Goughs legal beagle

A National Minimum POST

The output from this blog has been at low ebb over recent weeks as Arnie’s father is approaching his last days in this realm. This has necessitated frequent journeys up and down the M5, and this is an ongoing situation for  as long as his very full and successful life dictates.

I had some good news yesterday that under normal circumstances  would have had Arnie bouncing around hyperspace. The news is, Resolution, after four years, six months and seven days, have actually responded in a positive and constructive manner.

I have accepted their offer, but I do feel that a straight forward issue, such as blatant false representation should have been dealt with by all the regulatory authorities in a swift manner, with a minimum financial sanction of at least £15,000, an equivalent that a non legal commercial operation could expect for  breaching trading standards in such a blatant and wilful fashion.

Their offer, is the FIRST response with regards my complaint since June 2003. If it takes this long and this much effort to achieve an INVESTIGATION into a straight forward complaint, what confidence can anybody have that more serious, more subjective complaints have any hope of serious investigation or consideration?
The bed rock of any quality system, and Resolution’s Code of Practice Is a quality system for solicitors in divorce, is the effectiveness of the complaints procedure. An empty complaints file is symptomatic of a poorly enforced quality standard, and this argument seems to have had a resonance throughout the legal profession and  people in divorce.

Now that the Party Conference season is over, the cabinet settled and the economic meltdown is in the wait and see mode, I shall resume my attempts to get the Law Society and the LCS to do their jobs properly by harassing the ministers and shadow ministers responsible.
Arnie cannot over state the importance of professional standards in making divorce a less acrimonious and a less adversarial process. Standards that also need to be applied to expert witness, social workers, the courts and Cafcass in both public and private  law cases.

Arnie has long since called for a suspension of dare devil tactics from Fathers 4 Justice and is also calling on our politicians to suspend the secret courts, so as these experts and professionals once again can be properly scrutinised and held accountable and thus ensuring professional standards are once again paramount.