This post was originally featured on North of the Stupid Line. Right, we know there are not many Deaf lawyers in the UK. We know that there are even fewer Deaf lawyers undertaking advocacy in tribunals and court. I’m one of them. As an employment solicitor, I undertake advocacy in the Employment Tribunal on a [...]
The Appeals Service is crap. Without revealing any names, I went to a tribunal today with a client who was refused Disability Living Allowance (DLA) at the middle rate of the care component and the lower rate of the mobility component. Now, ordinarily we do not represent clients at tribunal, simply because we don’t have [...]
In October 2004, the Employment Tribunal has produced a Guidance for tribunal users who are deaf or hard of hearing. The Guidance can also be downloaded from Employment Tribunals Online website, spefically here. Firstly, the title of the document implies that the interpreter is there for Deaf people only, and does not acknowledge the two [...]
Last week, I received the following: We have been asked by the Employment Tribunal to investigate the possibilities of you providing a non-professional sign interpreter, for example a friend, family member or colleague to attend the hearing. This is to reduce the cost to the Employment Tribunal Services of hiring professional interpreters. Non-professional interpreters may [...]