Legal Firms Turn To Technology and Other Means To Defeat Legal Aid Reduction

O'Garra's Solicitors have once heard cases personally. Moving with technology, websites allowed customers to send inquiry forms and receive free consultation. Now, they've developed software enabling fee-earners to take client instructions digitally and generate client letters and email the files to offices without doing legwork.

The law firm, along with other firms struggling with the UK's decreased legal aid budget focus on improving their efficiency to get more contracts while minimising resource use.

O'Garra's Solicitors and other firms face possible 'limbo' over legal aid deficits as cases and contracts continue to go down the drain.

Meanwhile, Justice Secretary Michael Gove thanked practitioner groups

"Thanks to the constructive dialogue that we have had with them and with [MoJ] civil servants, we are now in talks to ensure that access to justice can be enhanced and, at the same time, that the quality of advocacy improves."

The level of interest in duty contracts, including O'Garra's increased efficiency style, shows the strong urge to take on cases despite the legal aid reductions.

Meanwhile, public reaction to legal aid cuts were negative. Many said the MoJ should have had greater pressure from groups to withdraw the legal aid cuts.

Chelsea Manning Denied Legal Library Access Before Prison Hearing

Imprisoned soldier may face solitary confinement due to violations including possession of unapproved reading material and expired toothpaste. Soldier and Guardian Columnist Chelsea Manning was denied access to a prison legal library days before her prison court hearing. The hearing could result to a decision leaving her in solitary confinement.

The army will schedule a hearing on her violations at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas where Manning is currently held.

Manning was the source of the vast leak of US State Secrets to WikiLeaks. A call to the US disciplinary barracks at Fort Leavenworth was not immediately returned.

American Civil Liberties Union Attorney Chase Strangio, who was handling Manning's legal dispute with the US military over her health treatment in prison as a transgender woman, said it is possible Manning was unfairly targeted.

“Chelsea has a growing voice in the public discussion,” Stangio said, “and it would not surprise me were these charges connected to who she is.”

Petitions against the military to release Manning and drop her of her charges for the reported prison infractions had earned 64,000 signatures. According to Fight for the Future Campaign Director Evan Greer:

“This is a hearing where she’s facing a disciplinary board that has the power to essentially remand her to indefinite solitary confinement,” Greer told the Guardian. “She has to face this board without her attorneys present. And now she’s being denied access to the resources to prepare a proper defence.

“Those things being denied paint a really grim picture of what it looks like the military’s trying to do to her, and should arouse suspicion from the public and from journalists.”

EU Law That Could Trash UK Internet Porn Filters Up For Voting

According to a proposed EU law, the UK's porn filters are illegal. The law would focus on roaming charges but would have far-reaching implications for net neutrality and the UK's adult content filters.

UK Prime Minister David Cameron's Internet porn filters, introduced in 2013, may be powerless. According to Patent Attorney Specialising in Information And Communications Technology for Withers & Rogers Denis Keseris, a foreigner demanding content available to them in their native countries will want to access content in the United Kingdom as well.

The Single Telecoms Market Law may mark the end of mobile phone roaming charges throughout the European Union from June 2017. It would "enshrine the principle of net neutrality into EU law". The laws would also stop blocking or throttling of online content, applications and services.

The European Parliament, Council and Commission all agree that the law will be the first to instate the clear rules on net neutrality at EU level.

While the UK does not prevent anyone access from Internet pornography, UK's Internet service providers could only operate on an opt-in basis for adult content. Cameron said that pornography and gratuitous violence must be automatically blocked by ISPs who opt not to view such media.

UK Law Firm Raises $50 Million In IPO

It can be quite rare for legal firms to raise very high value in the stock market especially if they’re new to the industry. Legal work is specialised. Measuring profits and return of investments definitely have a large margin of error.

A legal business observes the four following metrics for profitability, according to LexisNexis:

1.  Cost of Servicing Clients 
2.  Firm Profitability (Firm, Practice Area, Partners, Client, Timekeeper)
3.  Normal and Technological Expenditures
4.  Promotion and effort against service profit ratio All of these can be measured by actuaries.

