header-logo header-logo

27 June 2019
Categories: Legal News , Profession , Legal services
printer mail-detail

Understanding sight loss: awareness training for lawyers

West Midlands charity Beacon is providing solicitors with the opportunity to gain a new perspective on advising clients living with visual impairments.

Beacon, an organisation supporting those living with sight loss, is offering the Sight Friendly Award, an accreditation scheme designed to educate employees on the realities of living with blindness and other forms of visual impairment. The 90-minute training sessions include the experience of wearing specially designed glasses to simulate sight loss conditions, such as glaucoma and complete blindness, in order to underline the challenges faced by those affected (pictured). 

National firm Irwin Mitchell is the first firm to earn the Sight Friendly Award. Medical negligence solicitor Eleanor Giblin commented: ‘This was not a tick box exercise, but a learning experience which has allowed me and my colleagues to try to at least appreciate for a brief moment what it feels like to live with a visual impairment and how our actions can help support our clients and make them feel like individuals and not a number.’

For more information on the Sight Friendly Award, contact Kam Cheema (kcheema@beaconvision.org) or visit www.beaconvision.org/sight-awareness-training

MOVERS & SHAKERS

NLJ Career Profile: John McElroy, London Solicitors Litigation Association

NLJ Career Profile: John McElroy, London Solicitors Litigation Association

From first-generation student to trailblazing president of the London Solicitors Litigation Association, John McElroy of Fieldfisher reflects on resilience, identity and the power of bringing your whole self to the law

Clarke Willmott—Elaine Field

Clarke Willmott—Elaine Field

Planning and environment team expands with partner hire in Manchester

Birketts—Barbara Hamilton-Bruce

Birketts—Barbara Hamilton-Bruce

Firm appoints chief operating officer to strengthen leadership team

NEWS
A landmark Supreme Court ruling has underscored the sweeping reach of UK sanctions. In NLJ this week, Brónagh Adams and Harriet Campbell of Penningtons Manches Cooper say the regime is a ‘blunt instrument’ requiring only a factual, not causal, link to restricted goods
Fraud claims are surging, with England and Wales increasingly the forum of choice for global disputes. Writing in NLJ this week, Jon Felce of Cooke, Young & Keidan reports claims have risen sharply, with fraud now a major share of litigation and costing billions worldwide
Litigators digesting Mazur are being urged to tighten oversight and compliance. In his latest 'Insider' column for NLJ this week, Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School provides a cut out and keep guide to the ruling’s core test: whether an unauthorised individual is ‘in truth acting on behalf of the authorised individual’
Conflicting county court rulings have left landlords uncertain over whether they can force entry after tenants refuse access. In this week's NLJ, Edward Blakeney and Ashpen Rajah of Falcon Chambers outline a split: some judges permit it under CPR 70.2A, others insist only Parliament can authorise such powers
A wave of scandals has reignited debate over misconduct in public office, criticised as unclear and inconsistently applied. Writing in NLJ this week, Alice Lepeuple of WilmerHale says the offence’s ‘vagueness, overbreadth & inconsistent deployment’ have undermined confidence
back-to-top-scroll