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HIGHEST COURT TO HEAR BUS ROUTE APPEAL
Local woman Viv Morge today won a major victory in the Supreme Court in London, the highest Court in the Country, when she was given permission to take her appeal to the Supreme Court.
Please click here to read the full article and links to press publications
SIX OF THE BEST!
Swain and Co solicitors are celebrating the fact that all six members of its Prison Law Team who applied have met the strict new Legal Aid Supervisor Standards for supervising prison lawyers.
Please click here to read the full article
COURT OF APPEAL SUCCESS
Swain and Co successfully appeal the last ‘whole life tariff’ for a discretionary life sentence prisoner
On 28 April 2010 the Court of Appeal quashed the only ‘whole life tariff’ being served by a discretionary life sentence prisoner.
Please click here to read the full article by Tom Battarbee
HOUSING LAW SUCCESS
Specialist housing advice from Swain & Co Solicitors made all the difference to a family with a serious housing need.
Please click here to read the full article by James Hurford
LEGAL AID ESSAY WRITING COMPETITION - WINNER ANNOUNCED
Swain & Co Solicitors ran an essay writing competition for undergraduate law students. The article was judged by Carol Storer from the Legal Aid Practitioners Group and Steve Hynes from the Legal Action Group.
The competition was entitled 'In Today's Society can the Ordinary Citizen in England & Wales enforce their Legal Rights without Legal Aid?'
Swain & Co would like to congratulate the winner Miss Lucy El-Aawar for her excellent entry which will also be published on the Legal Action Group website. Lucy also won £100.00, an executive briefcase (donated by Office Team) and Legal Aid books (donated by the Legal Action Group).
Please click here to read Lucy's winning article
SWAIN & CO SOLICITORS OBTAIN AN INJUNCTION FOR THE SECOND TIME AND RIGHT TO APPEAL TO THE COURT OF APPEAL REGARDING THE GOSPORT - FAREHAM BUS LINK
Swain & Co Solicitors have obtained a second injunction to halt the works on the Gosport to Fareham Bus Route.
Please click here to read the full article and link to press publications
COURT INJUNCTION STOPS WORK ON £20m GOSPORT - FAREHAM BUS LINK
Swain & Co Solicitors have obtained an injunction stopping Hampshire County Council from carrying out further work on the Fareham - Gosport Bus Rapid Transit Scheme until the outcome of a High Court hearing.
Please click here to read the full article and links to press publications
LAWYERS BACK CARE WATCHDOG AS IT BARES ITS TEETH
Thousands of Elderly peoples in Care Homes do not receive even basic standards of care according to the Care Quality Commission (CQC) which is health and social care regulator for England. Today it issued a damming report on Care Homes and threatened to close four hundred homes unless they improve.
Please click here to read the full article by James Hurford and Jess Connelly
NHS MISSES CARE TARGETS
Hospitals are still failing their “annual health check” according to Graeme Swain a specialist clinical negligence and health lawyer at Swain & Co Solicitors in Havant.
Graeme Swain said, “Almost half of hospitals are still not meeting the core standards of care required of them according to the health regulators annual report produced by the Care Quality Commission. The report came out on Thursday.
Please click here to read the full press release written by Graeme Swain
PRISONERS IN PRISON FOR PUBLIC PROTECTION DO NOT NEED A PAROLE BOARD RECOMMENDATION TO GO TO OPEN CONDITIONS
Swain and Co’s Liverpool Judicial Review Team achieve another success in the High Court in that the Secretary of State for Justice acted unlawfully in respect of the transfer of IPP prisoners to open conditions.
Please click here to read the full article written by Nick Wells
SALMONELLA OUTBREAK AT HMP WANDSWORTH
At Swain & Co we have received a number of enquiries relating to an apparent outbreak of Salmonella at Wandsworth Prison in September 2009.
Our initial investigation revealed that over 370 inmates appear to have contracted the illness with only a small number of those being confirmed as a result of tests being carried out.