While legal services have high prices, it doesn’t mean legal companies have a consistent stream of clients. It is also possible certain cases have been taking too long.

So how did the UK firm Gately increase their IPO to more than 15% during the morning when the London Stock Exchange opened? Gately first introduced 31.6 million shares, which represent a 30% stake in Gately. It had gained more than $45 million for individual partner with seven of them sharing about $38 million in value.

Gately may have offices in England, Scotland and Dubai, but it doesn’t mean it’s capable of having an increase of 15% in its stock value. The company’s ABS license is probably its number one weapon that allows it to raise its capital from outside its partnership.

Israel Had Hidden Behind Laws To Discriminate Against Arab Residential Construction

It seems that Israel’s court had ignored the fact that the Israel Government moved the residents from one area to the village of Umm al-Hiran 60 years ago. 

During the 1948 Nakba, Israel moved several removed Arabians from plotted land into the village of al-Hiran. For 60 years, the residents lived and thrived in the small village.

The Israel Supreme Court had faced legal battles against the initiatives of Israel because of its demolition of Arab. The activities had clearly brought serious shortage in housing for the Arab world.

According to Haaretz, the Israel court had ignored other legal principles that contributed to the situation.

Currently, Arab List Knesset members wish to use a team of experts to provide a solution to the Arab community housing shortage. They wish to freeze the Umm al-Hiran demolition order before they could uncover a solution to the problem.

However, Attorney General Yehuddah Weinstein insisted on the enforcement using the rule of law. An unfair decision according to Haaretz. 

They pointed out that the rule of law for Israelis are satisfactory, but the procedures to do so make it impossible to build a home on Israeli soil.

NGOs Challenge Mass Surveillance In European Court Builds Pressure Against GCHQ

As James Bond-spying cases continue in the United Kingdom, it’s no surprise that a group of leading human rights NGOs would pressure the GCHQ to finally admit to its wrongdoings and accept reforms.

Privacy International, Bytes for All, Amnesty International, Liberyt and other civil liberties groups have filed a case against the UK GCHQ to overturn a ruling by Britain’s surveillance court the IPT or Investigatory Powers Tribunal.

The IPT found that GCHQ’s Tempora program, which functions to monitor web traffic in Britain using fibre optic cables is entirely lawful. IPT also found that British and American intelligence sharing service Prism is also legal.

NGOs appealed the IPTs ruling to the European Court, which states that the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) complies with the duty of the UK Government to protect its citizens human rights.

The European Court of Human Rights will consider RIPA’s violation of Article 14 of the Convention, which bans illegal discrimination.

The GCHQ said in response to the appeal:

"We completely reject the assertions made in the press release from Amnesty International and others, which do not reflect the judgments of the Investigatory Powers Tribunal. The IPT was clear in its December judgment that the legal regime is lawful, and that GCHQ does not seek to carry out mass surveillance. The government will be vigorously defending this case at the European Court of Human Rights,"

GCHQ Cleared of Wrongdoing As Spying is Legal But Outdated

The Intelligence and Security Committee of the United Kingdom reports that UK intelligence-gathering agencies have not broken any UK constitution and laws. However, the report suggested the legal framework of digital surveillance in the United Kingdom is outdated, complicated and lacks transparency.

The ISC began its investigation after United States ex-NSA contractor Edward Snowden revealed the extent of US and UK online surveillance. The ISC reports said their findings were “reassuring” but they find the legislation lacks the powers to handle digital surveillance, which includes the regulation of the GCHQ bulk interception of information.

In the year 2000, the UK issued 2,795 warrants to intercept communication data, which means the information collected would be opened and read. By 2014, the numbers of authorisations have already reached a million for police and law enforcement agencies.

ISC reports that several intelligence staff had been dismissed for inappropriately accessing data, misusing access to GCHQ’s systems. Meanwhile, the ISC also reports some staff was only dismissed.

Online surveillance have become a big issue due to Edward Snowden’s revelation of spying activities in the western world. Germany, France and other US allies have questioned the legal framework of the US intelligence gathering processes, which had also affected their relationships and alliance in 2013.