Legal News - April 2016 by PW Media & Publishing Ltd

THE MAGAZINE OF THE CONFEDERATION OF THE SOUTH WALES LAW SOCIETIES

LEGAL

NEWS

APRIL 2016

Cardiff & district

ANNUAL DINNER 22nd april 2016 - See page 5 Kindly sponsored by: Phoenix Legal Services

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CONTENTS Editorial Board Richard Fisher - Editor Michael Walters - Secretary Johnathan Hine David Dixon Editorial copy to Richard Fisher Charles Crookes 51 The Parade Cardiff CF24 3AB Tel: 029 2049 1271 Fax: 029 2047 1211 DX 33025 Cardiff 1 E-mail rfisher@ccj-law.co.uk

CONFEDERATION OF SOUTH WALES LS

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

cardiff & district LS

president’s letter

Monmouthshire Incorporated LS

Monmouthshire President’s letter

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Designed and Produced by PW Media & Publishing Ltd Tel: 01905 723011

Regulatory update

Managing Editor Dawn Pardoe

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12th Anniversary Celebrations for the CILEx

Graphic Design Paul Blyth Advertising Sales Emma Cox Tel: 01905 727907 Email: emma@pw-media.co.uk Printed By Stephens & George The articles published in Legal News represent the views of the contributor and are not necessarily the official views of the Confederation of South Wales Law Societies, Cardiff & District Law Society, or of the Editorial Board. The magazine or members of the Editorial Board are in no way liable for such opinions. Whilst every care has been taken to ensure that the contents of this issue are accurate, we cannot be held responsible for any inaccuracies or late changes. No article, advertisement or graphic, in whole or in print, may be reproduced without written permission of the publishers.

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RESPONSE BY CARDIFF & DISTRICT To SRA SQE

chancery lane

the latest news from chancery lane

updates

annual general meeting notice

lifestyle

restaurant review

Watch this Space Things are about to Change!

The way in which Cardiff & District Law Society delivers its education and development benefits to members is changing.

All will be revealed in the next edition of Legal News! LEGAL NEWS

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APRIL 2016

CONFEDERATION OF SOUTH WALES LAW SOCIETIES

PRESIDENT’S REPORT - APRIL 2016 “Persistence prevails when all else fails” On the table beside my desk in my office sits a photograph. The picture is of a single sculler. For those unfamiliar with the sport of rowing, that is one person in a boat with two sculls (oars to the uninitiated! And no we do not have rowlocks, we have gates and swivels!) At the foot of the picture is the pithy phrase that I have quoted above. This picture has accompanied me throughout my legal career to date, having been purchased in Washington D.C. shortly after I qualified. It has been a source of inspiration and optimism through many difficult cases, situations and experiences since. Though it may gather some dust, it remains as a constant reminder of the power of persistence even when the future may seem black. It is always worth remembering that it is always darkest just before the dawn. In the recent past our colleagues in the criminal section of the profession must have felt truly that the future was black. However, their persistence in opposing, with tolerance, forbearance, good humour but determination, the absurd changes that central government was intent on imposing on them has, as the maxim above promises, prevailed. I was driving home from the Celtic Manor hotel after a Newport Business Club meeting when I first heard the news of the climb down by the government on criminal contracting and the other changes they were so keen to impose on our colleagues. I confess that, initially, I was wrong-footed. The change only warranted a 10 second mention on the Radio 4 news at 8.00pm that night. Concentrating primarily on driving at that point, the news barely sunk in. There was no mention on the national television news later that evening at home and nothing on Radio 4 the following morning before I left for work. By the time I got to work 4

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the following morning, I assumed I had misheard, misunderstood or had dreamt the whole thing. Fortunately, I was wrong. The lack of publicity of this truly astonishing volte face only speaks volumes for the indifference that the majority of the public have to these issues. Indifference that is until they need the services of a solicitor when they are in a tight corner. Then the unavailability of a solicitor is the fault of the solicitor, their firm or the profession at large! It is therefore all the more surprising that the Law Society have not made more of this than has been the case to date. Leaving aside the trite observations on all this, these developments have to be welcomed. I salute those members of our profession who have toiled tirelessly to oppose the proposed reforms, set the record straight time and time again with patience and dignity and who have not buckled despite the full force of the government being levelled against them. It demonstrates admirably what can be achieved with determination and persistence. It shows the power of collective resolve. All those involved in this opposition deserve our thanks and appreciation. But more so, they deserve the thanks and respect of all those people, currently blissfully unaware of how close the independence of the profession came to being decimated, who, when they find themselves in a tight corner, will still have an independent legal profession to turn to for unbiased, independent and sound advice. My congratulations to you all. Whilst I am aware that not all aspects of the proposed reforms have been scrapped, with some just being delayed, nevertheless this represents an astounding result and one of which our profession should be justifiably proud. Unfortunately, attacks on the profession and the rule of law continue LEGAL NEWS

unabated. Court fee increases are now being proposed in the probate arena. An issue that has become commonplace to the contentious side of the profession now threatens to engulf our non-contentious brethren. I wonder whether this will be the catalyst to a greater professional unity and even greater achievements with determination and persistence? Only time will tell. Away from the coalface, spring is in the air. I was honoured to be re-elected as President of the Confederation for a second year at our AGM in February. Though there was only a small turnout, what it lacked in numbers it made up for in enthusiasm and enjoyment. A good meal was had at the Parkhouse Club in Cardiff thereafter, with attendees benefitting from excellent cuisine at reasonable prices. With the advent of spring have come invitations to various constituent law society events. I have been honoured with an invitation from Pontypridd, Rhondda and District Law Society to their dinner in May at the Park Plaza hotel in Cardiff that I was pleased to be able to accept. I am hoping to be able to attend the Cardiff and District Law Society Dinner in April as well as the Monmouthshire Law Society dinner in June. Additionally, there is a threat that I may be invited to the national President’s and Secretaries’ conference in London in early May. Watch this space. With his reputation preceding him, the prospect of attending this event with our Administrator, Mr. Mike Walters, fills me with trepidation! Thank goodness there will still be some criminal lawyers around in the early hours of a Saturday morning! All in all the next few months promise to be busy but entertaining. As for the Confederation, at our recent AGM we agreed that we need to raise the profile of the Confederation, as well as become more noticeable

at a national level. To this end work is under way to create an annual event in South Wales at which the attendance of prominent members of the national Law Society will be secured to allow the profession in South Wales a forum for meaningful debate with the Society in London. Wales can, unless one is determined, appear remote from Chancery Lane. We need to dispel that myth and remind those in London that the profession is more than the City and those inside the M25. Interesting times indeed! (Note the use of the exclamation marks throughout this piece, despite and in protest at the DoE in England proposing to outlaw their use!! Twice for good measure!). The phrase often attributed to an ancient Chinese curse, “may you live in interesting times”, appears apt at this point. However, with objective consideration I am sure we would all prefer to live in interesting times rather than boring ones. Perhaps a more appropriate quote to finish might be “Live long and prosper!”. In the light of all that is happening now, I sincerely, hope you all will do on both counts! n Jonathan Hine JonathanH@jacklyndawson.co.uk

CARDIFF AND DISTRICT LAW SOCIETY

PRESIDENT’S LETTER As I write this, there are less than 6 weeks until the annual dinner. I hope that you will be coming to City Hall on 22 April to dine well, to celebrate the achievements of the winner of the Simon Mumford Memorial Award and to listen to our speaker, Keir Starmer. We are honoured and very lucky that Keir Starmer is coming to the dinner. He is a lawyer with an international reputation who has enjoyed a varied and distinguished career. His thoughts and insights will be of great interest to practitioners of all specialisms. Turning from the sublime to the ridiculous, I have to say something at the dinner, too. emerging from this to stage four, which is writing the speech, though I expect that stage 3 overlaps with stage 4 for several weeks. The final stage, of course, is delivering the speech.

