the long struggle for justice as depicted in film director Daniel Gordon’s two-hour documentary Hillsborough, shown on BBC2 this month. The families were given legal aid for the 2016 inquests but it was not like that the first round, when the families managed to raise £150,000 for one barrister and then discovered at the inquests that the police had ten barristers, all paid for by the state. Andy Burnham, shadow home secretary, is urging cross-party support for amendments to the Policing and Crime Bill to make misconduct in public office a criminal offence.
20 May 2016
Hillsborough
MOVERS & SHAKERS
NLJ Career Profile: Stephen Ward, The Barrister Group
From mowing lawns to life at the Bar: Stephen Ward reflects on an unconventional career
Clarke Willmott—Ben Loosemore
Commercial property partner joins Clarke Willmott in Southampton
Ellisons—Robert Tiffen
Robert Tiffen joins Ellisons as Partner in growing Norwich office
NEWS
The Law Society RFC Festival of Sport returns next month, bringing together legal and financial services professionals for one of the sector’s largest annual sporting events
Legal aid deserts leave almost one in four without adequate access to justice
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has warned solicitors and law firms that using artificial intelligence does not alter their professional obligations, amid concerns over inaccurate legal material and client confidentiality
From forgotten interest claims to case-management appeals, a string of procedural developments offers useful—and occasionally cautionary—lessons for practitioners
Jonathan Fisher KC highlights that it now accounts for around 40% of criminal offences, with roughly 70% involving technology, and argues that the UK cannot simply prosecute its way out of the problem. Detection, investigation and prosecution all require improvement, while different fraud types demand tailored responses.
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