|
BSA
annual dinner
The BSA Annual Dinner Dance was held in the Europa Hotel on Saturday 31 January 2009. T=
he
Chairman Matt Higgins and his wife Una welcomed members and guests
including The Honorable Mr Justice Declan M=
organ,
the recorder of Belfast His Honour Judge Tom Burgess, District Judge Fi=
ona Bagnall and John Bailie Taxing Master. Also=
in
attendance were the Presidents of our sister associations Charlie Jones
from the Liverpool Law Society, Kevin O'Higgins, President of the Dublin
Solicitors Bar Association, Dermot Hewson,
President of the Mayo Solicitors Bar Association and Graham Stuart,
President of the association of North Western Law Societies.
Despite the current economic climate almost 200 gues=
ts
attended. As usual it turned out to be a highly enjoyable evening
with the ever popular Booze Brothers providing the music. Over
£1500.00 was raised for our nominated charity the NSPCC.
Many thanks to all committee members who worked so h=
ard
to ensure a very successful event.
![](3D"March2009ezine_files/image004.jpg")
From L-R Mrs Rosemary Bailie, Mr J=
ohn
Bailie - Taxing Master, Una Higgins, Matt Higgins - BSA Chairman, Distr=
ict
Judge Fiona Bagnall, Gary Bagnall,
Mrs Pat Burges and His Honour Judge Tom Burgess.
The
End of Civil Legal Aid?
The Northern Ireland Legal Services Commission is currently concluding =
the
Regulatory Impact Assessment phase of its consultation in respect of the
proposed Northern Ireland Funding Code.
Lurking behind that seemingly impenetrable jumble of words is the fact =
that
the NILSC is about to utterly change the way that Legal Aid is applied =
for
in civil cases. The "Funding Code" is actually what adjudicat=
ors
will be using to decide whether or not our clients will receive any help
from the Commission.
Unfortunately, in light of the process to date, it seems that when clie=
nts
ask if they might be entitled to Legal Aid, we will all get a lot more =
used
to saying "No".
The new system, if implemented, will mean a farewell to Legal Aid
completely in cases where damages would be less than £5000. Studi=
es
have shown that the vast majority of cases in fact fall into this brack=
et
and thus Legal Aid will effectively have all but disappeared with one s=
weep
of the pen. For those cases where damages might exceed £5000, the=
re
will be a complex "cost/benefit" analysis to perform, with
different ratios applied depending on prospects of success. If you have
been wondering why the check boxes have appeared citing percentages in =
the
"merits" sections of the forms over recent years, wonder no m=
ore.
Here come the accountants. There goes the Legal Aid fund.
This whole process was ill-conceived. Taking into account the huge sums=
of
money which are recovered for the Exchequer through CRU, the availabili=
ty
of Legal Aid almost certainly provides a nett
benefit to the public purse but it seems it is destined to fall victim =
to
political expediency. Along with the Law Society the BSA has been activ=
ely
involved in lobbying against the destruction of the current system, whi=
ch
functions relatively well - and at modest cost. However, concern is gro=
wing
that the changes will be rubber stamped, bringing us into line with England and Wales and shutting many c=
lients
out of the Civil Courts forever.
Whither Access to Justice?
Report from =
the
Civil Litigation Committee
<=
/p>
Pre –Action protocol
The Committee has prepared=
a
response in respect of the High Court pre-action protocol in Personal
injury cases. A copy of the response is available to all members and wi=
ll
be posted on the website.
BSA Scale fees
The Association is current=
ly
updating the scales with the assistance of Paul Kerr, Cost Drawer. The
Association is focusing on the likely increase in front-loaded costs du=
e to
the protocol and this will be reflected in the new scale.
Case Notes
The attention of members is drawn to the decisi=
on of
Gillen J in the case of MOAG v PSNI 2008 (unreported). In that case it =
was
held that, where a civil bill is issued, a case is not settled if the
Defendant forwards a cheque for the full amount on the Civil Bill and 21
day costs.
As long as the cheque is n=
ot
cashed the plaintiff’s Solicitor is at liberty to apply to amend =
the
Civil Bill upwards. The Court can then exercise it’s discretion as
regards granting that application.
The Committee would welcome
submissions and correspondence on any issues that are currently affecti=
ng
members in the area of Civil litigation.
&nbs=
p;
|
![](3D"March2009ezine_files/image001.jpg")
![](3D"March2009ezine_files/image003.jpg")
![](3D"March2009ezine_files/image002.gif")
![](3D"March2009ezine_files/image007.jpg")