A new guide, Electronic Signing and Witnessing, has been added to the Reference Materials folder in all By Lawyers matter plans. Read more…

Mr Justice Mostyn, in a judgment given shortly before his retirement, looked at the issue of costs in James v Seymour [2023] EWHC 844 (Fam). Read more...

We are very pleased to announce the release of two new By Lawyers publications: Employment Law – Non-Contentious; and Employment Law - Contentious. These two publications cover all aspects of practice and procedure whether acting for employees or for employers. They assist practitioners with representing clients, document drafting through to managing matters within the employment tribunals. The commentaries are practical and easy to understand and are supported by numerous helpful precedents. Key content includes: Commentary on contracts of employment, human resources, policies and procedures, transfer of undertakings, redundancy and unfair and wrongful dismissal. Commentary on conciliation, mediation and arbitration in the employee/employer relationship. Law and procedure relating to employment tribunals, including the Employment Appeal Tribunal. Comprehensive To Do Lists and Retainer Instructions ensure all necessary instructions are taken and followed. Letters to clients and third parties when establishing the employment relationship and when disputes arise. These Employment Law publications are an invaluable resource for practitioners who regularly conduct employment matters, as well as those with limited experience or those supervising junior lawyers. We invite you to explore these new guides. Comments and feedback are always welcomed.

To complement the new ‘Your Finances’ app for gathering financial information from clients, two new letters have been added to the Financial Remedy guide. The first, Letter to client instructed to commence proceedings with financial remedy – Form E shared via LawConnect, contains step-by-step instructions for using LawConnect which clients can follow. The second, Letter to client with financial statement for signing – eSignature, contains guidance for clients on signing the Financial Statement using DocuSign. We invite you to explore these new letters. Comments and feedback are always welcomed.

With criminal practitioners being busier than ever, we have enhanced our Criminal guide with a library of new initial letters to clients. Designed to accompany the Client Care and Terms of Business which are sent after the first meeting with a client, these letters have sufficient space for case-specific details and advice and already include the sentencing guidelines for an offence. The library can be found in the B. Getting the matter underway folder of the Criminal Magistrates Court matter plan and includes letters for the following offences: Drink driving Possession of Class A drugs Possession of Class B drugs Possession of Class C drugs Criminal damage Robbery – Street and less sophisticated commercial Wounding with intent Rape We encourage practitioners to use these letters, and welcome feedback and suggestions, particularly if other offences may be useful.

The Criminal commentary has been enhanced with information about the new technology and case management platforms being introduced in police stations, prisons and courts. More detail has also been added around the practical aspects of hearings, including video and telephone hearings. New guidance leaflets for clients Enclosure – Checklist for client going to court, Enclosure – Information sheet – Magistrates’ Court process and Enclosure – Information sheet – Crown Court process have been added to assist practitioners in preparing their clients.

To assist practitioners working in Debt Recovery – Acting for the claimant, we have published a Debt statement which brings together details of the debt, interest and costs, as well as the payments that have been made towards it. This will be especially useful where payment plans have been agreed with debtors and is designed to work alongside the Invoice, Debt details and Payment tables within LEAP. 1. Insert the debt details in an Invoice table – add another invoice by right clicking on the existing one to record more than one debt amount if required. 2. Insert interest and costs details in the top half of the Debt details table. 3. Insert payment details into a Payments table each time a payment is received – add another payment by right clicking on the existing one. 4. Provided the above information has been entered into LEAP, the Debt statement will be complete. If the information is incorrect, amend the LEAP tables and use the update button in the LEAP ribbon tab to update the document. This document can be produced as many times as necessary to provide successive statements. An accompanying Letter to debtor enclosing debt statement has also been published. Adding these new precedents is part of By Lawyers continuing commitment to enhancing our content and helping our subscribers enjoy practice more.

As users will be aware, this folder of vital precedents is present in every guide and always located in the ‘Getting the matter underway’ folder. There has now been a full review of the accompanying commentary, with guidance added around privity, ‘force majeure’ clauses and electronic execution. The precedent documents have been reviewed and updated to ensure that each one is uniformly formatted and easy to read, use, amend and customise to a particular client and situation. A new standard clause excluding the rights of third parties has been included in the Standard clauses for deeds and agreements folder and a standard statutory declaration of solvency is now available in the Statements and declarations folder of the matter plan. General precedents for an affidavit and exhibits prepared outside court proceedings are also now included in this folder, as well as gathering together the general civil and family matter witness statement precedents that are already included in other publications. New deeds for change of name have been added in a folder of their own, Change of name, with subfolders to assist in the event that adults or minors wish to enrol their change of name deeds at the Supreme Court. The full list of new precedents is therefore: Third parties clause; Affidavit – General; Exhibit sheet for affidavits – General; Witness statement – Family matters; Exhibit sheet to witness statement – Family matters; Witness statement – Civil matters; Exhibit sheet to witness statement – Civil matters; Statutory declaration of solvency; Change of name deed for an adult – Concise; Change of name deed for a minor – Concise; Change of name deed for an adult - For enrolment; Statutory declaration – Enrolment of adult change of name deed; Notice for the London Gazette on the change of name of an adult; Consent to enrolment of change of name of an adult; Change of name deed for a minor – For enrolment; Statutory declaration – Enrolment of minor change of name deed; Affidavit of best interest for the change of name of a minor; Consent to enrolment of change of name of a minor. We invite you to explore this updated publication. Comments and feedback are always welcomed.

