Our Adrian Hawley, Head of Court of Protection, recaps over events in the Court of Protection world from this Spring and Summer.
Adrian Hawley – Head of Court of Protection
It has been a busy few months for the Partners in Costs Court of Protection Team. We have been out and about at a number of seminars and conferences over the spring and summer and had the chance to hear from The Rt. Hon Sir James Mumby, the President of the Family Division and Senior Judge Lush during his retirement year.
Working in partnership is the Court of Protection world theme this Spring / Summer. The one thing that has come to the forefront is the way in which Clinical Negligence / PI lawyers should engage a Court of Protection Deputy upon receipt of instructions in serious and brain injury cases. The Deputies we get to work with hold a vast amount of knowledge that can ease the case through the pre-liability stage of a claim.
A Deputy is part of a Claimant lawyer’s partnership team. A Deputy can help manage relationships with the family, social workers, medical experts and charity organisations. As a case progresses the partnership team can be widened to include a case manager and rehabilitation team when a Claimant moves out of highly supported clinical care.
Court of Protection reporting and standards
In March we saw the introduction in costs budgeting for Court of Protection general management cases. The new OPG 105 form is to be submitted with the Deputy annual Report and gives the OPG a projected spend over the following 12 months. We have collaborated with a number of firms over the summer, providing budget information to compliment the completion of the OPG reporting forms. We are happy to report this system is working well and we hope to extend this service over the coming months.
In July we reached the 12-month point of the OPG publishing the Deputy Standards for professional deputies. The standards have been put in place to help a Deputy ensure the interests of the Protected Party are served at all times. It appears from the feedback we have received that the assurance visits and reviews are working well for our clients.
Partners in Costs Court of Protection Costs Clinic
We have been asked by a number of Deputies to undertake a review of their time recording and reporting procedures. This has then turned into discussions with a number of COP teams that have benefited from our experiences and knowledge of costs procedures. We have been pleased with the feedback and hope to take our costs clinic out on the road across England and Wales in the near future.