There’s a growing fear that banks and supermarkets could drastically change the way legal services are carried out in the UK. The SRA already oversees the 120,000+ solicitors in the UK. And as many already know, the invitation’s been extended for other sectors to apply for Alternative Business Structures, or ABS. This means the dynamics have shifted drastically and those applicants who qualify will be able to open legal firms and offer an entire range of legal products and services.

Until these changes began, only licensed solicitors were able to own and practice in a law firm. After all, they’d studied hard and paid the big bucks associated with earning a law degree – the privilege of owning a law firm was reserved for those who did the work.

Specifically, concerns are that supermarket chains and other companies could force traditional law firms out of business. Some say it could eventually mean more supermarkets than lawyers could own these firms. One solicitor in the UK said that the years of studying and qualifying as a lawyer could become moot if consumers opted to go the cheaper route, something that grocery stores and banks are promising to deliver. So is it quantity over quality? Maybe.

The fact is, bigger companies have bigger budgets for marketing purposes and advertising. A small two-solicitor firm could easily find itself struggling to stay afloat with the kind of competition these bigger companies are sure to bring to the table.

So what are many legal minds up to in their efforts of offsetting potential disaster? Many say they’re taking another look at their own business models and seeking to redefine their target markets. It’s about offering a very personal service for clients versus the more mechanical efforts and banks and supermarkets will offer.

For now, though, the entire brouhaha continues to unfold.

In a phone interview from Sweden, Ashok Hindocha told reporters that Xolile Mngeni, who pled guilty to performing the hit, and who’s now serving a prison sentence, has a brain tumor and is receiving the necessary medical attention.

“If South African health practitioners can help someone with a brain tumour, then they deserve a chance to fix someone with post traumatic stress disorder”, said Hindocha. He insists Dewani’s extradition should be allowed to move forward. That has proven a difficult consideration, though.

In one recent hearing, two High Court judges ruled it “unjust and oppressive” to order Mr Dewani’s extradition. The judges also reiterated the importance of ensuring the extradition be carried though “as soon as he is fit” to travel. He’s been diagnosed as suffering from both PTSD, or post traumatic stress disorder, as well as depression. For now though, the extradition remain on hold.

Hindocha also said, when asked whether the family would attend the trial for Mngeni and Qwabe in July, that he was uncertain what the other family members would ultimately do.

The cab driver, which law enforcement says was the pivotal player in this game of murder, is already serving an 18 year sentence. Zola Robert Tongo confessed not long after the young woman was killed. November 2010.

Dewani’s family continues to insist their son and brother is simply unable to travel at this point but they also say they look forward to the trial so that they can finally vindicate their son.

Edric Kennedy-Macfoy is the latest to come forward with claims of racism. This makes at least ten new allegations since the family of Kester David has come out and said they wanted their son and brother’s case re-opened.

Kennedy-Macfoy is a black firefighter who attempted to help officers but was met with assault and abuse. He says he was shot with a stun gun. The incident is said to have occurred last September when Kennedy-Macfoy witnessed someone throw a rock at a police van. He quickly made a mental note of the description of the man who threw the rock and then flagged down the driver to let him know what he saw and to offer assistance. He was met with curse words and then physical assault that led to a “violent attack”. He says the episode did not end until the officers shot him with a stun gun.

Incredibly, Kennedy-Macfoy found himself being tried in a court of law. He was found not guilty, though some witnesses seemed to do little more than justify their actions.

This case certainly lends to the growing disdain of law enforcement. The fact that Kennedy-Macfoy is a firefighter who’s worked along side police for years only worsens the situation. He says he has friends on the police force.

In his complaint, Kennedy-Macfoy said, “He launched it at this police van window and I was actually scared for whoever was in the police van,” he said. “I knew it was occupied because the reverse lights kept on coming on and off.” The situation worsened from there and Kennedy-Macfoy says the entire episode was filmed on cell cameras, even as he was stunned with the weapon as he was walking backwards with his hands raised, per the police officer’s instructions.

Evidence went missing and it wasn’t until a few weeks ago that Kennedy-Macfoy came forward. His solicitor in the UK filed a complaint immediately following the incident, but had heard nothing more about it until these new accusations of racism began surfacing.

Scotland Yard has reiterated its commitment to eradicating racism within the department. You can read Edric Kennedy-Macfoy’s statement on his Facebook page, found here.

The video shows in graphic detail the rape of a 17 year old girl by several young men, even as she pleads with them to stop. In a country where rape is sadly common, this has enraged the entire world. Worse, after the video was recorded on a cell phone, it began making rounds on social networking sites. Now, several human rights groups are getting on board. the African National Congress part has called the entire incident “sadistic” and says this introduces new questions on the society that raises boys to behave in this manner. Solicitors say these boys/men should be held accountable.

The video of the gang rape is ten minutes long.

Others are questioning a society that finds it humorous to pass around such brutality while laughing about it. Worse, this isn’t the first time a brutal rape on a young girl has been caught on film.

In 2010, a 15 year old girl was gang raped by her fellow students at a high school in Johannesburg. This occured during school hours and there were at least three students who actually filmed the rape as it happened. It made the rounds in the high school, including teachers, and yet it was not reported right away.

Fortunately, at least one news agency has refused to provide a link to the rape. South Africa’s Eyewitness News made it clear to tweeters who wanted to see the video that it was both illegal and wrong. It’s considered child pornography in a country where women, girls and even babies are brutally raped on a daily basis.

In the past several hours, it was revealed this young girl had been missing for close to a month. It’s now believed she’d been kept as a sex slave. Her mother told a local reporter than her daughter had “been a victim of rape since the age of 12 and has the mental capacity of a 4 or 5 year old”.