We are very pleased to announce the release of a companion Motoring Offences guide to sit alongside our comprehensive step-by-step Criminal guide. This guide covers all aspects of practice and procedure when acting for the defendant in proceedings involving motoring offences in the Magistrates’ and Crown courts. The guide assists practitioners with all aspects of representing clients in traffic matters, from providing advice in relation to fixed penalty notices to going to court. The commentary is practical and easy to understand and is supported by numerous helpful precedents. Key content includes: Law and procedure relating to alcohol and drug offences as well as offences involving licences, insurance, careless driving, dangerous driving, accidents and death. A summary of the fine and any disqualification period or imprisonment term is included for all common offences. A comprehensive Retainer Instructions precedent is included on the matter plan to ensure all necessary information is collected. Comprehensive discussion of the penalties including fines, penalty points, disqualification, community orders, imprisonment and ancillary penalties and orders. Practical guidance in preparing for court, with detailed commentary on analysing the charge and conducting plea negotiations. Information sheets for clients covering the court processes and what to do on the day of the hearing. A library of letters to clients and third parties including: Letter to police seeking speed gun operator’s certificate and experience; Letter to police seeking speed camera evidence and certificate of calibration; Letter to police seeking video, photo or CCTV footage; Letter to client requesting mobile phone records; Letter to mobile phone usage expert; Letter to client for driving licence check code; Letter instructing accident collision expert. The Motoring Offences guide is an invaluable resource for all practitioners who conduct motoring offence matters, including those with limited experience in this area or those supervising junior lawyers.

The Powers of attorney, advance decisions and court of protection commentary has been enhanced covering the creation and registration of lasting powers of attorney in greater detail. We have added discussion of the finer points of how and when the documents should be signed, as well as giving more information about using the online portal. We invite you to explore this updated publication. Comments and feedback are always welcomed.

A folder containing ALL of the By Lawyers Retainer Instructions precedents has been added to the Practice Management guide. One of the most important tasks when acting in all areas of law is taking the initial instructions. At the commencement of the engagement with the client it is crucial to take accurate, comprehensive instructions covering every necessary aspect of the matter, so the scope of the retainer can be agreed, the issues identified and understood and the client properly advised. Every By Lawyers matter plan has these Retainer Instructions precedents, drafted and refined by experienced practitioners to make this critical process as efficient as possible. They assist practitioners to obtain all relevant information up-front. To make it easier to access these key precedents, especially when seeing new clients where a file has not yet been opened, all 28 of them are now available from a dedicated Library of retainer instructions in the By Lawyers Practice Management guide, under Folder A: The Practice. The availability of these precedents all together in one guide makes it very easy to save or print the relevant Retainer Instructions for any matter type to use in the initial conference with a client even before a dedicated client file is opened. As always, comments and feedback are welcomed.

The Wills commentary has been enhanced to include detailed discussion of the processes involved in the witnessing of a will using video-link. Precedents for client instructions, a practitioner’s checklist and an attendance note have been created, as well as example wording for a will attestation clause. We invite you to explore this updated publication. Comments and feedback are always welcomed

A chapter has been added to the Powers of Attorney and Advance Decisions guide which deals with applications to the Court of Protection for deputyship orders. Commentary has been included on capacity issues, the application process and the role of a deputy. The matter plan includes all the necessary letters and forms to obtain an order, including those required for notifying the person involved and third parties. The Retainer Instructions and To Do List for these specific matters will ensure that thorough instructions are taken and the required timescales are met. We invite you to explore this updated publication. Comments and feedback are always welcomed.

Discussion of trust of land claims has been added to the Financial Remedy guide, enabling family law practitioners to gain an appreciation of the case law and process in this area. Covering an overview of trust law, a number of key cases and practical points to consider when dealing with disputes and making applications to court, this section of the guide will help practitioners when encountering this complex area. More informaiton is also available in the Freehold Property Disputes guide.

The Powers of Attorney and Advance Decisions publication has been reviewed and updated in accordance with the Office of the Public Guardian’s new digital service, known as Use a Lasting Power of Attorney. Read more...