25 Adelaide Street Belfast BT2 8FH. T F E

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "25 Adelaide Street Belfast BT2 8FH. T F E"

Alban Henry
6 years ago
Views:

1 25 Adelaide Street Belfast BT2 8FH T F E dls@csa.n-i.nhs.uk

2 progressing together

3 DLS aims to provide a high quality, cost effective legal service exclusively for clients in the HSC throughout

4 who are we? The Directorate of Legal Services (DLS) is the principal provider of legal services for the Health and Personal Social Services Sector (HPSS) in Northern Ireland, with clients consisting of Boards, Trusts, Agencies and Councils.

5 what do we DLS provides a high quality, cost effective legal service exclus The Directorate of Legal Services: is a modern, progressive legal practice has provided legal services to the HPSS for over 30 years is a non-profit making practice has 27 Solicitors specialising in particular areas of law has 60 administration staff supporting the Solicitors is the largest Clinical Negligence practice in Northern Ireland is the largest Family Law practice in Northern Ireland offers a highly competitive hourly rate

6 we believe in a simple strategy: specialists should do specialist work. do? ively for clients in the HPSS throughout Northern Ireland. Alphy Maginness, Director, DLS The main areas of law provided by DLS include: Family Law Clinical Negligence General Litigation Employment Law Conveyancing General Advice Additionally DLS provides legal advice and representation on issues relating to Inquests, Debt Recovery, Judicial Review, Mental Health and Learning Disability, Registration of Homes, Primary Care Services and the Law of Contract.

7 quality throug DLS is a modern, progressive legal practice. DLS achives its aim through a structured programme of improvement. As part of this the Directorate s systems and procedures have been independently assessed, and DLS has achieved accreditation to the following quality awards: Lexcel (from the Law Society of NI) ISO Investor in People To maintain a customer-focused service DLS continues to involve clients in the development of services. An integral part of this is the quality questionnaire, issued to DLS clients, which shows an extremely high level of satisfaction with our service. ISO 9001 UKAS QUALITY MANAGEMENT 005

1 2 3 4 5 h teamwork Alphy Maginness Wendy Beggs June Turkington Kathryn

Senior Management Team is to co-ordinate and manage the various functions

The Team comprises; Alphy Maginness Wendy Beggs June Turkington Kathryn

Assistant Director, head of the Clinical Negligence Section.

Conveyancing Sections. Assistant Director, head of the Family Law Section.

8 h teamwork Alphy Maginness Wendy Beggs June Turkington Kathryn Minnis Owen Nicholson Legal Senior Management Team The role of the Legal Senior Management Team is to co-ordinate and manage the various functions of the Directorate ensuring the delivery of a quality service to clients. The Team comprises; Alphy Maginness Wendy Beggs June Turkington Kathryn Minnis Owen Nicholson Director, who is also the Solicitor on record. Assistant Director, head of the Clinical Negligence Section. Assistant Director, head of the Employment Law, General Litigation and Conveyancing Sections. Assistant Director, head of the Family Law Section. Business Manager, in charge of the Senior Administration Team, and DLS Finance Functions.

Assisting Social Services in the protection of the vulnerable.

Avril Frizell Claudine Quinn John Donaldson Emma O Neill Legal Services are provided through four main

Services before the Family Courts throughout Northern Ireland, primarily handling cases under The Children

Adoption is another major part of the team s work, offering legal advice to Adoption Panels and

The establishment of the DLS Adoption Liaison Group has proved hugely successful and is a means whereby the

DLS Solicitors sit on all three Business Court Committees.

Family Law Solicitors assist Social Services clients with care planning and development of child care

9 Assisting Social Services in the protection of the vulnerable. Kathyn Minnis, Assistant Director, DLS specialist Brian Greenaway Jonathan Taylor Terry Brady Avril Frizell Claudine Quinn John Donaldson Emma O Neill Legal Services are provided through four main sections Family Law The eight specialist Solicitors working in the Family Law Team represent Social Services before the Family Courts throughout Northern Ireland, primarily handling cases under The Children (NI) Order Adoption is another major part of the team s work, offering legal advice to Adoption Panels and representation before the higher courts. The establishment of the DLS Adoption Liaison Group has proved hugely successful and is a means whereby the Social Work and legal professions can meet to discuss developments in law and practice. DLS Solicitors sit on all three Business Court Committees. Wendy Beggs (Assistant Director) is a member of the Children Order Advisory Committee. Family Law Solicitors assist Social Services clients with care planning and development of child care practice including guidance on policies and procedures, particularly since the implementation of the Human Rights Act Advices are also given on issues relating to vulnerable adults, the elderly, and a wide range of issues relating to mental health and learning disability, including attendance at Mental Health Review Tribunals and representation on the current Review of Mental Health and Learning Disability (NI).

Working in partnership with health Professionals.

Finnegan Ann Cassidy Angela Maguire Martina Gillen Maeve Holland Jonathan Good Clinical

The team handles cases of great complexity and importance and cases of very significant value.

Our Solicitors are also experienced negotiators and where liability is clearly against our

monetary and manpower terms. We retain only experienced Counsel and Experts.

We are at the forefront in providing clinical negligence training to Health Service staff

10 Working in partnership with health Professionals. Wendy Beggs, Assistant Director, DLS knowledge 5 6 Marie-Claire Carey 7 Eileen Finnegan Ann Cassidy Angela Maguire Martina Gillen Maeve Holland Jonathan Good Clinical Negligence A team of specialist Solicitors work within the field of clinical negligence. The team handles cases of great complexity and importance and cases of very significant value. We regularly and successfully contest cases provincewide. Our Solicitors are also experienced negotiators and where liability is clearly against our client we encourage early settlement, thus achieving considerable savings for our client in monetary and manpower terms. We retain only experienced Counsel and Experts. The Solicitors regularly advise and represent DLS clients at inquest hearings. We are at the forefront in providing clinical negligence training to Health Service staff province wide and have received very positive feedback from all clients in relation to the standard of this service. As we are professionals acting in the defence of professionals we demand the highest standards of ourselves.

