Recent case law highlights the importance of understanding how property can be held jointly

Whenever property is jointly owned, there is the possibility of disagreement. The ongoing case of Kernott v Jones [2010] provides, in the words of Lord Justice Wall, “a cautionary tale” to all unmarried couples and the solicitors who advise them.

If you have already completed the Diploma course, you will be aware that there are only two ways to hold property in England and Wales – as a joint tenant or as a tenant in common. With only two options, you would think that couples entering into the world of home ownership should always get suitable legal advice. Unfortunately, this is not the case and it can be a very costly mistake.

When a paralegal first joins a firm, it is natural for the paralegal to look up to the lawyer as the mentor. After a few days, the paralegal soon learns that the nearest and most accessible mentor is his secretary.

Because the secretary is hidden behind the computer with a dangly headset, sandwiched between the file cabinets, do not think that this person is a mechanic. Not true. Given a few years’ experience, the legal secretary probably knows more about what goes on around the office than anyone else. Ask any lawyer. The legal secretary is the core of the law firm and not easily impressed by the briefcase-toting paralegal. Many offices are fortunate to have secretaries with ten or more years’ experience. Paralegals will learn from the legal secretary’s valuable expertise if they are smart.

For those of you already familiar with constitutional and administrative law, the ‘West Lothian Question’ will no doubt bring forth a frustrated sigh of recognition as you remember covering it in your legal studies. For those of you unfamiliar with this important point that affects our country’s democracy, allow me to explain as succinctly as possible.

The West Lothian Question was first raised in the House of Commons as far back as 1977, when Parliament was already discussing the possibility of a devolved legislature for Scotland. It was actually a Scottish Member of Parliament that questioned the fairness of non-English MPs being entitled to have a say over legal matters that were only ever likely to affect English constituents. That person was Tom Dalyell and at the time he represented the constituency of West Lothian.

We all have a sense of our own comfort zones: areas of our life and experience where we feel comfortable and at ease. Whilst we undoubtedly need a level of stability and consistency, we also have a basic need to be stretched and challenged, not least to give us the opportunity to learn and experience new things, to promote a sense of competence and achievement, and overall to give a sense of meaning in our lives.

Even in the best of times it is a good idea to keep the courts on your side. At the moment it is more important than ever given the increased pressure that judges are under. In a busy litigation department, fee earners can find it difficult to be as organised as they should be, but this is a role which you as a legal secretary are in a position to help with.

The president of the Association of District Judges, Monty Trent, recently identified a number of tips that can help fee earners to get on with their judges.

Corresponding with the court

The following tips may seem obvious, but if they are being raised by an eminent judge then you can be sure that these are common points of irritation for members of the judiciary.

If you have been following this section over the past year or so, you will have noticed how there has been a concerted effort to report on the issues of employment law that are being affected by the economic difficulties being faced within the country. In fact, some previous articles have gone so far as to make predictions on what might be expected in this regard; alas, it would seem that many of these assertions are now coming to fruition.

At a time when most small and medium-sized businesses are really struggling to keep their heads above water, it cannot be helpful that changes in employment law see these hard-pushed employers having to dip even deeper into their pockets to cover escalating financial obligations: anything from paternity/maternity pay to an extra bank holiday this year - leading to a very unproductive three-day week.

I have been an Executive PA for over 15 years now and I felt I needed a career change.  I have always wanted to study law, but because of the cost involved and finding the time out of working hours to do so, it proved next to impossible.  Then one day whilst paging through a magazine, I came across an advertisement on ILSPA's Legal Secretaries Diploma course.  I went on to their website and was impressed with their professionalism and most importantly the various topics covered in the course.  This combined with the convenience of distance learning and the affordable repayment terms made it very attractive.  Without any hesitation, I signed up immediately and have not regretted it since.

‘Seek first to understand, then to be understood.’ This is just one of the habits of highly effective people taken from Stephen R Covey’s book. We primarily ask questions to get information, but questions are also a powerful communication tool to show that we are interested in the other person; that we care about what’s important to them; and that we are trying to understand their situation. So here are the top 10 types of questions and how to use them.

Many people have a tendency to procrastinate. This could be because the task is complicated, you’re unfamiliar with it, there’s a prospect of conflict or you simply prefer to socialise rather than work! But motivating yourself to ‘do’ rather than ‘avoid’ some tasks will result in higher levels of achievement, satisfaction, and increased self-belief and self-esteem. So here are the top 10 tips to help you do that:

As part of an ongoing series of articles focusing on Civil Litigation, this month we are considering the growing importance of mediation. There has been a lot of effort over the last few years to reform the civil justice system. One of the key reasons for this has been the high cost of bringing claims to court.

A recent proposal aimed at reducing legal costs was made by the Conservative Secretary to the Ministry of Justice, Jonathan Djanogly. He has suggested that mediation should be compulsory in some civil cases. The aim of the proposal would be to keep more cases out of the court system.