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17 November 2017 / Dr Jon Robins
Issue: 7770 / Categories: Opinion , Legal aid focus , Profession
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Time to do better

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The Government should heed calls to make legal aid available for bereaved families at inquests, says Jon Robins

The former Bishop of Liverpool pulled no punches when he published his review of the Hillsborough football stadium disaster earlier this month under the unequivocal if slightly unwieldy title: ‘The patronising disposition of unaccountable power’.

Margaret Aspinall, who lost her 18-year-old son James was killed in the tragedy, welcomed the Right Reverend James Jones’s 122-page report which had 25 recommendations including making legal aid available for bereaved families at inquests. ‘Implementing these reforms will mean that the Grenfell families and others will never have to go through what we did, and we hope they will get justice and accountability for the deaths of their loved ones. For us, this is the legacy of the 96 people who died, that changes will be made for the future good of the country,’ she said.

The Bishop also stressed the importance that the families and loved ones of the 96 fans who died attached to ensuring others

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

London Solicitors Litigation Association—John McElroy

London Solicitors Litigation Association—John McElroy

Fieldfisher partner appointed president as LSLA marks milestone year

Kingsley Napley—Kirsty Churm & Olivia Stiles

Kingsley Napley—Kirsty Churm & Olivia Stiles

Firm promotes two lawyers to partnership across employment and family

Foot Anstey—five promotions

Foot Anstey—five promotions

Firm promotes five lawyers to partnership across key growth areas

NEWS
Freezing orders in divorce proceedings can unexpectedly ensnare third parties and disrupt businesses. In NLJ this week, Lucy James of Trowers & Hamlins explains how these orders—dubbed a ‘nuclear weapon’—preserve assets but can extend far beyond spouses to companies and business partners 
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
Thousands more magistrates are to be recruited, under a major shake-up to speed up and expand the hiring process
Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
A quiet month for employment cases still delivers key legal clarifications. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ, Ian Smith reports that whistleblowing protection remains intact even where disclosures are partly self-serving, provided the worker reasonably believes they serve the ‘public interest’ 
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