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12 December 2014 / Robert Spicer , Polly Lord
Issue: 7634 / Categories: Features , Profession
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Law in practice

spicer

Robert Spicer & Polly Lord consider the current consequences of law

“The law in its majestic impartiality forbids both rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets and steal bread” (Anatole France, Crainqueville ).

“Law” is a word that is easy to spell but difficult to define. While its effects can be seen from shocking newspaper headlines rippling down through to our daily lives, it is hard to know exactly what law is in practice. The description of law is often given through explaining its consequences. If we look at the current consequences of law, however, the picture is not a happy one.

Price

Law has a price. For poor people, legal rights are largely illusory. They have no real application outside academic institutions and law firms which work for employers. A national network of Law Centres, funded by the state, would alleviate this state of affairs by providing poor people with access to free advice and/or representation.

Class

Law depends on class. Class justice

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Clarke Willmott—Megan Bradbury

Clarke Willmott—Megan Bradbury

Corporate team welcomes paralegal in Southampton

Howard Kennedy—Paul Moran

Howard Kennedy—Paul Moran

London firm strengthens real estate team with partner appointment

Cripps—Radius Law

Cripps—Radius Law

Commercial and technology practice boosted by team hire

NEWS
Pathfinder courts—renamed ‘Child focused courts’—are to be rolled out nationally, following a successful pilot where backlogs halved and cases were resolved up to seven and a half months faster
The Court of Appeal has unanimously dismissed a £385,000 costs order against a father, in a case that centred on what is required to meet the threshold of ‘reprehensible or unreasonable’ behaviour
Centuries-old burial laws would be overhauled, under Law Commission proposals to address the burgeoning problem of shortage of cemetery space
The government has committed an extra £32m to women’s charities and services tackling addiction, trauma, abuse and homelessness
The Financial Ombudsman is poised for major reform to return it to a simple, impartial dispute resolution service
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