What is the duty of care that a police force owes to the citizens they protect? Should the police be liable if they fail to detect a crime? What if the police fail to act and this causes an injury? Do the police have a duty to protect victims or witnesses of crime? What if the police give a firearm to an officer who is unstable? The answer to all these questions for the most part has been that the police have no duty of care. In other words, any of these failures could happen and it would be difficult or impossible to bring a claim for compensation. That has been the case up to now, but change seems likely to follow after a Supreme Court judgment in February. The law that has changed relates to policy factors and when it is fair, just and reasonable for a duty of care to be owed.

We are delighted to announce that one of our Students recently passed the Legal Secretaries Diploma course with a Distinction of 99%. Alison Carter lives in Dorset and studied the course online through distance learning. Not only did she achieve a fantastic result, but she also showed great commitment and completed the course in just 10 weeks.

Alison gained an excellent understanding of the law and proved that she has great attention to detail and a high level of accuracy when producing legal documentation. It is no easy feat to achieve such a high score for the course and it shows that Alison has particular aptitude in the field.

After a painstaking job search, you’ve enjoyed a run of positive interviews with prospective employers. Finally, you receive a job offer! Before you’ve even had time to consider it, you receive another. Most would agree that this scenario presents the most desirable dilemma of them all: in a competitive jobs market, you’ve managed to garner the interest of not one but two firms. Now all you have to do is choose one. It seems simple on the surface, but the more you weigh up your options, the further away from a decision you feel.

If you’re currently deliberating between two job offers, the following tips should help to guide you towards the right decision.

Determine your priorities

Criminal Law is extremely interesting and as with many areas of law, it continually evolves to reflect the morals and ethical standards of society.

The civil justice system aims to ensure that there is a fair way for individuals and businesses to recover money they are owed. This aim has to be balanced against the need to protect the rights of those who owe money. The Ministry of Justice is currently consulting about the use of default judgments. The aim behind the consultation is to ensure that the process for debt recovery strikes a fair balance between the legitimate right of a business or individual to pursue a money claim and the right of the debtor to know about a claim against them and have the chance to defend themselves.

Lawmaking in the UK is about proposals being made by the Government and finally being passed by Parliament. Proposals from the government are aimed at shaping a better society or to address specific issues and problems. Laws come to the government’s attention originally because of the different political parties competing for support from the British voters. They will campaign about their visions for the country, setting out how they would go about changing things. The winning political party is the one that forms the next government, basing its legislative agendas on what its manifesto is.

Proposals to government come from different sources

Every year Career Legal publishes a review of the legal market. Their 2018 market review has been very enlightening, particularly in respect of the changing role of Legal PAs in the big-city law firms.

If you are currently studying with ILSPA, you have the opportunity to attend one of the tours which take place monthly at the Royal Courts of Justice. The feedback which we receive from students shows the tour to not only be an enjoyable and informative day out, but also a valuable resource for their studies.

For your interest, inspiration that anything is achievable and also, I hope, enjoyment, I set out below in summary how I progressed my career from secretary to qualified lawyer and subsequently programme leader for over ten years at The Law School at The University of Westminster.

It all started following my A-levels and a brief spell in retail, as I decided to embark on a legal secretarial course at Enfield College. Although I struggled with Pitman shorthand, I very much enjoyed the trips to The Old Bailey and local County Court. I left Enfield College a far more able and organised individual, with a very high typing speed (my forte) as well as a legal secretarial qualification enabling me to secure employment.

Are you studying a Legal Secretary course and need to improve your everyday secretarial skills? Or maybe you are qualified as a Legal Secretary but feel you need to improve your everyday secretarial skills on the latest software?

Lewis College provides a range of distance learning courses for secretaries, and the Institute of Legal Secretaries and PAs has kindly asked us to discuss some of the courses we offer.