February 9th, 2010 | 
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In a telephone survey by ComRes between January 15 and 17, 3/4 of 1,004 adults in Britain thought the law should protect people who cleared their paths of snow from legal action, should someone fall outside their homes.
David Sparks, chairman of the LGA transport and regeneration board, said the Government should investigate whether current laws are enough to protect people who help out during extreme weather conditions.
“It seems that there are many residents willing and able to clear the paths of snow who are eager to do their bit.
“It could simplify things if the law simply created an obligation on citizens to keep the front of their homes clear of snow, as is the case in several other countries.
Reblogged from The Press Association
Posted in 
Image: AP
Law firms around the world have offered financial and pro bono support to help survivors of the Haitian earthquake, while the Law Society has launched an appeal to gather donations.
Chancery Lane has set up an online appeal which will aggregate money raised by the legal profession on behalf of the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) – the umbrella organisation for 13 humanitarian aid agencies.
The appeal has been running since 21 January and has so far received a four-figure sum in donations from solicitors.
The International Bar Association’s (IBA) management board has donated £10,000 from the IBA’s funds to the DEC, and it has launched an appeal to raise money to rebuild the country’s judicial infrastructure.
Reblogged from Law Gazette
Contribute to the Law Society’s appeal
The recent cold snap which left many people snowed in or unable to travel to work meant that the retail industry was predicted suffered up to £690m a day.
Employment lawyers urged organisations not to discipline staff if they were unable to make it to work. However, the law is on the side of the employers who opt to dock pay or force staff to use annual leave or unpaid leave for the days that they did not make it to the office.
Unless contracts state that you are allowed snow days or days working from home, employers are within their rights to penalise employees in that way. However employment lawyers also urged employers to be as accomodating as possible for employees who are willing to work.
Source: the Guardian | Image: tonylanciabeta
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Solicitors from hell
Solicitorsfromhell.co.uk is a website that names and shames solicitors and law firms who have been blacklisted or complaints against them.
Webmaster Rick Kordowski who runs the website says that the website is planning to expand its capacity and if the current trend continues, site traffic is expected to double to 2,000 by the end of April.
Law firms can pay £299 for all traces of their names to be deleted or between £99 and £199 for certain postings to be deleted. The money will go towards the running of the website.
Kordowski says that the website was set up because he was shocked at the number of complaints made about solicitors.
Source: Law Gazette
The care authorities in charge of the two doncaster brothers who tortured and left 2 young children for dead have refused to hand over the confidential report on their handling of the kids.
The report is said to contain detailed information on various failings by different agencies over a more than 30 different occassions.
[read the full post on Times Online here]
The FSA has stepped in to investigate and stop unfair fees charged by mortgage lenders to their customers who have slipped into debt.
Banks are still charging customers £35 for sending a letter and an appointment with a debt counsellor is billed at up to £100, despite FSA’s warning last October to stamp out these unfair practices.
Under the new rules banks will no longer be able to make customers pay interest on arrears charges. They will also have to allocate borrowers’ payments to clear missed monthly repayments rather than arrears fees.
