Blogs
Barriers to participation for Litigants in Person in remote hearings
Published 30/07/2020
In this blog piece, network member Law and Social Justice Professor Gráinne McKeever from Ulster University, focuses on the potential impact of remote hearings for LIPs based on what her research to date has shown about barriers to participation.
Blog: What got us here won’t get us there
Published 29/06/2020
In this blog post, Chris Knight, a partner in the charities team at VWV argues that charities' strategic thinking must evolve to prepare for a post-Covid world.
Blog: What is Dispute Resolution Assistance in the Workplace (DRAW)
Published 18/06/2020
YESS Law's pro bono and mediation online scheme is now up and running, in this blog YESS Law provide an insight into how mediation can help.
Big law vs Small law - where is the technology focused now
Published 12/05/2020
‘The order of priority of projects has changed; things like AI have gone to the backseat, to the forefront is people...You have got to deal with people and processes before you deal with technology. It can’t be technology for technology’s sake.’ - Roger Smith provides an overview of the different approached to the use of technology internally and with clients at different types of service providers.
Stigma-busting: Making every day ‘time to talk about mental health’ day
Published 25/02/2020
A detailed and comprehensive resource pack can be an effective tool to end mental health discrimination, by stimulating conversation.
Understanding the support needs of Litigants in Person through Human Centred Design
Published 09/01/2020 by Professor Gráinne McKeever and Dr Lucy Royal-Dawson
Network members, Law and Social Justice Professor Gráinne McKeever and Dr Lucy Royal-Dawson from Ulster University, share some news about their project 'Understanding the support needs of Litigants in Person through Human Centred Design'.
‘View from the Gravy Train’ new blog from the Young Legal Aid lawyers
Published 06/01/2020
Young Legal Aid Lawyers have published their new blog 'View from the Gravy Train' to dispel the idea that all lawyers, specifically legal aid lawyers, live immensely affluent lifestyles. They want to show the reality of tuition fee debt and low paid work, but they need your help - submit your experiences of working in legal aid today!
Collaboration: Thanks to Legal Aid, a blog by Young Legal Aid Lawyers
Published 06/01/2020
Young Legal Aid Lawyer's Blog 'Thanks to Legal Aid', aims to show the positive (as well as negative) stories of how legal aid helps families. But they need your help! Contribute your stories of working in legal aid today, to be featured on their blog.
Lesson for funders – public support for Human Rights must be cultivated
Published 20/11/2019 by Claire Gilbert
The Thomas Paine Initiative has called on funders to help capture the public’s hearts and minds, and counteract the threat to democracy from populist leaders. “Public opinion cannot be left to chance”, and communications strategy must be nurtured“at every stage” of the grant making process.
Secret Life of Prisons - new Podcast from Prison Radio Association and Prison Reform Trust
Published 16/10/2019
The Secret Life of Prisons - a new podcast from Prison Radio Association and the Prison Reform Trust. Hosted by Phil Maguire and Paula Harriot - each episode explores different experiences of prison hearing directly from people who have firsthand experience. Episode one 'The Arrival' featured our Being the Story speaker Brenda and she shared how it felt on entering prison. Find all the episodes here - http://secretlifeofprisons.libsyn.com/website
How to make investment in human rights pay
Published 04/09/2019 by Lisa Naylor
The rise of the far-right political movement, the growing gap between rich and poor in both developed and developing countries, and even climate change are all negatively affecting fundamental human rights on a global scale. And erosion of these rights inevitably makes it harder for vulnerable people to gain access to justice in a disastrous combination of the reduction of funding for advice and growing economic inequality.
Do clients prefer online contact to speaking with lawyers?
Published 03/05/2019 by Stacey Lamb
Research by mmadigital shows that cost and lack of understanding of legal services could see consumer clients try to avoid direct contact with lawyers.
Questions about court reform? This report has (most of) the answers
Published 28/02/2019
The Legal Education Foundation has published a comprehensive and insightful report by leading legal journalist Joshua Rozenberg QC on the court reform programme, from origins to implementation.
Triage: talking at cross purposes?
Published 01/02/2019 by Marco Montanaro
This article provides a general overview of triage, exploring what it means and what its implications for access-to-justice services are. After tracing the history of the word 'triage', the article goes on to chart some recent developments in Canada and offers some suggestions as to how a triage mechanism could effectively benefit the access-to-justice sector across the UK.
Bar Council Legal Reporting Awards
Published 18/01/2019 by Stacey Lamb
Article on what it's like to be a litigant in person is among the winners of the Bar Council Legal Reporting Awards.
How to talk so LiPs will listen (and listen so LIPs will talk)
Published 10/08/2018
"Parents will often attend court unrepresented, shell-shocked after having been through a final care hearing and having to come to terms with the fact that a court has decided that their child(ren) should be removed from their care... Trying to explain what the application of the law is, let alone the law on change of circumstances, is always going to be difficult. "
No one wins from litigation in person
Published 20/07/2018
With nearly 36 per cent of cases included a litigant in person this article from the Times gives an overview of the difficulties presented by litigants in person, from the court to represented parties.
Location, location, location - the where influences the how in co-located services
Published 19/07/2018
Co-located support services, such as Citizens Advice services at GP practices, can play a crucial role in helping both patient/clients and the service provider. A national average shows the almost a fifth of GP consultation time is spent on 'non-clinical' issues presented by clients, but how is this reflected in the poorest and most vulnerable user groups?
The fight for Legal Aid continues
Published 20/06/2018
It's been five years since the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders (LASPO) Act came into force and drastically reduced the scope and availability of legal aid funding. We are following the post-implementation review process and feeding back to the Network to enable the views of organisations working directly with litigants in person to be shared.
The rise (and fall?) of Cyberjustice
Published 20/06/2018
From the reform of HMCTS and the introduction of Assisted Digital, to the use of artificial intelligence to predict the outcome of your case, it seems where there's a legal dispute there's a digital solution We've pulled together a brief overview of some of the most relevant developments to look at how their introduction might help, or hinder, litigants in person.