There are 5 stages to delivering an after dinner speech. The first is disinterested dread. This is the feeling one experiences after accepting the invitation (in my case, of becoming junior vice president of the Society) and realising that one must speak at the dinner. The second stage is anticipatory anxiety, in which the prospect of the speech is looming and one starts to note what happens, is eaten and said at other dinners. Stage three is paralysing panic, when the sufferer knows s/he should be gathering thoughts about what to say in the speech but is too horrified by the prospect to do so. A symptom of this stage is waking in the middle of the night from a nightmare in which one has stood up to speak at the dinner to find that either (a) no-one is there, or (b) that the room is packed but everyone gets up to leave as one stands up to speak, or (c) that one starts the speech with an inappropriate or distasteful joke which results in shocked and outraged silence. I hope that I’m 6

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As part of my preparation I was delighted to accept the invitation of Alexis Thomas of NewLaw, the chair of CILEx’s South Wales branch, to attend its annual dinner on 20 February at the St David’s Spa Hotel. There was an excellent turnout, a very good awards ceremony and excellent speeches from Alexis and David Edwards, the president of CILEx for England and Wales. I’ve got quite a challenge on my hands to make a better speech than Alexis. At the CILEx dinner I sat beside David

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Edwards and Helen Whiteman, the chief executive of CILEx Regulation and her husband. It says something about the good relations between CILEx and its regulator that I did not feel like a referee as I sat, ate and drank amongst them. In my Chancery Lane News column elsewhere in this issue I suggest that the relations between the Law Society and the chief executive of the SRA are not so cordial. The Society has responded to the SRA’s consultation on Assessing Competence. This concerned the proposals to require all entrants to the profession to sit a centrally set Solicitors’ Qualifying Examination and to dispense with the need for a qualifying law degree, graduate diploma in law and LPC. Many firms

and individuals in South Wales have responded too, including Cardiff Law School and Monmouthshire Law Society. Apparently the SRA received 250 responses, twice the average number of responses to their consultations, and if they have not exactly received an avalanche of responses as has been reported, a significant number of people and organisations cared sufficiently about the standards required for entry to the profession to tell the SRA what they think of the proposals. The members of our Regulatory Issues Sub-Committee who contributed to the Society’s response are Hugh Price, who co-ordinated it, Rachael Selleck, Clive Thomas, Byron Jones, Tom Danter, Richard Fisher and me. The response has been posted on the Society’s website.

CARDIFF AND DISTRICT LAW SOCIETY The SRA has a record of ignoring critical responses to recent consultations on education and training. This arrogance is undesirable in a regulator and leads the regulated community to mistrust the SRA. We hope rather than expect that it will take the responses into account when it decides what it will do to satisfy itself of the competence of qualifying solicitors. The decisions they make will be crucial to the future and wellbeing of the solicitors’ profession. They may also be crucial to the future of the SRA, too. We are now moving into a new phase of legal services regulation. Phase 1, professional self-regulation, is now a nostalgic memory for solicitors who are more than 35 years old. Phase 2, the period in which the Legal Services Board oversaw the approved regulators and the three largest approved regulators were required to separate their representative and regulatory arms may be coming to an end if rumours that the government is keen to make the regulators “independent” are true. If those

rumours prove to be correct, phase 3 will be the time of the state-controlled regulator or regulators of legal services. This would be an unsettling development for everyone who cares about the rule of law. We will have an opportunity to make our views known about this sinister possible development when the anticipated consultation is issued. This is likely to be sometime in April. Although the Coalition government abolished the guidance that consultation periods should last for 13 weeks to give interested parties sufficient time to respond thoughtfully, it is likely that the forthcoming consultation on regulation will be subject to a 13 week consultation. This Society will be responding. I urge you to respond, too. When I became president of this Society, I wanted to raise the profile of legal services regulation as a local legal issue. I didn’t know that the government would be consulting on the subject this year, or that the

Competition and Markets Authority would be conducting a similar study. But it was apparent from my involvement on the Law Society council that the current regulatory environment is unstable and may change. In my first speech as president I stated that I would be inviting the chair of the SRA and chair of the LSB to visit Cardiff to speak to the profession about their visions of the future of the regulation of the profession. I have invited Enid Rowlands, the SRA chair to visit Cardiff to speak to the profession, and she has accepted, but her diary commitments rule out any dates until October. Given her chief executive’s opinion that the Law Society should no longer receive the funding from the PC fee that it currently obtains under Legal Services Act 2007 s 51, it is just as well that we won’t hear from the SRA during the forthcoming consultation period. As a Law Society council member, I would not wish to invite the SRA and its senior management to an event which they could use as

a charm offensive against the Law Society. If the SRA can’t visit Cardiff until October, I would not want to invite the LSB to a similar event until the autumn either. So I am inviting them to Cardiff but they won’t be speaking about these issues until the autumn, after the consultation has ended. Why do I want to hear from both regulators? If the SRA (and its counterparts, the BSB and CILEx Regulation) are given the “independence” they want the legal profession will be paying for a surfeit of state regulators of legal services. Either they, or the LSB, will be unnecessary. If there is going to be state regulation of legal services, there will only be one state regulator of legal services. We should hear from both the LSB and the SRA so we can form our own views as to which should survive and which should perish. n David Dixon DixonD@cardiff.ac.uk @saldixie

DATE FOR YOUR DIARY By popular demand The Confederation is returning to Llandaff Rowing Club Bridge Road Cardiff CF5 2PT for

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APRIL 2016

Monmouthshire Incorporated Law Society

monmouthshire President’s letter I will first flag up an important “Save the Date”. The Monmouthshire Law Society Summer Ball will take place on Friday 24th June 2016 at the Celtic Manor Resort. More details will follow very soon, but in the meantime, please put that date in your diaries; it promises to be another excellent night. most talented candidates must have an opportunity to qualify as solicitors, but it is for the new entrants to achieve the existing standards and not for the bar to be lowered to allow them into the profession. We believe that the LPC remains the best way to provide extremely valuable skills for our younger lawyers and to test them, and this must not be lost or diluted.