Jeffery, known online as “Pablo Escobar”, said he felt the need to take a stand after finding out two women he knows had undergone abortions. Along with stealing the information of 10,000 -plus women from the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, Jeffery also admitted to hi jacking the agency website and placing anti-abortion messages on its home page. His admissions are in violation of the Computer Misuse Act.

Part of his message reads, “An unborn child does not have an opinion, a choice or any rights… who gave you the right to murder an unborn child and profit from that murder?” He then attacks the collective abortion effort and said through the use of “skillful marketing” providers sell their “product” to these women.

During the many hours spent with investigators, Jeffery also said he could easily hack into major international and overseas websites such as the FBI, West Midlands Police, the House of Parliament and the United States Navy – plus several more.

The judge did not mince his words. He admonished Jeffrey for being “proud” of his actions and for tweeting about what he’d done.

Jeffery’s solicitor, Shaun Wallace, spoke on behalf of his client and said the initial goal was to test the website’s vulnerability. Before long, though, curiosity got the best of him and from there he became “less responsible”. The repercussions, had Jeffery published the information on those women, could have been catastrophic. The judge weighed that in his decision too and said he hopes the sentence would serve as a deterrent for other would-be hackers.

Hogan-Howe says he agrees with the caller, Roger David, and that there are no excuses for failure and admits London as a whole presents a “bigger challenge”.

Police have concluded the death of Kester David in July, 2012 was suspicious after initially ruling it suicide. It now no longer insists Mr. David died by his own hands and has since launched a new investigation. Citing a “catalogue of errors”, witnesses are now being interviewed and the events are being reviewed.

Family members of Mr. David never believed he would have taken his own life and after seeing a police report, they saw a number of failures on the part of police which led to serious errors. There were witnesses who were never interviewed and yet who reported seeing two white men near the scene and who were acting suspiciously. Those witnesses have now spoken to police.

Winifred Griffith, who is Mr. David’s mother, filed a formal complaint and said her family was not treated with dignity nor respect and they did not care about what the family believed. She said they also provided inaccurate information to the family.

Roger David said in his radio appearance, “I think your force needs to buck up its ideas and realise that black and ethnic people are here in Britain, we’re part of society and we request and demand the same kind of treatments as white people in Britain.”

Hogan-Lowe agreed. He has assured the David family as well as his constituents that not only would this case receive top priority, but that racism would not be tolerated on his force. He’s announced ten cases that would be immediately re-opened.

The Office for Legal Complaints announced recently two significant changes it’s making as it moves forward. Many recall last year’s announcement that it would be publishing some details surrounding what it referred to as “specific circumstances”. This, of course, included the publishing of the involved solicitors. Now, though, there are two more changes coming that the Office hopes will further the commitment of better transparency.

Quarterly Reports
First up is the decision to publish, via quarterly reports, a summary of all ombudsman decisions made in the previous three months. It will provide the total cases, the outcomes – or lack thereof and even will provide which legal sector is applicable. The first quarterly report is expected to be published towards the end of July and will then update every three months.

Pattern Reports
Then, the Office is preparing to provide what it refers to as a “pattern of complaints, or circumstances”, which, again is based on public interest. It will require approval prior to publication. One board member agreed that this is the right way for “striking a good balance”. The efforts aren’t to complicate matters for solicitors, but rather, to continue its goal of a stronger and more open legal community while bridging the differences, when they occur, between solicitors and their clients.

The goal is to provide the right information that will be easily accessed and used without providing irrelevant bits that will bog the process down. As the Office continues to improve the legal sector throughout the UK, there are sure to be further changes in coming months.

If you’d like to read more about the role of the Legal Ombudsman, visit the website at LegalOmbudsman.org.uk

The journey will take 3 days and She will be raising funds to support the work of the NSPCC in Wales, specifically with the funding of the NSPCC’s centre in Cardiff. Whilst the centre’s doors are now open, it urgently needs £1.5 million to extend its services. With your support Leena hopes to reach a fundraising target of £1,000.

Please support the NSPCC and Leena at https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/leenamooneeram

then read about Leens’s progress and laugh at http://journeyofathousandsmiles.wordpress.com

The Legal Ombudsman reported that of the 90,000 complaints it received last year, an astonishing 25% of them were about fees solicitors were charging. Does this mean law firms are in jeopardy if they don’t reconsider their pricing structures? If you believe the report, then yes, going out of business is a reasonable possibility.

Adam Sampson, Chief Ombudsman, reiterates the purpose of the agency is to serve as a mediator between solicitors and their clients who are unhappy with the service they received. For the past few years, the Legal Ombudsman has been establishing itself in preparation for the big unveil.

Another part of its purpose is to eliminate “deliberately obfuscatory language”. This means the legalese many solicitors speak so naturally will likely need to be re-evaluated if that solicitor expects to remain a formidable player on the legal field.

Sampson also says that solicitors believe and will argue their point that predicting the costs of legal services is impossible, especially when factoring in the “didn’t see that coming” transaction.

There’s no denying transparent policies and good faith efforts have a definitive role in ethical law firms. Ideally, before these aggressive changes kick in, solicitors in the UK will be better able to find that balance. It’s a challenge, no doubt; however, provided perspective is maintained, it’s perfectly reasonable to believe the Legal Ombudsman service will have a positive role to play in the long term.

For those interested, there is a guide, “An Ombudsman’s View of Good Costs Service” available on the Legal Ombudsman website. Solicitors can also browse the site for a wealth of information written for today’s contemporary solicitor.