June 2007 - "Douglas Silas Solicitors Celebrates Its Second Anniversary!"
Douglas Silas Solicitors recently celebrated our second anniversary having opened on 3 May 2005. You may already know that in our first year we successfully won or settled 25 out of 31 cases for our clients (plus part-winning two more where we obtained more for the client but not everything that they wanted).
I am delighted to announce that in our second year we resolved a further 27 cases from which we successfully won or settled 23! In fact, 2 of the 4 that we lost went on appeal to the High Court (and we have successfully recently settled one of these). What is more, currently, not even two months into our third year, we have already successfully won or settled 5 out of 5 cases, 4 of which have been SENDIST appeals.
TYPES OF CASES
We have noticed over these couple of years that 60-70% of our cases involve SEN appeals to the SENDIST (including an occasional DDA claim), 10-15% are Judicial Reviews, around 10% are Statutory Appeals to the High Court against SENDIST decisions. The rest usually involve SEN issues but do not require formal procedures and we have also been involved in other cases concerning DDA Post 16, Exclusion (Independent Appeal Panel) hearings, Education Negligence, etc.
In addition, we have also conducted a number of cases which we have not included in these statistics where we have provided initial or ongoing legal advice to individuals (mainly parents), schools or organisations. Some cases have also had to conclude because we have had to advise negatively or because legal aid funding was withdrawn.
85% SUCCESS RATE BUT TIME TO STOP KEEPING COUNT!
Our track record is therefore around the 85% success rate from 63 ‘resolved’ cases. I hope that you will not mind me pointing out also that as I had won or successfully settled the last 45 of my 50 cases at my previous firm before moving into sole practice, I have calculated that I/we have been able to now win or successfully settle nearly 100 cases for clients in the past 3½ years!
I am extremely proud of what we have achieved in such a short time. However, I have also now decided that it is probably time to stop publicly ‘keeping score’ just in case people start putting more weight on our success rates rather than instructing us because of the experience, care and attention that we provide. We pride ourselves on dealing with the more difficult or complicated cases and inevitably we are not going to be able to succeed in them all, try as we might. In fact, I have found myself telling people lately that it is probably better for me to tell people that I also ‘lose’ 15% of my cases!
As we say on our website:
“Whilst we cannot guarantee success on every occasion, we will also not make claims that we cannot keep. At all times we will ensure that our clients receive the best legal advice and service that we can provide and they can be assured that we will have done our best on their behalf.”
Our website also includes a large number of testimonies (of which I am even more proud) from previous clients which praise the way in which we have dealt with their case. It can be found under 'What People Say'. It includes one of my most treasured statements which was first said by a client just before their final hearing but which has since been echoed by a number of others:
“Whether we win or lose, we know we had the best legal representation."
OUR WEBSITE
Our website is now receiving around 4,500 to 5,500 unique visitors a month and we continue to get a steady stream of unsolicited emails from members of the public thanking us for providing so much useful information on it (which you can also find under 'What People Say'.)
People seem to like particularly the new features such as the Education News Online service, the free 7-day email course on How to Conduct a SENDIST Appeal, the easy to use List of LEAs/List of Special Schools and of course the old favourites such as our FREE Factsheets, information about Types of SEN/Disability and the ability to Request An E-Brochure. People also seem to enjoy the fact that the site is speech-enabled and that they can Download Pages as MP3 Files.
I am always looking to update the website and recently have reviewed it and added pages on more Types of SEN/Disability. You can even now read (or listen to) my previous E-mail Updates like this one.
SEN & DISABILITY FORUM
I am planning some further additions to the website before the end of the year including a new section called “The SEN & Disability Forum.” This will be a forum which is open to the public. It will provide, primarily, an opportunity for parents of children with SEN/disabilities but also can be used by other lay or professional people, to communicate with each other in order to discuss any SEN or disability issues; help and advise; provide a place to post relevant information; or just have somewhere where they can share their own experiences.
As I’m sure that you already know, I am a great believer in trying to help people to help themselves and have found that often what most people need is access to information or to just know that there are other people out there like them who have gone through similar situations and who may be willing to share their experiences. I will be taking a very ‘back seat’ approach to the forum as I believe that for it to be successful it will need ‘real’ people’s contributions in order to make it practical and useful to them and others.
If you wish to be one of the first people to access it then please let me know by registering on the SEN & Disability Forum page and I will make sure that as soon as it is up and running you will be one of the first to be able to access it.