We have responded to the SRA consultation on how solicitors qualify. I was part of the Cardiff Law Society’s special interest group that considered this in detail and we have, in the main, adopted their excellent piece of work as our response. I initially saw some sense in a common examination, allowing us to have a consistent and fair way of testing the competence of all of those wishing to enter the profession, by whatever means. However, having listened to the views of those in the special interest group and considered it in detail, the proposed Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) is not fit for purpose and I am firmly against it. I agree that it was appropriate to review the situation, in the light of the different pathways into the law, but the existence of new routes to qualification is not in itself a reason for change. The SRA have provided no real evidence that the alleged drivers for change exist. As a Society, we wholeheartedly agree that the 8

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There are currently many opportunities for young lawyers to enter the profession. The market is already driving down the cost of qualification, as there are flexible options available to enable students to study the LPC part time and earn while they learn. No indication has been given as to the cost of the SQE and any associated crammer courses, but the suspicion is that it may prove to be more expensive than the current arrangements and therefore further limit access. We believe that the Law Society should take over the entry into the profession and the standards of the profession generally. This must include the monitoring of both the standards at universities offering the LPC and the standard of the period of recognised training provided by law firms to ensure quality and consistency. The current proposals risk damaging the brand of solicitor in England and Wales and how it is perceived abroad and create a potential risk to the public. The SRA’s piecemeal approach to the consultation process is unhelpful. They should have incorporated the period of recognised training and also the qualifications required to sit any common exam into this consultation, rather than stating that it will be the subject of future LEGAL NEWS

consultations. I hope that the SRA listen to and act upon what has been described as an “avalanche of concerns” over the SQE.

- Acorn Legal Recruitment. We look forward to partnering with them and benefiting from their support over the course of the year.

As a part of ASWLS (The Association of South Western Law Societies of which Monmouthshire is a constituent member) I attended a meeting at Chancery Lane in March with Catherine Dixon, the CEO of the Law Society, and the President, Vice President and Junior Vice President of the Law Society. The meeting was to raise the concerns that we have as a group of local law societies and to establish how we can effectively collaborate with Law Society in the future and have a say in the forthcoming governance review. We were very well received and we felt that they listened and noted the issues we raised. The biggest issue the Law Society is facing is that of regulation, they are fighting for their existence in their current form. They want to be seen as thought leaders in the media rather than perceived as wanting to maintain the status quo. They highlighted the ludicrous current situation, which is that the highest qualified have the greatest regulation whereas the least qualified have little or no regulation and yet we compete in the same market - which cannot be right. Their solution is that SRA (or similar body) should regulate the legal market generally and monitor basic standards that all must achieve but the Law Society should regulate solicitors and the higher standards that differentiate us. I see a lot of sense in that approach and I hope it is adopted.

Our new membership rates are being well received. If you haven’t already joined please take advantage of our new corporate rates and new category of “Associate Member”. Contact me for more details.

I would also like to announce a major new sponsor for the Society

Forthcoming events - we will be holding a First Aid course for (Level 2 Award in Emergency First Aid at Work) on the 20th April 2016. Due to a group discount, the cost of the course should represent a significant saving, so any firms with staff requiring first aid training should contact me a soon as possible in order to book onto the course. We also intend holding our first “Partners Forum” shortly, details of which will be available soon. n Clive Thomas President President of Monmouthshire Incorporated Law Society clive.thomas@watkinsandgunn.co.uk

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regulatory update The objective of the Regulatory Column in Legal News is to keep local practitioners reasonably up to date with regulatory developments and SRA consultation papers. Here is the third – I hope you will enjoy your read. might cause a re-think. The case involved an accountant divorce client who negotiated her own financial settlement and reverted to her lawyers for advice on the proposed settlement – she then continued her own negotiations. The judge refused to approve a draft order for lack of precision. Her lawyers amended the draft and an Order was then made. Later the client regretted the agreement and claimed negligence for failing to warn her of alleged shortcomings. The CofA held that advice on the consent order was outside the scope of the retainer and the firm was not liable.

1. Small Firms Accountant’s reports: Firms no longer have to deliver an annual accountant’s report to the SRA unless the report is qualified. As from 1 November firms that hold client money received only from the Legal Aid Agency, or that hold small amounts of money only are exempt from obtaining a report - see rule 32.1A of the Accounts Rules. To fall into the exception: (a) all client money held/received during an accounting period must be money from the Legal Aid Agency or as set out in rule 19.3 or (b) the balance of client money held or received must not exceed: (i) an average of £10,000 and (ii) a maximum of £250,000. Approval of compliance officers: See new “deeming” provisions (R 13.3. of the Authorisation Rules) whereby small firms do not need to apply to have their COs approved as suitable. The firm’s turnover must not exceed £600,000. Other conditions include : (a) the individual is a sole practitioner or a lawyer manager, (b) has no disciplinary or regulatory findings, (c) CO approval has not previously been refused or withdrawn and (d) the individual is not a CO for any other authorised body. Where these conditions are met form FA6 should be completed (requires details of the individual and firm + a declaration that the conditions are met). Sole practitioners: Applications are now dealt with under the Authorisation Rules . Existing recognised sole practitioners become recognised sole practices and there is now no need for annual endorsement of practising certificates -the new form FA1 must be completed. 2. Complaint Handling Processes Following a period of consultation LeO has decided not to apply to

become an ADR agency - the Law Society expressed its misgivings: LeO “already faces significant challenges in delivering its service and this would be an additional burden”. So where does this leave those regulated by the SRA ? See Law Society Practice Note 10.9.15: until LeO becomes an ADR provider there is no need to set out details of right to a complaints ADR process - such details can be limited to the information provided to the client at the end of the in-house complaints process. To comply with the Directive details should then be provided on the availability of ADR and (crucially) whether the firm will agree to ADR. How soon must the client take action? The client must refer their complaint to LeO within six months of being notified of the final outcome of the firm’s complaints handling process. The Ombudsman does have discretion as to all time limits under section 133 of the Legal Services Act 2007, and might be more likely to exercise this where the firm has not provided complete or accurate information as to how to access the service as required by Outcome 1(10) of the Code of Conduct - it is important to stress the six months rule to clients

in the complaints handling process and the retainer information. 3. Cyber Security Hardly a day goes by without there being a report of yet another security breach by hackers or cyber criminals. Law firms are regarded as “soft” targets - not only for cyber fraud but also as a gateway in to commercial clients whose IT defences are probably far more sophisticated than those of their law firms. Cyber security is not all about expensive technological system. Often, it is people who present the greatest risk simple procedures and safe practices can ensure mistakes are not made that allow hackers etc access to the firm’s data. Your people need to be aware of scams, data security, the safe use of social media, managing security risks and breaches and password management.

