Liverpool Law Bulletin December 2013 December 2013 | Page 7

Beer and Bankruptcy
I am delighted to say that, since
being elected President of the
Liverpool Society of Chartered
Accounts ( LSCA ) I have
attended and enjoyed a number
of joint events held with the
Liverpool Law Society.

Each has added to my education.
Although, I must confess they were
social events and the lure was my
desire to learn about the production
of beer and wine rather than the
need for CPD.

The LSCA and the Liverpool Law
Society have very strong links which,
certainly the current office holders,
are keen to maintain and strengthen.
However, I recently came across a
research document prepared by
Stephen Walker of Cardiff University
which highlighted how far back our
relationship extends.

The LSCA was formed in 1870 and
famously was the first Society of
Chartered Accountants in the
country, a fact that all Presidents of
the LSCA must mention at every
possible opportunity.

I was aware that the Liverpool Law
Society predate this. I was not aware
that they were actually instrumental
in the formation of the LSCA.

This happened as a result of the
forward looking approach taken by
the Liverpool Law Society in
response to the Bankruptcy Act
1869.

For the first time this Act allowed
accountants to be appointed as a
trustee in bankruptcy, an area
previously a preserve of lawyers. At
the time, the prevalent view amongst
lawyers was the measure would
“considerably diminish the business

Private Child Law Conference 2013

Local News

of attorneys and solicitors who
practice in bankruptcy and in
common law” ( Law Time 20th
March 1869 ).Not surprisingly the
new rules met with more than a
little resistance from lawyers

The first city in which accountants
and lawyers addressed these issues
was Liverpool.

The Liverpool Law Society took a
pragmatic view and suggested to
Liverpool’s leading accountants that,
if the two disciplines were to work
together, the lawyers would rather
work with reputable accountants and
suggested the leading firms form a
professional organisation for
accountants.
The rest is history.

Paul Cochrane is President of
the Liverpool Society of
Chartered Accountants and a
Partner in McEwan Wallace,
Chartered Accountants .

Paul Cochrane and Alistair
Fletcher

On 16 October 2013, the Liverpool Law Society held its first half day,
autumn, private child law conference; His Honour Judge Dodds (sole
tenant of Courtroom 19 Liverpool Civil and Family Courts) chaired.

The first speaker was Samantha Hillas of Atlantic Chambers who discussed the
Children and Families Bill (currently at committee stage in the House of Lords).
The Bill, when it is passed (and it most certainly is going to be passed either in
its current form or very similar) is going to affect all family law practitioners.
Samantha was refreshingly candid when setting out her thoughts and
reservations on some aspects of the Bill (the abolition of residence and contact
orders and the presumption of shared parenting) and how this is going to work
in practice.

Our next speaker was Carole Brennan, Partner and head of Liverpool Divorce
and Financial team at Morecrofts Solicitors. Carole discussed her role as a
Resolution accredited mediator at Morecrofts and made attempts (successfully,
I would say) to dispel some of the myths that surround mediation; Carole
sought to persuade delegates that mediation can work but accepted that it
requires the parties to be willing to consider the same. Carole discussed in
some detail the opportunity for children of the parties to attend mediation,
which, I have to say, I was unaware of.

After a short coffee break, the next speaker, District Judge Heyworth, discussed
in detail the problems that the Court has faced with the increasingly everpresent litigants in person. Since the removal of the availability of legal aid in
most private child law matters in April 2013, many more people attend at
Court unrepresented, which causes numerous difficulties for the Court, e.g. the
lodging of the court bundle, the drafting of the order, the filing and serving of
statements, relevant to the case itself and the parties not presenting as child
focused. District Judge Heyworth gave a brief history in time on how society
has changed since the time he began to practice law and how this directly
impacts upon the families he has before him in Court (the increase in
recreational drug use, the increase and use of hardcore pornography, the
invention of Facebook, Twitter and the like, which now seemingly crop up in
most family law cases). District Judge Heyworth provided guidance to the
delegates on how we can assist the litigants in person with the ultimate aim of
assisting the Court in determining the case as quickly and as fairly as possible.
The final speaker was Clive Baker of 7 Harrington Street Chambers, a firm )