Results tagged “rex makin” from LDP - The Legal Week

MPS today saluted a Liverpool "legend".

They tabled a Commons motion marking the 60th anniversary of veteran city lawyer and Echo columnist Rex Makin qualifying as a solicitor.

Knowsley MPs Eddie O'Hara and George Howarth listed some of his achievements:
* His work on numerous high-profile cases including the Hillsborough and Heysel stadium disasters and the Cameo murders.

* Legal advice to Brian Epstein on the recording contracts of the Beatles.

* Representing countless ordinary Liverpudlians and supporting cultural and educational causes.

* And numerous awards, including Freedom of the City and an honorary professorship at Liverpool John Moores University.

Yesterday city solicitor Rex Makin celebrated 60 years on the Law Society roll. He reflected on a colourful career with Ben Schofield.

E REX Makin's 60th year as a qualified solicitor did not pass without incident.

His run-ins with Merseyside's power brokers and controversial quips were all, if never quite run-of-the-mill, routine.

But two falls - one in his bathroom and one in his corner office - led to the octogenarian being put first in a neck brace, then in what he describes as his "Dalek head dress".
"They wrote me off then. They were wrong," Makin recalled.

Rex Maxkin on the importance of the Criminal Cases Review Commission.

THE Criminal Cases Review Commission established in March 1997 is an independent public body set up by the 1995 Criminal Appeal Act.

The objective was to review possible miscarriages of justice in the criminal courts of England, Wales and Northern Ireland and refer appropriate cases to the appeal courts.

Based in Birmingham, the Commission (CCRC) has about 100 staff, including about 50 caseworkers supported by administrative staff.

NEW scheduling policies meant to speed cases up at magistrates' courts are causing problems for criminal lawyers, a Liverpool law firm has warned.

They say because of a desire to cut the number of afternoons the magistrates sit, morning lists are being crammed with too many cases.

This has left criminal lawyers over-stretched in the morning, but with little court appointments later in the day.

Rex Makin says Lay Magistrates' days may be numbered.

THE office of Justice of the Peace goes back hundreds of years, but how long will it last? Magistrates' courts are drying up with business, apart from the Family Courts.

The reason is two-fold: first of all, instead of cases being filtered before they are sent to a higher court, they are dispensed with an alacrity which is the speed of Mercury. The old practice of having oral committals has virtually been abolished and accused people are dispatched to the Crown court. While this has the advantage of speeding up justice, it is also justice denied.

Under the old procedure of oral committals, witnesses were tested and many a charge was dismissed.
The magistrate who heard the committal proceedings was known as the examining magistrate. Now cautions and fixed penalties have dramatically reduced the criminal business of the courts.

REX MAKIN predicts the closure of many law firms. Here he recounts the toll being taken on the legal profession

THESE are hard times for the legal profession, or as some people prefer, the legal trade. With the lack of house sales solicitors who once had the monopoly of conveyancing now find business of that nature has almost evaporated.

There are other difficulties and some small firms are being forced to close because they cannot afford to pay the increased indemnity premiums, while hundreds more are destined to end up in the very costly assigned professional insurance risk pool.

Some firms have chosen to shut down, claiming their inability to find cover in the conventional market.