The main aim of training is to raise the standard amongst members, by providing the requisite skill, knowledge, and tools, which are crucial for practitioners acting for people who have been abused.
An approved training course will be a pre-requisite for anyone who wants to be considered for membership of the quality assurance Panel for abuse solicitors. The panel works in a similar way to the Personal Injury Panel and the Medical Negligence panels. We have been approved for C.P.D. points.
We provide training courses in several areas, all of which will carry C.P.D. points. We now also offer, particularly to new members in-house Training Videos – see below
External Courses
You can find out what external training courses that are currently organised in our Events section. If you want to book places on any of the courses then email us or contact the organiser.
Training is open to all persons, whether they are members of ACAL or not.
Internal Video Training
Training is included in the Membership or Panel Membership fees and is free of charge. Because membership is personal to the individual, any non-member within a firm has to pay a fee of £25 per month for access to our range of In-house You Tube streamed Training Videos. If you are a member, you can access our free training videos here. If you are a non-member, you will be given a temporary membership and bespoke URL to access the training videos.
The Videos below are aimed at providing an all-round grounding on the principles of Civil Child Abuse Cases, presented by experienced practitioners.
They cover the following subject areas:-
- Limitation
- Failure to Care Cases
- Vicarious Liability
- Causes of Action
- Group Actions
- Statement Taking
- Damages (currently in production)
- CICA (currently in production:
Panel Requirements
To join the Panel, one must demonstrate a commitment to excellence in client care and expertise in the area of child abuse compensation claims. Training courses attended in the past, viewing of in-house training videos, as well as recent and relevant case experience will be taken into consideration as part of the application process.
- In a change to the rules governing the membership of the Panel, at our AGM on 13th October 2008 it was resolved that the requirement to attend specific training courses run by ACAL will be dropped in favour of a re-accreditation procedure every 5 years. To apply for membership of the specialist Panel, practitioners will need to complete an application form and pay the relevant administration fee (currently £500.00 per annum). Once accepted onto the panel, panel membership will last for 5 years (as long as the annual administration fee is paid every year). After the 5th year, should the practitioner wish to maintain their membership of the panel, a re-accreditation application must be submitted, with the relevant annual fee. Practical experience as well as regular training completed will be taken into account. This is to ensure that ACAL maintains its commitment to the public that practitioners on the panel have current and relevant experience in the area of child abuse compensation claims. The scheme is therefore broadly similar to the operation of the Law Society’s Personal Injury Panel re-accreditation scheme, of which many practitioners will be aware. These new rules governing the operation of the panel will commence from 1st March 2009. A simplified procedure for renewing one’s panel membership within the 5 year period will be in operation in tandem with the new re-accreditation scheme.
- For some years now, we have organised an annual Child Abuse Conference in partnership with APIL. All members are expected to keep up to date with practise and procedure on the subject. Panel members, however, in order to maintain their panel status, will be expected to attend the Conference if possible. If not possible, they will be expected to attend alternative training on the subject, and in particular the APIL Special Interest Group meetings. For further details see our Events page or the APIL website. The watching of our in-house Training Videos will also be taken into account.
- Membership of the Panel will enable the successful applicant to be referred to potential clients who contact ACAL. One of ACAL’s roles is to ‘signpost’ legal services for members of the public and the details in the application form may be provided to callers to the ACAL office to allow them to make an informed choice as to which lawyer to contact and instruct. ACAL may also publish and distribute the information gathered for the establishment of the Panel in order to raise awareness of the scheme among members of the public.