Discussing care plans within court proceedings: part 2 – the nitty gritty

This is the follow up post to my last one on the topic of care planning discussions whilst Court of Protection proceedings are ongoing. You can read that post here. We’re not talking about Z today, but about U. U is in her 40s and has been diagnosed with a number of complex mental healthContinue reading “Discussing care plans within court proceedings: part 2 – the nitty gritty”

Discussing care plans within court proceedings: part 1 – the broad brush

I am surprised by how often with my job I find myself in a situation where everyone round the table has a different idea of what the court’s role is when discussing care planning. I am talking predominantly about cases where there is some kind of dispute about a care plan, for example, where thereContinue reading “Discussing care plans within court proceedings: part 1 – the broad brush”

Office conversations on accessible information

I have been fortunate enough to be involved in some work about making legal information more accessible to non-legal professionals, particularly those who might have additional difficulties in understanding this information. Lawyers are traditionally quite wordy people, and there are a large number of lawyers out there who tend to speak in the way thatContinue reading “Office conversations on accessible information”

Reflections on informed consent

This is an issue I’ve been thinking about recently. I’ve had some health issues of my own which have resulted in more interactions with medical professionals than I’d like. No offence is intended to medical professionals and I’m glad they’re there, it’s just that I very much prefer my life when I don’t need toContinue reading “Reflections on informed consent”

Refusal of care: when it’s not so simple

Today I want to talk about an issue that I have come across regularly in practice: individuals who are refusing care. The reason I am talking about this is that I have seen this concept misused by public authorities when this is convenient for them. I have a case at the moment where this isContinue reading “Refusal of care: when it’s not so simple”

About face: changing your position during Court of Protection proceedings part 3

This is the third post in a series about changing your mind during Court of Protection proceedings. If you’ve not read parts 1 and 2, feel free to do so. But I’ll briefly recap the scenario too. Essentially, my client was in a care home, suffering from dementia and objecting to her residence there. HerContinue reading “About face: changing your position during Court of Protection proceedings part 3”

About face: changing your position during Court of Protection proceedings – part 2

In this series of posts, I’m exploring how to approach a situation if, during Court of Protection proceedings, the professionals views about what I’d viable or what is in P’s best interests. It happens sometimes, and it’s inconvenient and difficult to navigate. But not impossible to achieve. I’m using an example from my recent casesContinue reading “About face: changing your position during Court of Protection proceedings – part 2”

About face: changing your position during Court of Protection proceedings – part 1

I want to talk about a relatively common occurrence that occurs during Court of Protection proceedings: changing the professional recommendations. In writing this I’ve realised I have a lot to say on this topic so I’ve broken it down into 4 parts. To start us off, I’ll set the scene. In one of my casesContinue reading “About face: changing your position during Court of Protection proceedings – part 1”

Miracle on the High Street

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you will know that as a child I was heavily influenced by the classic Christmas film Miracle on 34th Street. After spending a lot of time in my studies thinking I wanted to work for the Crown Prosecution Service, I accidentally found myself in an areaContinue reading “Miracle on the High Street”

Networking as an introvert

As I mentioned, I have recently changed roles (again). I’m still in private practice doing largely legal aid work so I wasn’t expecting much of the job to change, just the people and the work environment. My current firm is much more vocal about employees’ skills and successes, though. I’m also one of the firstContinue reading “Networking as an introvert”