Proceed with caution though because (1) the Court referred to the client’s professional sophistication which other clients may not have and (2) solicitors cannot exclude responsibility for their underlying professional duties, ie the need to act in the “best interests of each client” and to provide a “proper standard of service”. The firm’s PI insurers should also be consulted as the precision of drafting is crucial when stating what the firm will not do as opposed to what it will. If your firm decides to provide unbundled services it does not mean that its responsibilities to the client are reduced. You should pay as much attention to what you are doing for the client as what you are not. n

4.’Unbundled’ Retainers The ‘unbundled’ retainer (where the adviser takes on responsibility for some but not all of a retainer) has existed for some time. Earlier decisions (Padden v Bevan Ashford Solicitors [2011] EWCA Civ 1616) were not encouraging, but the recent Cof A decision in Minkin v Lesley Landsberg [2015] EWCA Civ 1152 LEGAL NEWS

Hugh Price Hugh@HPConsult.co.uk www.hughpriceconsulting.com Hugh Price is a solicitor and is Hon Sec for Regulatory Matters for Cardiff & District Law Society. His company, Hugh Price Legal Consulting Ltd, is an associate member of Infolegal, a national group of independent regulatory consultants. WWW.CARDIFFLAW.ORG

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FEATURE

12th Anniversary Celebrations for the CILEx Cardiff & South East Wales branch The Cardiff & South East Wales branch celebrated its 12th year anniversary by holding its annual dinner at the St David’s Hotel, Cardiff. A record 134 guests joined us for the evening’s events and they were not dampened by the torrential weather, but were in high spirits. They were greeted by our close-up magician Luke Gravett and a sparkling drinks reception sponsored by Emma Waddingham. • Coleg Gwent Level 6 Student of the Year - Clare Reynolds from Gartsides Solicitors, Newport • Coleg Gwent Level 3 Student of the Year - David Newman • Lexium Legal Level 6 Student of the Year - Natalie Woods from Watkins & Gunn • Lexium Legal Level 3 Student of the Year - Emma Wheel from Howells Solicitors I opened the evening with a welcoming speech to all the attendees and they were also addressed by our President David Edwards. I was joined by local CILEx members, Barristers, Solicitors and Judges, together with members of CILEx Council, major law firms, colleges, recruitment agencies and others from the legal sector. It was also wonderful to have 31 students attend the dinner. This year the branch was able to offer students the opportunity to purchase a ticket at a discounted rate. The branch, would like to thank CILEx HQ and also Lorna Baldry of Brightlink Learning for subsidising these tickets and giving the local students a better opportunity to attend. During the evenings events we had an award ceremony to recognise some of these students for their hard work and commitment to their studies. Every year the branch likes to recognise our students and this year we had 10 students. The award winners were:

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• Brightlink Learning Student of the Year - Sian Beaumont • Cardiff & Vale College Level 6 Student of the Year - Jennifer Morgan from Mcgarvey Immigration and Asylum Practitioners Ltd • Cardiff & Vale College Level 3 Student of the Year - Cherrie Powell from Glamorgan Law, Caerphilly • Cardiff College Online Level 6 Student of the Year - Kelly Matthews from Trowers & Hamlins LLP, Exeter • Cardiff College Online Level 3 Student of the Year - Catrin Davies from Spicketts Battrick, Cardiff • CILEx Law School Level 3 Student of the Year - Robert Yabsley from Lyons Davidson

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Once David, and I, had finished the evening’s formalities, our guests were able to enjoy their fabulous four course meal and the evening’s events. Not only were our guests entertained further by our close–up magician, they were “swooned” into the night by a local Michael Bublé tribute artist. A large number of people took to the dance floor and danced until the early hours. The guests did get the chance to rest their weary feet at midnight when they were served bacon butties, kindly sponsored by Yolk recruitment, which was a huge success.

Well done to you all! They were presented with their awards by our President, and each student received a cash prize, certificate and CILEx “goodies”. These prizes were sponsored by Civitas Chambers. I would like to thank Civitas for their continued support and I appreciate their generous donation.

I would also like to thank all attendees for joining us on the night. It was so nice to see so many people support us. It is through this support that the branch has continuing success and growth and I look forward to working with you all again this year. n Alexis Thomas Branch Chair

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RESPONSE BY CARDIFF & DISTRICT LAW SOCIETY To SRA SQE Consultation “The Cardiff Law Society’s Regulatory Issues Sub-Committee has responded to the SRA’s consultation paper entitled “Training for Tomorrow: assessing competence” and its proposal to introduce a new Solicitor Qualifying Examination in two parts which will be mandatory for all prospective solicitors. The full response runs to over 6,000 words which is rather too many for inclusion in Legal News. However, we have included extracts here - the full version will shortly be available on the CDLS website”. Q: Do you agree that the introduction of the SQE, a common professional assessment for all intending solicitors, best meets the objectives set out in paragraph 10?

experience is essential in gaining competence as a solicitor. It forms a vital part of the process of qualification. There is a vast difference between trainees at the beginning and the end of their training contract. If the SRA remove the requirement for pre-qualification work experience then the profession would ensure that it continues by simply showing a preference for employing candidates who have had previous paralegal experience.

A: No. Focusing on ensuring consistent and comparable high quality standards can be best and most easily met by the LPC and the SRA more closely monitoring the universities which teach the LPC so that it can be satisfied with the consistency of standards set by the course providers. To ensure continuing high standard the SRA (or the Law Society) should focus its attention on the quality of training given by those firms where it is concerned about the experience and training they provide to people who are undertaking a period of registered training (PRT). We believe that there remains a place for a qualifying law degree and an LPC. The LPC provides extremely valuable skills for our young trainee lawyers, and this must not be lost or diluted in order to accommodate new entrants. The SRA are concerned that cost of qualifying is limiting access to the profession - we believe that SQE may in fact further limit access through increased cost. Many do not consider that it can possibly be cheaper than the LPC and PSC. Therefore, we do not believe that there is any evidence that the alleged

drivers for change actually exist. We firmly believe that the LPC should remain in place. Q: With which of the stated options do you agree and why: - offering a choice of 5 assessment contexts in Part 2, those aligned to the reserved activities, with the addition of the law of organisations? - offering a broader number of contexts for the Part 2 assessment for candidates to choose from? - focusing the Part 2 assessment on the reserved activities but recognising the different legal areas in which these apply? A: On balance we favour option 2 because the importance of reserved activities is becoming less and less relevant in actual practice. Modern day solicitors undertake work in a wide variety of practice areas, particularly in commercial firms. It is impractical to focus the qualification assessment on reserved activities

only when the work that many (if not most) candidates will go on to undertake in practice is much broader. Q: Do you agree that the standard for qualification as a solicitor, which will be assessed through the SQE, should be set at least at graduate level or equivalent? A: Any reduction in the educational attainment required of solicitors will damage the international reputation of the badge of solicitor of England and Wales. It is pertinent to note that in many European and Commonwealth countries, as well as in the United States of America, most newly-qualified lawyers are required to hold two university degrees, one of which is in law. Q: Do you agree that we should continue to require some form of prequalification workplace experience? A: Yes. Pre-qualification workplace LEGAL NEWS

