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With the words “Challenging and Interesting Year ahead” ringing in my ears I left the AGM / Conference on 23rd of October wondering quite what I had taken on

Sue Johnson — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 16:23:26 +0000

Of course I should have known, I have been a Committee Member and latterly Vice Chair long enough to see the work done by my predecessors.

Last Friday saw the AGM and the first joint CLSA / Criminal Bar Association conference in Manchester.

Sue Johnson — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:07:09 +0000

Our speakers included Paul Mendelle QC (Chair of the CBA), Des Hudson (Chief Exec of the Law Society), Julian Young (Solicitor and HCA) and Richard Marks QC (Leader of the Northern Circuit).

I was elected to succeed Joy as Chair and intend to carry on her good work.

The fight against BVT continues

Sue Johnson — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 13:27:40 +0100

Can I firstly say I was staggered and proud not only of the number of BVT responses from members but the quality. There were many truly well argued and cogent responses.

BVT or Bust?

Sue Johnson — Wed, 06 May 2009 12:43:31 +0100

There are three letters on everybody's lips BVT ; to say the consultation which arrived at the beginning of April was a shock is to put it mildly. The profession had been reassured by Sir Michaels Bichard's remarks that any scheme would be piloted and properly evaluated.

Firstly apologies for the gap between Blogs

Sue Johnson — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 16:58:55 +0000

I was actually on holiday for the first two weeks in Feb and since I came back my feet haven't touched the ground. We are all, from paralegals to senior partners, working so long and hard I feel it is unsustainable. Everyone I speak to says we are working harder for less money, which is not good with an aging profession.

A belated happy New Year to you all

Sue Johnson — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 15:39:57 +0000

As the recession deepens we appear to be in the only growth industry - crime; certainly the work has started picking up in London and I hope for the sake of your businesses if not society that the picture is the same nationwide.

We are now a year in for police station fixed fees and the Litigators graduated Fee.

Christmas is coming and the goose is getting fat; please put a penny in the defence lawyer’s hat!

Sue Johnson — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 13:24:10 +0000

This is unlikely I feel in the coming year despite the fact that the government (there is no more money) seem to have found/borrowed billions to prop up such deserving causes as the financial institutions and the car industry.

Chair’s Blog 27th November 2008

Sue Johnson — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 14:29:33 +0000

Your committee meet this Friday and for the first time I won't be there. Rod Warren and I are off to Maastricht at the invitation of Ed Cape to join an international conference on legal aid. I will be providing a full report on this in due course.

Since my last blog there have been some significant developments in the world of Criminal Defence.

Sue Johnson — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 13:12:44 +0000

Friday 24^th October saw the news break of new levels of pay in the current VHCC scheme; although these include increases for solicitor panel members the main driving force was to entice those starving silks back into contracted work.

Association representatives meet with the LSC and OCJR to discuss virtual courts

Sue Johnson — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 11:53:22 +0100

Many thanks to all of you who attended the conference; the feedback was really positive and numbers were considerably up on last year. There will be a criminal bulletin with a report on the conference shortly but here are a few edited highlights.

CLSA Conference in Sheffield on Friday 17th October.

Sue Johnson — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 13:26:00 +0100

Summer is drawing to a close; I hope you all had a good break. The conference season is upon us and I hope that many of you will attend the CLSA conference in Sheffield on Friday 17^th October.

The Litigators Graduated Fee is up for review

Sue Johnson — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 14:38:27 +0100

Well summer is upon us, hence the rain, and I hope many of you are enjoying a well earned break from the coal face of criminal defence work.

There hasn't been a blog for a while but not because of the lack of activity by your committee.

Criminal justice system in the spotlight

Default admin account — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 11:34:08 +0100

The media have been having a field day with the criminal justice system, noticeably knife attacks and the television programme "Criminal Justice".

Another week another consultation paper

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 01:00:00 +0100

This week I attended the Criminal Contract Consultative Group in place of Andrew Keogh who was unable to attend.

Thoughts about the LSC position

Default admin account — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 01:00:00 +0100

I am sure many of you will have read the LSC position on the new contract.

Re-train or Re-tire?

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 01:00:00 +0100

I am sure many of you will have read the LSC position on the new contract. A couple of thoughts occur: as was put to Carolyn Regan at the Hop farm meeting not many of us can retrain and an aging population of criminal lawyers are left with little option but to re apply.

The end of another Season

Mon, 12 May 2008 01:00:00 +0100

Last week I attended a seminar with Lord Justice Leveson on the topic of CJSS. Lord Justice Leveson recognises the contribution of defence practitioners, whom he described as “pivotal” to the success of CJSS.

New CLSA Benefits Package

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 01:00:00 +0100

Your committee met last Friday the 25th of April. It was a long meeting and well attended.

We are all looking forward to the Kent meeting organised by Robin Murray on the 14th May.

LSC up to their tricks again

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 01:00:00 +0100

I hope by now you have all received the current edition of the Criminal Lawyer. Rodney headlines with a piece about the new General Criminal contract, which is on all our minds.

Civil JR Settlement

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 01:00:00 +0100

What an eventful week; the big news of course was the settlement on the civil JR. You may have seen Richard Miller’s e mail to the e group setting out the benefits to criminal practitioners.