SAD NEWS
Sadly however, these past few months have also been very difficult for me both personally and professionally.
Firstly, tragically, I lost my father, Dr Aaron Silas, on 1 March 2007, after a short illness. This obviously has had a major impact on both me and my family but I have been very comforted by the number of letters, cards, emails and messages that I have received during these past couple of months from so many people.
It may be of interest for you to know that my father, who passed away aged 71, was a newly qualified doctor when he and my mother came to this country almost 50 years ago, with practically nothing. Over the years he successfully built up a specialism as a Consultant in Rheumatology and Rehabilitation and, together with my mother, raised my older brother and I, and delighted in his six grandchildren.
It was my father’s wish that I should always, like him, use the capabilities that I have been blessed with to help those vulnerable members of our society who are less fortunate than me or who have not had the same opportunities as I have been given. I know he was deeply proud of the legal path that I had chosen - representing children with special educational needs and disabilities.
LEGAL AID
And soon after the loss of my father, I also found myself being placed in a very difficult position professionally as I felt I had no choice but to refuse to renew my specialist Education Contract with the Legal Services Commission, which effectively means that I am now no longer able to conduct legally aided work.
I have put a personal statement on my website ('Why We May No Longer Be Able To Accept Legal Aid Cases') explaining my reasons for choosing not to sign and I am grateful for the feedback from so many people who have told me that they fully understand my reasons and realise that I have had no choice because of the even further reduced rates of pay; the continuing high level of administration and bureaucracy; and the long delays which I have had in receiving payment from the LSC; which means that I can no longer practically, effectively, or financially afford to continue doing this work.
This decision has greatly saddened me as I have always prided myself on the fact that I have provided advice and representation through legal aid to people who could not afford it otherwise. That being said I am continually looking at other ways in which I may still be able to help people who cannot afford legal advice.
FUTURE PROJECTS
I still have a number of other projects that I hope to be working on during the near future and which I hope to write to you about in my next update. Everyday I see the importance of the work that I am doing and how it has the ability to make a significant difference to the lives of so many people facing problems concerning Education, Disability or Public Law issues. I hope that I will be able to continue to assist many others during the forthcoming year, which I am sure is what my father would have wanted for me to do.
With my very best personal wishes to you.
Douglas
P.S. I always find it helpful to learn more about what people think about these updates so please take a minute to tell me what you think by clicking on ‘June 2007 Update – Your Thoughts’. Many thanks in advance if you get the chance to do this.
I am delighted to announce that in our second year we resolved a further 27 cases from which we successfully won or settled 23! In fact, 2 of the 4 that we lost went on appeal to the High Court (and we have successfully recently settled one of these). What is more, currently, not even two months into our third year, we have already successfully won or settled 5 out of 5 cases, 4 of which have been SENDIST appeals.
TYPES OF CASES
We have noticed over these couple of years that 60-70% of our cases involve SEN appeals to the SENDIST (including an occasional DDA claim), 10-15% are Judicial Reviews, around 10% are Statutory Appeals to the High Court against SENDIST decisions. The rest usually involve SEN issues but do not require formal procedures and we have also been involved in other cases concerning DDA Post 16, Exclusion (Independent Appeal Panel) hearings, Education Negligence, etc.
In addition, we have also conducted a number of cases which we have not included in these statistics where we have provided initial or ongoing legal advice to individuals (mainly parents), schools or organisations. Some cases have also had to conclude because we have had to advise negatively or because legal aid funding was withdrawn.
85% SUCCESS RATE BUT TIME TO STOP KEEPING COUNT!
Our track record is therefore around the 85% success rate from 63 ‘resolved’ cases. I hope that you will not mind me pointing out also that as I had won or successfully settled the last 45 of my 50 cases at my previous firm before moving into sole practice, I have calculated that I/we have been able to now win or successfully settle nearly 100 cases for clients in the past 3½ years!
I am extremely proud of what we have achieved in such a short time. However, I have also now decided that it is probably time to stop publicly ‘keeping score’ just in case people start putting more weight on our success rates rather than instructing us because of the experience, care and attention that we provide. We pride ourselves on dealing with the more difficult or complicated cases and inevitably we are not going to be able to succeed in them all, try as we might. In fact, I have found myself telling people lately that it is probably better for me to tell people that I also ‘lose’ 15% of my cases!
As we say on our website:
“Whilst we cannot guarantee success on every occasion, we will also not make claims that we cannot keep. At all times we will ensure that our clients receive the best legal advice and service that we can provide and they can be assured that we will have done our best on their behalf.”