Properly structured, high quality and supervised pre -qualification work experience gives trainees an opportunity to learn skills in a practical environment that could never be replicated in a classroom setting. It also helps them to hone their client facing and communication skills, establish the areas of law that they have a particular aptitude for and may wish to specialise in and to understand the ethics and conduct that the profession demands. Q: If you are an employer, do you feel you would have the expertise to enable you to assess trainee solicitors’ competences, not capable of assessment in Part 1 and Part 2, to a specified performance standard? A: Yes, most law firms have an immense amount of experience of recruiting trainees and training them and have a very clear understanding of the requirements of a newly qualified solicitor. Those trainees who do not meet the required standard are not retained on qualification. n WWW.CARDIFFLAW.ORG

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FEATURE

What can partners expect from their new trainees after 2018? Well the only certain thing is they won’t be an articled clerk or an LPC graduate. The SRA has issued a consultation document ‘Training for Tomorrow: assessing competence’1. In it the SRA sets out a vision of how, from the autumn of 2018, aspiring solicitors might qualify to become members of the profession. If the vision becomes reality (which seems likely), what might this mean for firms taking on new trainees after October 2018?

if the SRA will leave matters solely to the outcome of an all encompassing terminal Part 2 examination, or whether they will require assessment of ‘workplace learning’ in addition to a final test? Such assessment of workplace learning fits neatly with the outcomes focused competence training regime which applies to all employees of a solicitor’s firm from 1 November 2016, but would add greatly to the burden and responsibilities of firms willing to take on trainees.

The overarching principles which inform and influence the proposed new training regime are: • The current requirement for entrants to: have a degree2, pass the Legal Practice Course (LPC), have 2 years’ practical training, complete the Professional Skills Course (PSC), is abolished. • Instead, to become a solicitor you must pass Parts 1 and 2 of the new Solicitor’s Qualifying Examination (SQE). • All candidates are assessed against the same examination which is set centrally. • Part 1 tests the application of legal knowledge by multiple-choice. Part 2 tests practical legal skills. • Part 2 is an endpoint assessment. You have all the competencies and knowledge needed to be a qualified solicitor on passing Part 2. The consequences of the above are far reaching. Firms looking to recruit ‘trainees’ who may become the associate solicitors and director/ partner designates of tomorrow, will find themselves in very changed circumstances. 1. Applications for ‘trainee solicitor’ positions may be received from a broader range of knowledge 12

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and experience than is currently represented by LPC graduates. Some applicants having passed only Part 1 may have an academic text book understanding of the law, and previously been taken on as paralegals. Others may be looking to complete their practical experience prior to sitting the Part 2 exam. They may come with a range of experience, possibly of varying quality, from several previous paralegal roles with different firms and companies. The benchmark of practical application of the law provided by the LPC, albeit artificial within a classroom setting, will have gone. 2. The expectations of both parties, law firm and aspirant solicitor, may become more unrealistic. Firms may be expecting ‘trainees’ to hit the ground running and contribute from Day 1 notwithstanding that they may be starting from a lower base of knowledge and experience, because they have not been through a standard LPC course. Job candidates might expect more, and better quality, training and development from the LEGAL NEWS

firm because they will no longer have already passed the assessments needed to become a solicitor before joining the firm. Therefore for the trainee, good ‘on the job’ training provided by the firm becomes critical as it provides the means by which they will acquire the practical legal skills needed to pass the Part 2 examination. 3. The current two year training contract is criticised in the Consultation for a lack of accountability and for having no external mechanism to benchmark performance standards. Paragraph 26 states: “Only a very small number of trainees fail to be admitted as solicitors following their period of recognised training”3. This comment hints darkly at the training contract being a time-serving exercise. A process which allows trainees ill-suited to become lawyers, to receive inadequate or non-existent training, before receiving a practising certificate and being inflicted upon the public as incompetent but qualified solicitors. It remains unclear

4. Removal of the barriers of cost, and lack of opportunity, created by the current need to secure a degree, LPC, and a training contract, could improve equality and diversity for entrants to the profession. Where the familiar touchstones of degree and LPC examination passes cease to be available to firms what criteria will they use to avoid employing the ‘wrong person’? After October 2018, the need for firms to develop an objective framework of assessments to test legal knowledge, observe performance skills, and interview questions to elicit behavioural competencies, becomes even more necessary when making recruitment decisions. n Tom Horrocks cpm21 1

Consultation ‘Training for Tomorrow:

assessing competence’ Solicitors Regulation Authority, 7 December 2015 2

Solicitors who are non-graduates can

currently qualify through the CILEX route 3

Consultation ‘Training for Tomorrow:

assessing competence’ Solicitors Regulation Authority, 7 December 2015

St John’s College: The Best A Level Record in Wales over 16 Years

St John’s College Cardiff is once more delighted to sustain its record over 16 years as the best performing school in Wales at A level. The school for boys and girls ages 3 to 18 has again been ranked top school in Wales in The Sunday Times ‘Parent Power’ this year based on combined GCSE and A Level performance. A Level Results 2015: • A* / A - 78% • A* / A / B - 96.8% • Pass Rate - 100% Its students, including a significant number with 4 A* / A grades, are proceeding to top Russell Group Universities, including Oxbridge and Medical and Dental schools. The college’s most recent Estyn inspection

report graded the school “Excellent”, including the enviable and seldom awarded “Excellent” grade for quality of teaching, stating: “The quality of teaching is an exceptional feature of the school’s work.” The strong, close-knit family atmosphere ensures that pupils receive the care necessary to develop their full potential. The girls and boys achieve beyond their predicted grades. The school is also proud of its outstanding musical reputation – a remarkable number of its most successful maths and science students proceed to medical school and the most competitive university courses, and are also diploma standard musicians. n

A leading independent day school for boys & girls aged 3-18 Choir School to Cardiff Metropolitan Cathedral

Top School in Wales in The Sunday Times ‘Parent Power’ - November 2015

A Level Results 2015:

A*/A - 78% A*/A/B - 96.8% Pass Rate - 100% Nursery & Infants • Juniors • Seniors • Sixth Form

Please contact Admissions to arrange a visit:

02920 778 936

www.stjohnscollegecardiff.com LEGAL NEWS

WWW.CARDIFFLAW.ORG

Charity No. 701294

APRIL 2016

FEATURE

are the sra scrapping cpd? ‘Are the SRA scrapping CPD?’ is a question I have been asked several times throughout 2015 and as Training Manager in a Law Firm, one I now have a well-rehearsed response to. The SRA have indeed reviewed the way that the legal profession needs to undertake and record their CPD but this ‘baby out with the bathwater’ interpretation warrants some clarification... The SRA have removed the prescriptive 16 hours CPD rule and made it the responsibility of the individual to assess and maintain the appropriate amount of learning and development that they need in order to remain competent. The flexibility of this approach has meant that it is quite possible that no 2 lawyer’s annual CPD will look the same and it is this bespoke approach, having operated within a prescriptive ‘one size fits all’ framework for so long, that some find a big departure. Learning and development has been seen by some in the profession as a tick box exercise for too long. The ‘as long as I’ve got 16 hours of something’ approach has served neither the client nor the lawyer well in terms of truly monitoring and ensuring a level of competence. Wisely, the formal consultation regarding CPD conducted by the SRA Board in May 2014 recognised this. How can all lawyers’ training needs be exactly the same? There are so many variables, time in role, level of expertise, changes to legislation, and that’s before we even consider career aspirations and learning styles. The SRA has simply, and very sensibly, put the onus on the individual to take responsibility for their own learning in line with their own level of competence. This is not a unique approach; it is actually in line with other professional services who already ask their members to make an annual declaration of competence. So what does the ‘new regime’ hold for lawyers post 1st November 2016? Well, it just means that the way lawyers assess and record 14

