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Law Costs Draftsman
In English law, a law costs draftsman is a specialist lawyer who settles the legal costs of a court case. The role of the law costs draftsman centres on a procedure known as the detailed assessment of costs, which is controlled by statute in England and Wales. They are concerned with costs relating to all areas of the law and deal with every conceivable type of legal matter that touches upon the subject of costs. An experienced and competent law costs professional may command a salary on a par with that of a solicitor or legal executive. Main roles ''Inter partes'' costs The unsuccessful litigant is usually ordered to pay the successful litigant’s costs (''inter partes'' costs) and, if those costs cannot be agreed, a detailed bill of costs is prepared and served. The paying party then has to serve a schedule of points of those items in the bill he wishes to dispute before the bill is lodged at court and a detailed assessment hearing takes place at which the points are argue ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
English Law
English law is the common law legal system of England and Wales, comprising mainly criminal law and civil law, each branch having its own courts and procedures. Principal elements of English law Although the common law has, historically, been the foundation and prime source of English law, the most authoritative law is statutory legislation, which comprises Acts of Parliament, regulations and by-laws. In the absence of any statutory law, the common law with its principle of ''stare decisis'' forms the residual source of law, based on judicial decisions, custom, and usage. Common law is made by sitting judges who apply both statutory law and established principles which are derived from the reasoning from earlier decisions. Equity is the other historic source of judge-made law. Common law can be amended or repealed by Parliament. Not being a civil law system, it has no comprehensive codification. However, most of its criminal law has been codified from its common law ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Legal Aid Agency
The Legal Aid Agency is an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) in the United Kingdom. It provides both civil and criminal legal aid and advice in England and Wales. The agency was formed on 1 April 2013 as a replacement for the Legal Services Commission, which unlike the Legal Aid Agency, was a non-departmental public body of the MoJ. This change was enacted by the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 to allow for greater ministerial control over the UK government's legal aid budget. Chief executive Until recently, the agency's Chief Executive, the Director of Legal Casework, was Shaun McNally (since April 2016.) However, in March 2021 this role has now been taken over by Jane Harbottle, who has herself confirmed "it is an honour." The Chief Executive's role primarily involved achieving the departments policies, ensuring a diverse and competent workforce, as well as making sure the Legal Aid Agency meets statutory obligations. It is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Law Of The United Kingdom
The United Kingdom has four legal systems, each of which derives from a particular geographical area for a variety of historical reasons: English and Welsh law, Scots law, Northern Ireland law, and, since 2007, purely Welsh law (as a result of the passage of Welsh devolution and the Government of Wales Act 2006 by Parliament). Overarching these systems is the law of the United Kingdom, also known as United Kingdom law (often abbreviated UK law), or British law. UK law arises from laws applying to the United Kingdom and/or its citizens as a whole, most obviously constitutional law, but also other areas - for instance, tax law. In fulfilment of its former EU treaty obligations, European Union directives were actively transposed into the UK legal systems under the UK parliament's law-making power. Upon Brexit, EU law was transplanted into domestic law as "retained EU law", though the UK remained temporarily in alignment with EU regulations during the transition period from 3 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Legal Professions
A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solicitor, legal executive, or public servant — with each role having different functions and privileges. Working as a lawyer generally involves the practical application of abstract legal theories and knowledge to solve specific problems. Some lawyers also work primarily in advancing the interests of the law and legal profession. Terminology Different legal jurisdictions have different requirements in the determination of who is recognized as being a lawyer. As a result, the meaning of the term "lawyer" may vary from place to place. Some jurisdictions have two types of lawyers, barrister and solicitors, while others fuse the two. A barrister (also known as an advocate or counselor in some jurisdictions) is a lawyer who typically specializes in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Association Of Costs Lawyers
