#weeknotes S02 E06
Monday
- Maybe (definitely) the most special part of my week was walking to the station in the fog, with my Mum. When I work in our London office, I often stay with my parents who live at the end of a Waterloo line. They get up extra early, often before 7am, to make me porridge and coffee. And, if my Mum can, she will walk a mile with me, to the station. They still live in the house I was born in, so we have been walking that mile together for as long as I remember. Nowadays when we walk, I am thinking how lucky and precious that time is.
- From Waterloo Bridge, all was sunshine and London grandeur on the bus to St Pauls.
- My work week started with a jolt. All my employment team colleagues were out of the office, and our consultancy queries that morning were about res judicata, and then Spanish ECJ decisions. Which definitely woke me up.
- On Monday evening after work I went to the National Pro Bono Centre to present a LawWorks session on discrimination rights in social welfare law. I got a backstage thrill when I saw one of the heroines of the fight for Access walk past our room during the session. Next week (starts 4th November) is Pro Bono Week: ‘to encourage and recognise the voluntary contribution of lawyers in giving free legal help to those in need’.
Tuesday
- Mainly feeling shattered. A very early walk to the station in the bright sunshine on my day off, to arrive in good time for the APPG on Legal Aid and Public Legal Education meeting, to hear about the new Legal Services Board and Law Society survey into legal capability and unmet legal need.
Wednesday
- Delighted to be able to share some news about a new Legal Lead role in our Expert Advice Team, which I will be doing (as a pilot) for the next six months. My colleagues in our Expert Advice Team are equally modest and brilliant. I am excited, daunted and a tiny bit nervous about the role, but mainly thrilled at the opportunity to do more to support all our Experts and their work.
Thursday
- I love the opening lines of judgments, like the geek version of song lyrics. This new and potentially important Advocate General Opinion on discrimination, starts: “Έπεα πτερόεντα, words have wings. The meaning of that expression, the origins of which can be traced back to Homer (2) is twofold: that words fly away, carried by the wind; (3) but also that words travel fast and spread quickly. The present case, concerning statements made during a radio interview, comes closer to the second meaning. Today, words spoken on the radio or television or transmitted via social media are disseminated rapidly and have consequences.” Love that.
- The House of Commons Justice Committee published a new report on Court and Tribunals Reforms. It is required reading for anyone interested in access to justice, public legal education, unmet legal need and equality. And also required companion reading, this blog and report from the always excellent Dr Natalie Byrom on the crucial importance of properly evaluating the impact of projects on access to justice.
Saturday
- More thought provoking ideas from Dave Guarino on Twitter, pondering the possibilities for consumers and service users who could come together to combine their collective power, but with the added leverage of technology. For example, what could consumer-built chrome extensions do to give consumers more choice and information when making their own decisions about use of services?
- Feeling a lot of sympathy with this medieval scribe.
Lastly, a mention for the brilliant #weeknotes by two Citizens Advice colleagues: Ste Montgomery, and Dan Barrett (“THE WASHING UP”).