Please click here to read the article written by Melanie Lidstone-Land
DOCTORS MUST ADMIT MISTAKES
Graeme Swain Managing Partner of Swain & Co Solicitors, lobbied delegates at the British Medical Association's national conference where they were being asked to approve motions on a series of issues surrounding NHS whistle blowing
Click here for further information and press articles
COMPENSATION FOR PAROLE DELAYS
Sara-Jayne Pritt of Swain & Co’s Liverpool office successfully brought a claim against the Parole Board in respect of unacceptable delays by the Parole Board. Compensation is due after there was a pure delay of over 3 months between the date when the Parole Board should have communicated its decision to the Claimant and the date when it did so.
Having granted a declaration that the Parole Board breached Article 5(4) the case has been adjourned to allow negotiations over the level of compensation. If agreement is not reached the Court will fix the level of compensation.
For further information please click here to see the draft Judgment.
LEGAL AID CELEBRATES 60 YEARS
Legal Aid was created 60 years ago and since then millions of people have benefitted from vital legal services. The work it is doing is being celebrated nationwide. Swain & Co Solicitors joined in the celebrations with various events.
Click here to read the article regarding 60 Years of Legal Aid Celebrations
SWAIN & CO CAMPAIGN AGAINST PRISON LEGAL AID CUTBACKS
Click here to read the article Representations Part I
Click here to read the article Representations Part II
FAMILY LAUNCH COURT BID OVER GANGRENE DEATH
Please click here to read the full article as printed in The News
CHILDREN & YOUNG PEOPLE'S RIGHTS
Swain & Co offered free legal training to organisations across Hampshire to educate them on the legal rights that Children and Young people have.
Click here for further information regarding the training day
EDUCATION LAW CONFERENCE
Graeme Swain and Vicki Wright from Swain & Co Solicitors attended an Education Law Conference on Tuesday 7 July 2009.
Subjects covered were Human Rights, School Exclusions, School Reorganisation and Academies, School Transport, Recent Developments in School Admissions and Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.
FAMILY LAWYERS IN CHICHESTER ART SHOCK
Swain & Co solicitors use of an image by the well known graffiti artist, Banksy, has ruffled a few feathers amongst the people in Havant.
Click here to read the full article regarding the Banksy image
SWAIN & CO CELEBRATE THE QUALIFICATION OF ANOTHER TRAINEE SOLICITOR
Click here to read the full article regarding the qualification of Nicola Whitley
SWAIN & CO CELEBRATE THE QUALIFICATION OF TWO MORE TRAINEE SOLICITORS
Click here to read the full article regarding the qualification of Amee Vaid & Rhys Evans
SWAIN & CO CELEBRATE THE QUALIFICATION OF A LEGAL EXECUTIVE
Click here to read the full article regarding the qualification of Sarah Grundy
MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS ARE RIFE IN PRISON
It will come as no surprise to any serving prisoner that many prisoners are affected by mental health problems and difficulties.
Click here to read the full article by Nick Wells as published in Converse
MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS IN PRISON
What actually happens to prisoners who are transferred to hospital and what they can expect to find there and how it will affect them in respect of the sentence they are serving?
Click here to read the full article by Nick Wells as published in Converse
NEW GOSPORT SERVICE
Swain & Co Solicitors have won a National Bid to provide legal advice in relation to Community Care and related matters and are now bringing that service to Gosport for the first time.
Click here to read the full article about the New Gosport Service
LIE DETECTION: What is best – A jury or a scientific examination?
Swain & Co have recently investigated post use of lie detectors in relation to Prison Law and Criminal Cases.
Click here to read the full article which deals with fmri scans and the TARA test LIE DETECTOR
SOUTHAMPTON CHILD GETS £1.4m PAYOUT
A £1.4 million out-of-court payout has been won on behalf of a boy after it was alleged that computer records were altered to hide the fact that a doctor’s practice had over-prescribed doses of drugs to his mother, who was trying to become pregnant again.
Changes to the medical records of the woman were identified by a computer expert brought in by Graeme Swain of Southampton law firm Swain & Co Solicitors. The legal firm obtained a Court Order without prior warning so that the computer expert could attend unannounced at the doctor’s surgery to obtain access to the computer records.
An agreement for a payment of £1.4m to the boy, then aged six, was reached shortly before the trial was due to open at Winchester.
AWARD WINNING HEALTH SOLICITORS
Swain & Co solicitors have been awarded a Legal Aid Contract to deliver specialist legal aid advice in relation to community care law in Hampshire, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire.
Click here to read the full article as published in the Age Concern quarterly newspaper