Monidipa Fouzder

1 week ago | lawgazette.co.uk | Monidipa Fouzder

The Financial Conduct Authority has told banks and building societies to improve their handling of power of attorney. On Friday the City watchdog set out examples of good and poor practice following a probe of bereavement and power of attorney policies, focusing  in particular on vulnerable customers. Emad Aladhal, the FCA's director of retail banking, said: ‘Dealing with a bereavement or setting up a power of attorney can often be stressful and emotional.

1 week ago | lawgazette.co.uk | Monidipa Fouzder

Diversity progress in the family judiciary has been ‘woeful’ and could lead to declining levels of public approval, a top judge has warned. Delivering the annual Bridget Lindley Memorial Lecture last month on the topic of race and culture in the family courts, Her Honour Judge Khatun Sapnara, designated family judge at Central Family Court, said integrating diversity, equality and inclusion in the family justice system requires a more diverse judiciary.

2 weeks ago | lawgazette.co.uk | Monidipa Fouzder

A coalition of government, legal and business groups tasked with exploring how e-conveyancing can speed up the home buying and selling process has unveiled its second action plan. The Digital Property Market Steering Group was set up in 2023 ‘to help the property market work better for all by accelerating the adoption of digital technology, while ensuring it is transparent, secure and consumer friendly, through collaboration and innovation across the sector’.

2 weeks ago | lawgazette.co.uk | Monidipa Fouzder

An annual list - endorsed by the lady chief justice - recognising lawyers for their pro bono work has grown by nearly 1,000 names this year. The second Pro Bono Recognition List of England and Wales, published this week, features 4,780 legal professionals – up from 3,762 in last year’s inaugural list. The list recognises lawyers who have given at least 25 hours of free legal assistance in the previous calendar year.

2 weeks ago | lawgazette.co.uk | Monidipa Fouzder

Three years after the previous government declared that the introduction of no-fault divorce would end the 'blame game', family lawyers have declared that removing fault from the law has proved easier than banishing it from the psyches of separating couples. The Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act came into force on 6 April 2022, removing the need for couples to assign blame for the breakdown of their marriage.