The Association of Costs Lawyers (ACL) is a professional association that represents costs lawyers in England and Wales. It was originally established in 1977 as the Association of Law Costs Draftsmen, but the name was changed in January 2011. The ACL became an "authorised body" or legal regulator, specifically for law costs draftsmen, on 1 January 2007. As a consequence of Schedule 4 of the Legal Services Act 2007, the ACL was listed as one of a number of authorised bodies regulating the carrying out of reserved legal activities. Specifically, costs lawyers can conduct costs litigation, and can administer oaths, with rights of audience in all courts in England and Wales. Under Practice Direction 46.5 of the Civil Procedure Rules, a Fellow of the ACL (or a law costs draftsman with membership of The Academy of Experts or the Expert Witness Institute) can be retained by a litigant in person as experts on costs. Organisation The ACL is governed by a Council, consisting of a Chai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rights Of Audience
In common law, a right of audience is generally a right of a lawyer to appear and conduct proceedings in court on behalf of their client. In English law, there is a fundamental distinction between barristers, who have rights of audience in the superior court, and solicitors, who have rights of audience in the lower courts, unless a certificate of advocacy is obtained, which allows a solicitor advocate to represent clients in the superior courts also. There is no such distinction in American law. In superior courts, generally only barristers or advocates have a right of audience. Depending on jurisdiction, solicitors may have a right of audience in the County Court, magistrates' courts and justice of the peace courts. Further, a person appearing in court without legal representation has a right of audience but a person who is not a lawyer that assists a party to a legal matter in court does not have a right of audience. See ''D v S (Rights of Audience)'' 9972 FCR 217 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Litigant In Person
In England and Wales, a litigant in person is an individual, company or organisation that has rights of audience (this is, the right to address the court) and is not represented in a court of England and Wales by a solicitor or barrister. Instructing a barrister and not a solicitor, for example through the Public Access Scheme, however, does not prevent the party on whose behalf the barrister had been instructed from being a litigant in person. It is possible nevertheless for litigants in England and Wales to obtain free legal advice and in some cases representation from the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB). The term ''litigant in person'' is also used in the similar (but separate) legal systems of Irish law and Northern Irish law. The equivalent in Scotland is a party litigant and in the United States is ''pro se'' legal representation. Civil defendant The defendants in the McLibel case (''McDonald's Corporation v Steel & Morris'', 997EWHC QB 366) represented themselves in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Civil Procedure Rules
The Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) were introduced in 1997 as per the Civil Procedure Act 1997 by the Civil Procedure Rule Committee and are the rules of civil procedure used by the Court of Appeal, High Court of Justice, and County Courts in civil cases in England and Wales. They apply to all cases commenced after 26 April 1999, and largely replace the Rules of the Supreme Court and the County Court Rules. The Civil Procedure Rules 1998 is the statutory instrument listing the rules. The CPR were designed to improve access to justice by making legal proceedings cheaper, quicker, and easier to understand for non-lawyers. As a consequence of this, many archaic legal terms were replaced with "plain English" equivalents, such as "claimant" for "plaintiff" and "witness summons" for "subpoena". Unlike the previous rules of civil procedure, the CPR commence with a statement of their “overriding objective”, both to aid in the application of specific provisions and to guide behaviour w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Legal Aid
Legal aid is the provision of assistance to people who are unable to afford legal representation and access to the court system. Legal aid is regarded as central in providing access to justice by ensuring equality before the law, the right to counsel and the right to a fair trial. This article describes the development of legal aid and its principles, primarily as known in Europe, the Commonwealth of Nations and in the United States. Legal aid is essential to guaranteeing equal access to justice for all, as provided for by Article 6.3 of the European Convention on Human Rights regarding criminal law cases. Especially for citizens who do not have sufficient financial means, the provision of legal aid to clients by governments increases the likelihood, within court proceedings, of being assisted by legal professionals for free or at a lower cost, or of receiving financial aid. A number of delivery models for legal aid have emerged, including duty lawyers, community legal clin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lawyer
A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solicitor, legal executive, or public servant — with each role having different functions and privileges. Working as a lawyer generally involves the practical application of abstract legal theories and knowledge to solve specific problems. Some lawyers also work primarily in advancing the interests of the law and legal profession. Terminology Different legal jurisdictions have different requirements in the determination of who is recognized as being a lawyer. As a result, the meaning of the term "lawyer" may vary from place to place. Some jurisdictions have two types of lawyers, barrister and solicitors, while others fuse the two. A barrister (also known as an advocate or counselor in some jurisdictions) is a lawyer who typically special ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