Legal expertise exclusive to Health & Social Care.

McClean Anthony Gilmore Christine McClelland Employment Law Solicitors working in the busy and expanding area

adopted and issues such as Human Rights are taken into account.

General Litigation Solicitors working in the area of general litigation adopt a pro-active approach to

They achieve excellent results for our clients and assist clients with risk assessment and risk management.

11 Legal expertise exclusive to Health & Social Care. June Turkington, Assistant Director, DLS workin Carol McClean Clare Tiffney Kieran Harkin Audrey McClean Anthony Gilmore Christine McClelland Employment Law Solicitors working in the busy and expanding area of Employment Law cover all aspects of this developing area; particularly unfair dismissal, discrimination, and disciplinary procedures. Legal advice is given on Human Resources policies that have an impact on staff to ensure fair procedures are adopted and issues such as Human Rights are taken into account. Carol McClean sits on the Committee of the Northern Ireland Employment Lawyers Group. General Litigation Solicitors working in the area of general litigation adopt a pro-active approach to managing employers and public liability cases. They achieve excellent results for our clients and assist clients with risk assessment and risk management. This is an area which requires excellent negotiating skills and our solicitors have many years of negotiating experience and specialist knowledge of the relevant law. We retain only experienced Counsel and Experts. Our Solicitors are also in demand in this area to provide lectures, seminars and workshops on a wide range of litigation issues and we tailor training packages to our clients requirements.

1 2 3 Deborah Malcolm Claire Quinn Michaela Murray g for... you!

DLS actively pursues debt on behalf of our clients and we have recovered over 1 million of debt over the last five years; money which can be put back into health and social care.

12 1 2 3 Deborah Malcolm Claire Quinn Michaela Murray g for... you! Conveyancing & Debt Recovery Following Departmental direction DLS is now responsible for all conveyancing for HPSS bodies and specialist Conveyancers have now joined our team, together with appropriate administrative support. They deal with all aspects of land transactions, including contracts for sale or purchase, leases, licences, and any legal proceedings resulting from contractual disputes. DLS actively pursues debt on behalf of our clients and we have recovered over 1 million of debt over the last five years; money which can be put back into health and social care. Training DLS provides extensive training for clients in all areas of law relevant to our clients needs. This includes issues such as the Human Rights Act 1998, the Data Protection Act 1998, and other significant pieces of legislation. This training is designed to enable clients to take preventative measures, to advise them of their rights and obligations and to assist them in ensuring their practice complies with legal requirements. Further details of training are available on our website. Newsheet DLS publishes a Newsheet twice a year for the benefit of clients, bringing to their attention current issues in the law which may impact on their services. Written by Solicitors within DLS with contributions from counsel, it has proved very popular with clients.

13 dedicated leg The application of innovative technology enhances the quality of our legal service. Owen Nicholson, Business Manager, DLS Conferences DLS regularly hosts major conferences for the benefit of clients on topical issues which have a direct impact on client service delivery. Conferences have included a most successful conference on Adoption and the Legal Process to assist Social Services and other professionals involved in this complex area of law. Previous conferences included Human Rights and an important conference on Mediation at which Lord Woolf, Lord Chief of Justice of England and Wales was keynote speaker. ICT Changing and developing ICT in line with client needs is an important function within the Directorate. Recent developments in file management, financial management, time recording and digital processing of records have assisted in improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the service delivered to clients. The Directorate s website can be accessed at

The Senior Administration Team al support Senior

Directorate are managed through the Senior Administrative

takes a lead role in ensuring that services are developed

procedures are in place and that there is a structured

Out of Hours Service A full out of hours service is

This service is specifically designed for emergency

14 The Senior Administration Team al support Senior Administration Team The administrative functions of the Directorate are managed through the Senior Administrative Team. This team, which reports to the Business Manager, takes a lead role in ensuring that services are developed in line with client needs, that proper systems and procedures are in place and that there is a structured programme of training and development for staff. Out of Hours Service A full out of hours service is available for clients. This service is specifically designed for emergency situations where clients need immediate access to legal advice. The Out of Hours telephone number is David Hamill 7 Principal Legal Assistant Senior Legal Assistants Claire Corr Gary Sharratt Marie Lawlor Roisin O Hare Siobhan Cairns Lorna Walker

15 Director Alphy Maginness Assistant Directors Wendy Beggs June Turkington Kathryn Minnis Solicitors Terry Brady Marie-Claire Carey Ann Cassidy John Donaldson Eileen Finnegan Avril Frizell Martina Gillen Anthony Gilmore Jonathan Good Brian Greenaway Kieran Harkin Maeve Holland Angela Maguire Deborah Malcolm Audrey McClean Carol McClean Christine McClelland Michaela Murray Emma O Neill Claire Quinn Claudine Quinn Jonathan Taylor Claire Tiffney ISO 9001 UKAS QUALITY MANAGEMENT 005

16 DLS aims to provide a high quality, cost effective legal service exclusively for clients in the HSC throughout

Western Equality and Human Rights Forum

Western Equality and Human Rights Forum Terms of Reference Section 1 Context Background The Western Equality and Human Rights Forum (WEHRF) was set up in 2002, in response to the introduction of new Equality