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additional process to be implemented has been met with great relief from all concerned.

their personal development will be different, not that they no longer need personal development. What the SRA now advocates is that a lawyer takes time, once a year, to reflect on their practice and level of competence and considers what they, as an individual, need to do to remain competent and ‘provide a proper standard of service’ to their clients (as stated in Principle 5 of the SRA’s Code of Conduct 2011). A record of this evaluation then forms their declaration of competence; a template document can be downloaded from the SRA website. In order to provide a benchmark that solicitors can measure competence against the SRA has provided a ‘Statement of solicitor competence’ which can also be found on their website. If the prospect of introducing this new process fills you with dread and you fear that this might become a form filling exercise, then I would strongly advocate the approach we’re taking at Hugh James. LEGAL NEWS

We already have a robust performance management process which requires all employees to consider their learning needs on an annual basis in order to meet their business objectives. We have taken the SRA template and added it into our existing appraisal form as our process is monitored and audited by our HR team. By mapping the SRA statement of solicitor competence to our in-house competencies we can ensure that when individuals are reviewing their performance as part of our usual process, they are in fact satisfying the SRA guidelines at the same time without having to run two processes concurrently. Although the new approach to CPD needs to be implemented by 1st November 2016 (you may have opted to start the transition any time from April 1st 2015) we have chosen to launch our ‘new CPD rules’ in line with our performance management calendar so that we have consistency across the piece. It’s fair to say, that the fact that that there’s not an

So going back to my answer to that original question, the one about CPD being scrapped, the answer for us is a resounding ‘no’. We believe that as CPD becomes less prescriptive we can use our clear commitment to the continuing professional development of our lawyers as a differentiator to maintain and attract clients. If anything, we should see the need for a greater variety in training interventions as one size definitely doesn’t fit all anymore. n Pip Thomas Training Manager Hugh James For further information on the new approach please see the SRA’s toolkit: www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/ cpd/tool-kit/address-learningdevelopment.page The SRA have noted in their toolkit that referral networks such as Legal Network Wales ‘provide an opportunity for you to address your learning and development needs’. Legal Network Wales is a free referral and support network run by Hugh James. It can assist all local lawyers with their learning and development via their seminars and networking events. Members also receive monthly emails , a quarterly newsletter giving legal updates and access to a free legal enquiry line which can all contribute towards your declaration of competence.

2016 Seminars & Annual Conference Legal Network Wales is a free referral and support network run by Hugh James Solicitors. We have over 125 local law firms as members. We are excited to launch our 2016 seminar programme. Our seminars are open to all as we offer a non-member rate. Alternatively, why not join our FREE network and start enjoying many of the benefits straight away. Our forthcoming seminars include:

Private client:

In conjunction with St John’s Chambers, Bristol, this seminar will cover such topics as Court of Protection Litigation, Satisfaction and Ademption and Trust Taxation: Farms, Businesses and the Family Home. For just £15 (plus VAT) members can get 3 CPD, £30 (plus VAT) for non-members. This promises to be an interesting and informative seminar for all private client practitioners and will be at the Holiday Inn, Cardiff on the 21 April and the National Botanic Garden of Wales on the 26 April 2016.

STEP Wales Annual Spring Conference:

We are pleased to be sponsoring this event at the National Botanic Garden of Wales on 20 May. The seminar will cover topical issues in trusts and estates including presentations from David Harvey, STEP Chief Executive, Richard Dew and Philip Jenkins from Ten Old Square Chambers.

SRA COMPETENCY FRAMEWORK: Get ready to develop your CPD – professionally!

This half day programme run by Mac Mackay shows you how to professionally manage your CPD – where to start, what you need to do, and how to demonstrate your developing competence to your regulator without burdensome bureaucracy. At £65 (plus VAT) for members this course will give you the toolkit to plan your competency statement as well as gaining 3 CPD. £95 (plus VAT) for nonmembers. It will be held in Cardiff on the 22 September.

Annual Conference:

Following the first successful Legal Network Wales conference in 2015, we have extended the conference to a full day event. It is exclusive to LNW members only and will be an event of energetic and engaging presentations on relevant issues effecting partners, practice managers and senior lawyers in law firms in Wales. It will include a presentation from Robert Mowbray (voted Trainer of the Year by the Legal Education and Training Group) on “Maximising the profitability of law firms”. The annual conference is £125 plus VAT (5 CPD) including a two course lunch. It is being held at The Vale Resort. This is an event not to be missed!

For more information and to request a booking form please contact:

029 2066 0559 | legalnetwork@hughjames.com

Legal Network Wales is operated by Hugh James, a top 100 UK law firm which is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulations Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority.

LEGAL NEWS

WWW.CARDIFFLAW.ORG

APRIL 2016

CHANCERY LANE

CHANCERY LANE NEWS Had you heard of the Competition and Markets Authority, or “CMA” before January? I hadn’t so I looked them up on Wikipedia. The CMA began to operate on 1 April 2014. It’s a quango. It has taken over many of the functions of two old quangos, the Competition Commission and Office of Fair Trading, which were abolished then. So it’s unsurprising that many of us had never heard of it before. Like every new organisation it took a few months to find its feet. Now it’s found its feet it proposes to give legal services in England and Wales a good kicking. On 13 January it launched a market study into legal services in England and Wales, prompted by what it calls “long-standing concerns about the affordability of legal services and standards of service”. Other concerns which preoccupy the CMA include the complexity of the current regulatory framework, which I’ll deal with later in this article. The CMA’s market study plans to examine 3 key issues: • whether customers can drive effective competition by making informed purchasing decisions; • whether customers are adequately protected from potential harm or can obtain satisfactory redress if legal services go wrong; and • how regulation and the regulatory framework impact on competition for the supply of legal services. I can’t help wondering how necessary this is. I’m not impressed that the CMA appears to think that competition can be “driven” like a vehicle or that it refers to clients as “customers”, though I concede that’s better than calling them “consumers” as the Legal Services Board and its Consumer Panel are prone to do. The Legal Services Consumer Panel already reviews the consumer experience of legal services regularly. It published 9 reports in 2015 and 14 reports in 2014. Its only report this year was commissioned by the Legal Services Board to assess what information regulators could collate and or publish to help consumers make informed decisions. Why is the CMA involved too? There is no doubt that a review of legal services is welcome. It is 16

