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Letter from America

29 January 2016 / Roger Smith
Issue: 7684 / Categories: Opinion , Legal aid focus
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Roger Smith reports on the US legal aid situation

This month, your tireless NLJ correspondent took himself to San Antonio, Texas. I do not, in general, recommend this destination. It contains an over-developed Riverwalk, an over-hyped Alamo, a bunch of military bases and the rest is pretty much carparks and hotels. However, for the last couple of years, it has been the home of an interesting conference on technology in the delivery of what we would call legal aid held by the rough equivalent of the Legal Aid Agency (the US Legal Services Corporation (LSC)). Attendance is an intriguing mix of techies, lawyers, managers and salespeople—making the success of opening conversational gambits to strangers more than usually random.

The big picture

The conference was addressed by two big beasts of the American legal establishment—immediate past American Bar Association president William Hubbard and the LSC’s own president, Jim Sandman. Both had a similar message on the impact of technology on the practice of law. It made him think, said Hubbard, revealing a rather surprising knowledge of

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Muckle LLP—Rachael Chapman

Muckle LLP—Rachael Chapman

Sports, education and charities practice welcomes senior associate

Ellisons—Carla Jones

Ellisons—Carla Jones

Partner and head of commercial litigation joins in Chelmsford

Freeths—Louise Mahon

Freeths—Louise Mahon

Firm strengthens Glasgow corporate practice with partner hire

NEWS
One in five in-house lawyers suffer ‘high’ or ‘severe’ work-related stress, according to a report by global legal body, the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC)
The Legal Ombudsman’s (LeO’s) plea for a budget increase has been rejected by the Law Society and accepted only ‘with reluctance’ by conveyancers
Overcrowded prisons, mental health hospitals and immigration centres are failing to meet international and domestic human rights standards, the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) has warned
Two speedier and more streamlined qualification routes have been launched for probate and conveyancing professionals
Workplace stress was a contributing factor in almost one in eight cases before the employment tribunal last year, indicating its endemic grip on the UK workplace
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