Archive for December, 2013

In what will be viewed as another signal of straitened times in the legal profession, the High Court was not convinced by claims that a leading law firm should be paid double the normal legal aid rate after being instructed to give ‘expert’ advice on the immigration status of a mother embroiled in cross-border family proceedings. The mother was resident in Pakistan but her children were cared for by their father in Britain. After he fell ill, an issue arose as to the mother’s capacity to care for the children herself. She needed to come to the UK for an assessment of her parenting skills but that gave rise to an issue in respect of her immigration status. A judge dealing with the management of the case gave leave for the mother’s solicitors to instruct an expert to give advice on ... Read more