Monthly Archives: October 2009

UK’s Brand New Supreme Court

Posted in: "All, Legalese Dictionary by Admin | No Comments Tuesday, October 6, 2009

For Canadians, the Supreme Court is known to the public as an established, well-respected institution serving as the final appellate court. Surprisingly, this hasn’t been so for the Brits until October 1 of this year.

For the previous four hundred plus years, the highest court of the United Kingdom had been the House of Lords, which is also the upper house of Parliament. Under the modern philosophy of separation of powers, it has long been an oddity, that a legislative body also serves as the judiciary at the highest level.

In a press release by the Court, the President of the Supreme Court said: “For the first time, we have a clear separation of powers between the legislature, the judiciary and the executive in the United Kingdom. … It emphasises the independence of the judiciary, clearly separating those who make the law and administer it.”

Unlike Canada’s Supreme Court, the UK’s cannot strike down statutes as unconstitutional because there is no written constitution in the UK and Parliament itself is supreme. The UK Supreme Court, however, can (and will) send back to Parliament laws that are inconsistent with the European Convention on Human Rights, incorporated into British Law in 1998.

To learn more about the UK Supreme Court, visit its website at www.supremecourt.gov.uk/index.html

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A Brief Note on Simple Divorce and Uncontested Divorce

Posted in: "All, "Brief Note" Series, Family Law, Legalese Dictionary by Admin | No Comments Monday, October 5, 2009

Many people think a “simple divorce” and an “uncontested divorce” are the same thing.

In Canada they are not.

A simple divorce refers to spouses asking the court to dissolve the marriage and not to adjudge any other issues, such as custody and access to the children, child support, spousal support, and property division. A simple divorced may be petitioned and granted in writing without the personal attendance of the spouses.

An uncontested divorce refers to one spouse petitioning for a divorce and corollary relief unopposed by the other. This often happens when the other spouse decides not to participate in the proceeding.

A divorce can be simple and uncontested at the same time. For example, if the parties have settled their affairs at separation by a separation agreement, the divorce proceeding is likely to be simple and uncontested.

Alternatively, in extremely short marriages where there are no children involved, (e.g. two near-strangers with killer hangovers wake up surprised to find that they got married the night before) the parties may wish to part their ways by a simple and uncontested divorce.

However, what started out as a simple divorce may become a full-blown proceeding before the Court. For example, one spouse’s application for a simple divorce may be contested by the other because the latter wishes to ask for spousal support.

Similarly, an application for divorce and corollary relief (e.g. spousal support, child support, etc.) can be uncontested if the other spouse simply doesn’t participate in the proceeding.

There you have it.

PSWLaw is your relentless advocate in family law.

Please Note: This article is provided for information and educational purposes. It does not constitute legal advice and should not be regarded as such. The law may have changed since the publication of the article.

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The Curse of the Unbillables

Posted in: "All, Administrative Law, Business Development, Family Law, Legalese Dictionary by Admin | No Comments Sunday, October 4, 2009

The revenues of a law firm comes from what we call “billables.” This term refers to the input of lawyers (or staff) on a matter which clients pay for. Alas, not all input is billable – services rendered but not charged to clients are thus called “unbillables.”

The unbillables can be divided in three categories: overhead, administrative and compliance, and professional competency and development.

1. Overhead

This refers to costs of operation that can’t be attributed to individual cases. Typically, overhead would include the following:

  • rent
  • telephone
  • internet
  • utilities
  • equipment
  • furniture
  • subscriptions
  • bank charges
  • credit card processing fees
  • insurance
  • professional association membership dues
  • supplies

2. Administrative tasks and statutory compliance

This refers to administrative tasks and compliance duties required to keep a law firm running smoothly. For example, the following items generally fall under this category:

  • bookkeeping tasks
  • opening and closing files
  • billing and collection
  • internal filing
  • law firm meetings or staff meetingsor partner meetings
  • staff training
  • statutory reports to the Law Society or the governing body
  • file and data storage
  • mandatory professional liability insurance
  • Law Society (or the governing body) dues

3. Professional competency and development

As lawyers, we are expected to be reasonably familiar with the law and its latest development. For example, a family law lawyer is expected to be familiar with the law on divorce, child support, spousal support, custody and access, and property division. If a lawyer needs to review the basic legislation prior to answering an inquiry, time spent on reviewing is likely unbillable. Likewise, time spent on learning new developments in the law is generally not billable.

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