The Legal Education and Training report contains much to be recommended but Kevin Poulter is not convinced it is as innovative as it should be for tomorrow’s legal services sector Like opening a present on Christmas Eve, receiving a copy of the Executive Summary of the long awaited Legal Education and Training Review (LETR) ahead … Continue reading
The Attorney General, Dominic Grieve has made good on his word to treat seriously inappropriate social media use. In an interview with me for Legal Cheek, Grieve said he would address any “undermining of fairness and justice” caused or exacerbated by the proliference of social media, “either individually or collectively“. Grieve appeared in person at the … Continue reading
Glastonbury may have passed, but with Latitude just around the corner, Secret Garden Party and Bestival on the way and Wireless and T in the Park just behind us, music festivals are bigger than ever. A festival that used to last just a weekend has now become a week-long marathon and together with the unseasonal hot weather, ticket holders are too … Continue reading
Nine employees of the Crown Prosecution Service have been disciplined for using Facebook in the past 5 years with one employee going as far as befriending an on trial defendant on Facebook. Following a Freedom of Information request by thinktank Parliament Street, it has also been disclosed that three staff made derogatory comments online about colleagues who did not take part in a … Continue reading
A senior Tesco manager who tweeted that shutting five depots was an example of “awsome teamwork” and #worldclass has come under fire in Westminster. Distribution Director Steve Strachota sent the tweet about the re-structuring of Tesco distribution centres which will see thousands of posts transferred with some quite possibly at risk of redundancy. The depots facing closure are … Continue reading
In our fight to save the justice system, what better role model to look to than Atticus Finch, says Kevin Poulter You don’t need me to inform you that the criminal legal aid system is undergoing a few changes at the moment. Barristers and solicitors from across the country have come together to protest in … Continue reading
PODCAST – Is being gay an advantage in the legal profession? I recently spoke with some fellow LGBT lawyers at an event where BBC presenter Evan Davis had just given a talk in which he claimed that being gay “has made me more interesting than I would otherwise be, [and] in that sense, it has … Continue reading
The Director of Public Prosecutions, Kier Starmer, has now published its final guidelines stating how offensive a comment must be to justify police and prosecution time. There are already concerns that the guidance will not go far enough to prevent the growing phenomenon of online ‘trolls’. Starmer has said that prosecutors must respect and recognise freedom … Continue reading
A student who tweeted that people wearing Help for Heroes T-shirts “deserved to be beheaded” in the wake of the fatal attack on Lee Rigby in Woolwich, has narrowly avoided a jail term. The 21-year old English and politics student from Harrow had complained to Police about hundreds of threatening messages she had received … Continue reading
Ten years on from joining his local Trainee Solicitors Group, Kevin Poulter believes supporting young lawyers is more important than ever Some might say that life for junior lawyers has changed immeasurably over the past decade. But has it? The price of education has certainly ballooned, in terms of university costs, LPC/GDL fees and living … Continue reading
Kevin Poulter 