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unsatisfactory that a struck-off solicitor can advise and assist litigants as a paid McKenzie friend and is not answerable to a legal services regulator while a practising solicitor who is on the Roll and performs the same service is accountable to the SRA. It is absurd that the public is protected from a solicitor who has not been struck off but is not protected from a solicitor who has been struck off. Equally, someone who cannot pass their LPC can set up as an unregulated will-writer and prey on the public. It is unacceptable that the public is not protected from such a person who cannot qualify, but is protected from someone who has qualified as a solicitor and specialises in wills and probate. Clementi identified such regulatory gaps in his report in 2004. If these anomalies are addressed by the CMA, their study will be worthwhile. In December 2015 the Treasury published a paper called “A better deal: boosting competition to bring down bills for families and firms”. This proposed four changes to the legal services market, two of which are: 1. Making it easier for alternative business structures, such as supermarkets and estate agents, to offer legal services like conveyancing, probate and litigation; and 2. Making legal services regulators independent from their representative bodies. The consultation on these proposals is expected to start in April and end in July. The first of these proposals is worrying. The SRA, which is a licensing authority for ABSs (the Law Society is not a licensing authority, although it is an approved regulator for firms and individuals who carry LEGAL NEWS

out reserved legal activities) has its own rules for licensing ABSs. These have been approved by the LSB. It appears that the government is concerned that the current process for licensing ABS deters supermarkets and estate agents from forming ABSs which offer legal services. The experience of commercial non-lawyer owned ABSs is not encouraging - just think of Co-operative Legal Services. I don’t know anyone who has had a happy experience of them. So I shudder to think of what the government might do to tempt similar entities to form ABSs. Will they dispense with the Legal Services Act 2007 requirement that persons with a material interest in an ABS are fit and proper persons? Will it reduce the minimum terms of cover for PII below that required of firms to enable them to cut costs? We need to be satisfied that whatever is proposed by the government will protect clients adequately and that any reduction in client protection is justified and applies to all, not just to the supermarkets and estate agents who the government wish to entice into the legal service market. As far as the future of regulation is concerned, the chief executive of the SRA has been vocal about his wish for the SRA to separate from the Law Society. His view is that if the two bodies separate, the Law Society should no longer collect the money it receives from the practicing certificate fee under Legal Services Act 2007 s 51. This money pays for the Law Society’s valuable law reform work. Unsurprisingly, Mr Philip’s opinion has not been welcome at Chancery Lane. When he and his chair, Enid Rowlands, attended the February council meeting to deliver their annual report to council, they were met with hostile silence.

I hope that when the consultation is issued everyone will respond and support the Law Society. Paul Philip is picking the wrong fight. If there is to be cheaper regulation, there should be fewer regulators. We certainly do not need two state regulators (the SRA and LSB) supervising the profession. The presence of both is tolerable only because one of them, the SRA, is not a state regulator but the regulatory arm of the solicitors’ professional body, a situation which Clementi recommended. If the SRA is hived off from the Law Society, either it or the LSB must be abolished to simplify the regulatory framework and to cut unnecessary cost. If, as a result of this consultation, the SRA separates from the Law Society, it will be necessary to fight for the return to the Law Society of the power to set the pathways for entry to the profession and to set professional standards. A single state regulator, whether it is the |SRA or the LSB, will want to regulate all legal services. Its regulated community will be made up of regulated legal advisers. The rule of law requires an independent legal profession, as well as an independent judiciary. The professional body of solicitors should award and protect the badge of solicitor and represent solicitors. The SRA’s recent record on its consultations on education and training for the profession reveal them to be authoritarian, inflexible and closed minded. They encountered strong criticisms of their proposals to abolish the minimum wage for trainee solicitors and the minimum number of CPD hours but pressed on with their proposals regardless. If they do the same with their proposal to inflict the Solicitors’ Qualifying Examination on entrants to the profession they will have forfeited the right to regulate the education and training of solicitors. n David Dixon Twitter: @saldixie

updates

The Incorporated Law Society for Cardiff & District annual general meeting notice Notice is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting of this Society will be held at the Park House, 20 Park Place, Cardiff on Wednesday 25th May 2016 commencing at 6pm. The business to be transacted will include presentation of accounts for 2015, appointment of Officers and Council members and approval

of special resolutions and reports. Further details and a full agenda can be obtained from the undersigned. n Michael Walters, Administrator 34 Ty Fry Gardens, Cardiff CF3 3NQ DX 33029 Cardiff 1.

ALL ABOUT LAWCARE Since 1997, LawCare has been helping members of the legal professions to face problems such as addition, stress, depression and emotional issues through its free and confidential helpline service. However, there are still many lawyers who are not aware of the support available, and we are often asked questions about what we offer. How are you funded? LawCare is a registered charity funded primarily by the professional bodies for legal groupings throughout the British Isles. Although we don’t make big appeals for donations we do welcome any donation, however small. Is LawCare part of any of the professional bodies? No, LawCare is entirely independent of all the professional bodies and only reports statistics to them. Is it a counselling service? Callers to the LawCare helpline are provided with initial support from our staff, who all have experience of working in the legal professions, as well as training in telephone counselling skills. They can discuss problem with the callers and help them make a plan for recovery. This may include referral to a professional counsellor or another specialist service, such as a treatment centre. What problems can you help with – and what don’t you do? LawCare offers support on anything which is troubling you, including issues such as stress, depression,

addiction to alcohol or drugs, eating disorders and workplace bullying. However, we can’t offer medical or legal advice, and won’t tell you how to run your practice. Can anyone phone LawCare? Anyone in the legal profession, from a Judge to a paralegal, and their immediate families and staff, are welcome to use LawCare’s service. Is it free? LawCare’s helpline service is entirely free. However, if a caller is referred to a counsellor, other therapist or treatment unit then they will normally have to pay, though we will assist to source funds where we can if this is necessary. Is it confidential? Confidentiality is at the heart of what we do. You don’t have to give your name if you’d rather not, and the records we need to keep are stored on a secure and closed computer system accessible only to LawCare staff. How do I contact you? Our free and confidential helpline is available on 0800 279 6869 and information is also available on our website at www.lawcare.org.uk n

Land registry delays Conveyancers may have found in recent months that they are experiencing long delays with some Land Registry applications. I understand from Plymouth Land Registry that applications where a new title number is required, such as transfers of parts on estate developments and registration of new leases, are particularly likely to take some time. I have one application which was submitted in October 2015 and which is likely to take four more weeks to complete! Luckily my clients have not yet decided to sell!

