With spring just around the corner, now that you might have a little more of a ‘spring’ in your step, this exercise builds on some of the previous relaxation exercises in a rather more active way. Believe it or not, walking promotes our relaxation response; any physical exercise produces natural, feel-good chemicals in your brain. It need not be a long walk – even 10 minutes once or twice a day makes a positive difference. Building on this distance can enhance the relaxation response and turn walking into something you can add to your relaxation repertoire in order to promote better physical and mental health overall. With practice, walking can become part of your routine of simply going to work, going home after work or, if you have a particularly stressful day, taking 10 minutes to step outside and feel refreshed.

When studying Land Law, few students expect to come across what ordinary people might regard as legalised theft. The part of the law I am referring to is known as adverse possession, which can allow a squatter to obtain rights over land – commonly referred to as ‘squatter’s rights’. This concept may seem controversial, but it is based on the notion that unused land does not benefit society as a whole. In other words, on some occasions it is better for everyone that a limited resource like land should be used by someone rather than by no one. 

The basic rules for someone to gain adverse possession are that they must prove the following:

Education in modern society has largely been a regimental process. A person is born, begins their education at an appropriate age, continues to higher schooling, and achieves education until they can secure employment! But in fact, learning is a lifelong process; we learn things constantly, every day of our lives. A variety of surveys have shown that people who undertake formal study later in life not only have the obvious benefit of gaining new knowledge, but also receive related benefits that improve their overall well-being. 

On 21 January 2013, the Children’s Rights Alliance for England (CRAE) published its ‘Review of Government action on United Nations’ recommendations for strengthening children’s rights in the UK’. The report criticises the Government for failing to implement the changes recommended in a 2008 report by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child – changes which, in 2010, the Government had committed to take into consideration when enacting law and policy. 

ILSPA’s Legal Secretaries Diploma course contains a conveyancing module which is based on residential conveyancing. This article will look at some of the differences in the procedure if you are working for a Commercial Property lawyer. 

Commercial properties can be bought and sold just as domestic properties can, but they are also commonly occupied by commercial tenants under a lease. Indeed, most commercial property transactions will involve leasehold property, although some are freehold.

One of my hobbies is going to folk clubs. I do comic songs, and once I made up some doggerel about things which can go awry in a legal office – for instance, an inexperienced casual receptionist telling a client point-blank that the legal eagle is too busy to talk to him or her, rather than ‘talking round the subject’, explaining the fee-earner is presently occupied and taking a message. I do not want to alarm any budding young Legal Secretaries by mentioning solely things that can go amiss, however.

Buying and selling a property has long been regarded as one of the most stressful things you will ever do in life. After all, you are dealing with the most important and costly financial asset you are ever likely to own, and you want any such conveyancing transaction to go as smoothly as possible. Of course one hopes the instructed conveyance firm will be able to deal with the transaction as professionally and expeditiously as you deserve; however, according to the Legal Ombudsman, in an increasing number of cases this is not proving to be the reality.

At the Office Show towards the end of 2012, National PA Day celebrated Britain’s estimated 600,000 highly skilled Personal Assistants, showcasing the increasing importance of PAs working in offices throughout the nation. The aim of National PA Day was to promote this exciting and stimulating profession amongst well-educated, career-minded young people.

This event also saw the release of a survey conducted amongst nearly 1,500 PAs to find out about their pay, qualities and career prospects as well as other interesting information about their roles. Here are some of the results:

Applications for the trainee Legal Secretary scheme offered by Berwin Leighton Paisner usually take place in January of each year, however, they will now be starting in February or March instead.

Those of you who are interested in the scheme, have a little more time to make sure that you have a top quality CV and think about what you can offer the firm.  As well as presenting a copy of your CV, you will need to complete an application form outlining your skills, attributes and capabilities so it is good to be prepared.

The school years may be a distant memory for some, but study and work habits that ground us in later life (while often taken for granted) are often set in place during this formative phase in our lives. This is not to say that one cannot change one’s study habits, but if good practices are put in place during the school years, studying as an adult will be that much easier. Learning how to study and how to memorise at work can be extremely difficult and may seem very frustrating, but there are things you can do to help yourself improve.