Our website also includes a large number of testimonies (of which I am even more proud) from previous clients which praise the way in which we have dealt with their case. It can be found under 'What People Say'. It includes one of my most treasured statements which was first said by a client just before their final hearing but which has since been echoed by a number of others:
“Whether we win or lose, we know we had the best legal representation."
OUR WEBSITE
Our website is now receiving around 4,500 to 5,500 unique visitors a month and we continue to get a steady stream of unsolicited emails from members of the public thanking us for providing so much useful information on it (which you can also find under 'What People Say'.)
People seem to like particularly the new features such as the Education News Online service, the free 7-day email course on How to Conduct a SENDIST Appeal, the easy to use List of LEAs/List of Special Schools and of course the old favourites such as our FREE Factsheets, information about Types of SEN/Disability and the ability to Request An E-Brochure. People also seem to enjoy the fact that the site is speech-enabled and that they can Download Pages as MP3 Files.
I am always looking to update the website and recently have reviewed it and added pages on more Types of SEN/Disability. You can even now read (or listen to) my previous E-mail Updates like this one.
SEN & DISABILITY FORUM
I am planning some further additions to the website before the end of the year including a new section called “The SEN & Disability Forum.” This will be a forum which is open to the public. It will provide, primarily, an opportunity for parents of children with SEN/disabilities but also can be used by other lay or professional people, to communicate with each other in order to discuss any SEN or disability issues; help and advise; provide a place to post relevant information; or just have somewhere where they can share their own experiences.
As I’m sure that you already know, I am a great believer in trying to help people to help themselves and have found that often what most people need is access to information or to just know that there are other people out there like them who have gone through similar situations and who may be willing to share their experiences. I will be taking a very ‘back seat’ approach to the forum as I believe that for it to be successful it will need ‘real’ people’s contributions in order to make it practical and useful to them and others.
If you wish to be one of the first people to access it then please let me know by registering on the SEN & Disability Forum page and I will make sure that as soon as it is up and running you will be one of the first to be able to access it.
SAD NEWS
Sadly however, these past few months have also been very difficult for me both personally and professionally.
Firstly, tragically, I lost my father, Dr Aaron Silas, on 1 March 2007, after a short illness. This obviously has had a major impact on both me and my family but I have been very comforted by the number of letters, cards, emails and messages that I have received during these past couple of months from so many people.
It may be of interest for you to know that my father, who passed away aged 71, was a newly qualified doctor when he and my mother came to this country almost 50 years ago, with practically nothing. Over the years he successfully built up a specialism as a Consultant in Rheumatology and Rehabilitation and, together with my mother, raised my older brother and I, and delighted in his six grandchildren.
It was my father’s wish that I should always, like him, use the capabilities that I have been blessed with to help those vulnerable members of our society who are less fortunate than me or who have not had the same opportunities as I have been given. I know he was deeply proud of the legal path that I had chosen - representing children with special educational needs and disabilities.
LEGAL AID
And soon after the loss of my father, I also found myself being placed in a very difficult position professionally as I felt I had no choice but to refuse to renew my specialist Education Contract with the Legal Services Commission, which effectively means that I am now no longer able to conduct legally aided work.
I have put a personal statement on my website ('Why We May No Longer Be Able To Accept Legal Aid Cases') explaining my reasons for choosing not to sign and I am grateful for the feedback from so many people who have told me that they fully understand my reasons and realise that I have had no choice because of the even further reduced rates of pay; the continuing high level of administration and bureaucracy; and the long delays which I have had in receiving payment from the LSC; which means that I can no longer practically, effectively, or financially afford to continue doing this work.
This decision has greatly saddened me as I have always prided myself on the fact that I have provided advice and representation through legal aid to people who could not afford it otherwise. That being said I am continually looking at other ways in which I may still be able to help people who cannot afford legal advice.
FUTURE PROJECTS
I still have a number of other projects that I hope to be working on during the near future and which I hope to write to you about in my next update. Everyday I see the importance of the work that I am doing and how it has the ability to make a significant difference to the lives of so many people facing problems concerning Education, Disability or Public Law issues. I hope that I will be able to continue to assist many others during the forthcoming year, which I am sure is what my father would have wanted for me to do.
With my very best personal wishes to you.
Douglas
P.S. I always find it helpful to learn more about what people think about these updates so please take a minute to tell me what you think by clicking on ‘June 2007 Update – Your Thoughts’. Many thanks in advance if you get the chance to do this.