Plymouth Land Registry appears to be dealing with a lot of these types of applications irrespective of the location of the property; I understand they have taken on a number of new staff which should make things quicker but (and I am not teaching you to suck eggs) may I suggest that, when your application is eventually completed, you take extra care to ensure that it is in order! n Richard Fisher Hon Secretary Cardiff & District Law Society

Rising Star Appointed to Head Employment Law at Howells Howells Solicitors has recruited a ‘Leader in the Field’ of Employment Law to implement and oversee a sixyear business plan across six offices in South Wales devised to promote the law firm as a leading provider in this specialist area of law. Described in the 2016 edition of the Legal 500 as the ‘Associate to Watch’ for the whole of Wales, Nathan Vidini joins the award winning law firm as Head of Employment Law. Nathan has also been listed since 2011 in the other highly prestigious independent legal directory, Chambers and Partners, as a Leader in the Field of Employment and has been named their ‘Star Associate’ for Wales this year. Highly regarded and respected by fellow legal professionals and earning the reputation as the ‘go-to’ employment lawyer for employees in Wales and the South West, Mr Vidini has extensive experience of working for the largest employers including FTSE 100 listed companies and large public sector organisations. Nathan has more recently built a reputation of representing Senior Employees across the UK such as Managing Directors, Partners in law firms and accountancy practices, GPs, NHS Consultants and Chief Executives but advises all manner of employees and employers in the full range of employment and partnership related issues. LEGAL NEWS

Mark Hobbs, Managing Director of Howells Solicitors said, “We are delighted to welcome Nathan to our team. He is one of the top legal experts in Wales and the South West in his specialist area and is very highly regarded. Nathan shares our commitment to expand and develop our employment law services across our six offices. His legal knowledge and experience will be of significant benefit to our established employment law clients both employers and employees alike, and we are sure his appointment will attract new clients.” Commenting on his new role, Mr Vidini said, “Joining Howells in this senior role is a fantastic opportunity. I chose Howells over other firms as the company is well established, has an excellent reputation and employs a talented team of professionals. Howell’s plans for growth are exciting! The business is uniquely positioned in the market to be able to build on an excellent base by way of organic expansion in all key areas of law. For my part, I am confident Howells will soon be recognised as a new significant player in Employment Law in Wales and the South West. I am looking forward to establishing myself within the business and achieving the objectives we have set for growth of the Employment Law department.” n WWW.CARDIFFLAW.ORG

APRIL 2016

LIFESTYLE

REstaurant review James Sommerin, The Esplanade, Penarth CF64 3AU - Tel: 029 20491271 I do not like taster menus; it’s not a matter of the quantity or (the usual) high cost – it’s the fact that you do not have any choice. When you go into a good restaurant and are spending quite a bit of money (usually two elements present when you are served a taster menu) it’s just not right to be faced with a menu where you may not be absolutely delighted to have two or three of the courses. This is the reason why it has taken me a long time to go to James Sommerin on The Esplanade in Penarth. When it first opened, I did look at the 5 course taster menu (£55) as I thought I might treat myself on my birthday but the first two courses were dishes which neither CDC (for new readers, Constant Dining Companion – sometimes Critical DC –aka my wife) nor I were keen on and the last two were both desserts which was no good as CDC does not have a sweet tooth (does not go with her sharp tongue!). I had also heard that in a few months they would be introducing an a la carte menu so I thought I would leave a visit until then; there were also rumours that you could not get a bottle of wine for under £32! My resolve was broken when my daughters (one of whom has been there twice and extolls its virtues) bought me vouchers for my birthday last June. I could still see no sight of the a la carte menu but a strict 6 months time limit on the voucher was fast approaching so we visited at the beginning of January. To our immense relief, the 5 course taster menu did not contain anything that we took an instant dislike to and, indeed, the main course was partridge, one of my favourite meats. So we resisted the earnest exhortations of the very friendly waiter to have the seven or ten course menu and plumped for the 5 course. We were served with the semi-expected amuse-bouche which was tasty and beautiful presented but were then delighted to be served 18

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another 3 courses of amuse-bouches, all of which were totally different in taste and presentation, all served prettily on things such as a piece of bark or pebbles, culminating in a tapioca crisp topped with droplets of taramasalata; not being keen on either of those ingredients, I was amazed at how exquisite this tasted. By now we were already felt pretty full but the first course, which was a warm beetroot salad, tinged up our taste buds enormously so that we were ready to lunge into the scallop and cod dish which was described on the menu as being served in squid ink. When it arrived the fish appeared to be in a creamy sauce with no sign of the black squid ink! Amazingly, once you plunge your spoon into the dish, squid ink emerges from below and blends with the creamy sauce. The partridge was excellent, moist and tasty and a decent portion, so after a short breather, we braced ourselves for the two dessert courses which were described merely as “treacle, raspberry, olive, rosemary” and “cherry, almond, marzipan”. The LEGAL NEWS

first of those came as a small but very sufficient serving of a treacle cake served with what appeared to be frozen raspberries but which had probably been subjected to the latest modern kitchen technique; in any event they exploded on the tongue giving a wonderfully concentrated taste. We were told that there would be a 15 minute wait for the last course to be freshly prepared and this duly appeared, being a hot soufflé. The three components complemented each other and produced a very unusual but extremely good finale to the meal. Wine was much more sensibly priced than I had feared and there are good selections in the high £20 price range and a number of good wines available by the glass. All in all, from beginning to end, the evening, the food and service was an absolute delight and I am now following my daughter in extolling the virtues of this restaurant.

For those equally as apprehensive as me of taster menus, would you believe it, there is now an a la carte menu available Tues- Thurs – introduced about three weeks after our visit! With nine bedrooms now open, this really is a ‘must-go’ venue in South Wales for both locals and those from further afield. P.S. Visited La Tasca in the Brewery Quarter just before Christmas (this article was intended for the February issue but the Editor gave my column space to David Dixon!) for lunch. Had excellent tapas - the croquetas and mushrooms were particularly good. Produced my CDLS platinum card and received 25% off food and DRINK – a substantial discount was received! So, if shamefully you have not yet renewed your membership, do so immediately to receive your 2016 platinum card. n Richard Fisher

Glamorgan Law ARE YOU LOOKING FOR A NEW CHALLENGE? GLAMORGAN LAW is a rapidly expanding regional firm. We need able and committed lawyers and managers who want to make a significant contribution in the next stage of the firm’s growth. We are looking for:

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER To assume responsibility for the firm’s operations at its four offices. The ideal candidate should either have an accountancy, HR or IT background and will have worked already in a solicitors practice. The successful candidate will become a member of the firm’s management board and qualify for an enhanced remuneration package linked to the firm’s profits.

SENIOR COMMERCIAL CONVEYANCER The firm’s property team is the largest team in the firm and provides a full range of services for private individuals and institutions. The ideal candidate will have experience of landlord and tenant, acquisitions and disposals. Candidates should be commercially focussed with the ability to work as part of a team and deliver excellent client service.

RESIDENTIAL CONVEYANCING PARALEGAL/LEGAL EXECUTIVE Glamorgan Law is an Equal Opportunities employer and applicants who wish to work part-time are encouraged to apply. We are also interested in talking to individuals with their own following who want to develop their careers in a new environment To express an interest in the above roles please email peter@glamorganlaw.co.uk No agencies please.

Cardiff Caerphilly Cowbridge Pontypridd