The Legal 500

PARLIAMENT HOUSE, PARLIAMENT SQUARE, EDINBURGH, EH1 1RF, SCOTLAND
Tel:
Work 0131 260 5648
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Fax 0131 225 3642
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ED 549302 EDINBURGH 36
Web:
www.compasschambers.com
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Compass Chambers, whose membership includes 11 leading QCs and a number of talented juniors at the Scottish Bar, offers a broad spectrum of litigation, with core strengths in reparation, regulatory crime and professional disciplinary proceedings. Compass has an affiliation with the highly rated Crown Office Chambers in London and shares many of the values espoused by them.

The stable: Members include some of the most well-instructed and highly regarded counsel at the Scottish Bar and, as a result, have considerable experience in all Scottish courts from the Sheriff Court to the House of Lords and Privy Council. Many of its members are on the panels of several leading insurers, publishers and disciplinary bodies.

An essential part of the Compass ethos is to seek to give added value at all times. To that end, Compass provides bi-monthly e-bulletins in each of its core areas; namely reparation, regulatory crime and professional disciplinary proceedings. In addition, Compass hosts an annual conference at which the most recent developments in its respective core areas are presented to a wide audience.

As an organisation, Compass is at the forefront of innovating the way in which Counsel interacts with agents and clients, and aims to offer a commercially sensitive, comprehensive and cost-effective service.

Types of work undertaken: In the reparation field members of Compass specialise in personal injury, clinical negligence, professional negligence, property damage, insurance law and fatal accident inquiries. In the field of regulatory crime, members specialise in the defence of allegations brought under health and safety, road traffic, environmental and corporate financial legislation, and also appear regularly in fatal accident inquiries; in particular those relating to fatalities in the workplace. In the field of professional disciplinary proceedings, members specialise in statutory appeals from medical, dental and teaching panels.

In addition to its core strengths, Compass includes specialists in contract and commercial litigation, judicial review and defamation within its membership.

Above material supplied by Compass Chambers ().

Legal Developments in the UK

Legal Developments and updates from the leading lawyers in each jurisdiction. To contribute, send an email request to
  • HOUSING

    In Nzinga Maswaku v Westminster City Council [2012] EWCA Civ 669 the Court of Appeal clarified that in offering a homeless person with alternative temporary accommodation the local authority is obliged to point that if the offer is refused it has discharged its Part VII duties under the Housing Act 1996.
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  • COUNCIL TAX

    In Harrow LBC v Ayiku [2012] EWHC 1200 (Admin) Sales J held that the word “or” in the Council Tax (Exempt Dwellings) Order 1992, art 3 Class N, had a disjunctive meaning, therefore it was sufficient for the non-British spouse of a foreign student to satisfy one or other of the two conditions, namely being prevented from taking paid employment or being prevented from claiming benefits, in order to qualify as a “relevant person” who was exempted from liability to pay council tax.
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  • QUEEN’S SPEECH

    Bills already introduced pursuant to the Queen’s Speech on 9 May 2012 include Local Government Finance Bill and Electoral Registration and Administration Bill, both accompanied by Explanatory Notes, which in each case address ECHR compatibility.
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  • Standards

    In R (Calver) v Adjudication Panel for Wales [2012] EWHC 1172 (Admin) Mr Calver was a member of Manorbier Community Council who successfully challenged the decision of the Panel to dismiss his appeal against a decision by Prembrokeshire County Council Standards Committee censuring him for a number of comments or blogs posted by him on a website he owned and controlled.
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  • A justified retrospective

    Clive Sheldon - QC debates the pros & cons of retrospective tax legislation
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  • Public Sector Equality Duty (“PSED”)

    In R (Greenwich Community Law Centre) v Greenwich LBC [2012] EWCA Civ 496 the Court of Appeal held that the Council had had “due regard to the PSED when making changes to its funding of community legal advice services”. At para 30 Elias LJ said:
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  • Public Sector Equality Duty

    Surrey County Council conducted a review of its Library Service. This culminated in a Report to the Council’s Cabinet. The Recommendations in the Report included that there should be consultation about a community-partnership approach at selected Libraries.
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  • Judicial Review

    The Judgment of Lindblom J in The Manydown Co Ltd v Basingstoke and Deane BC [2012] EWHC 977 (Admin) repays attention. The Claimant sought to challenge by judicial review 2 decisions of the Council: (1) the Council’s refusal to reconsider its position on the development of a site that it owns (and is the subject matter of a Joint Development Partnership Agreement with the Claimant); and (2) a decision of the Council’s Cabinet approving a selection of sites for development which did not include this site.
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  • The Health and Social Care Act 2012: impact on adult social services

    After its torrid passage through Parliament, the Health and Social Care Bill received Royal Assent on 27 March 2012. The Act deals principally with healthcare reform, but it also contains some amendments to the legislative framework for social care. It will come into force on a day yet to be appointed by the Secretary of State.
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  • Immigration update May 2012

    In this issue: