So did anybody go to one of the new Lower Tier Tribunals yesterday, and if so did you notice any difference?

Going to one tomorrow and if the chair is sitting there with a wig on and introduces himself as judge thingymabob then there will be words!

At Tribunal yesterday, the clerk advised that the "Judge" wished to be addressed as "Ma'am"...... (I was presenting for a LA).

My initial, unspoken, reaction was something along the lines of "...gawd, here we go....". However, in fairness, the Tribunal (er, Court?) was conducted constructively and, in my view, fairly. And that's before I know what the outcome is - postal decision on way.

There was an element of structure followed, but that tends to vary in any case from Tribunal to Tribunal. Personally, I wish Tribunals hearings were conducted with a bit more structure, but that's an aside....

Was wondering, in passing, if anyone was intending to produce a guide to the new setup, or if the excellent LASA appeals manual (2001) is to be updated?

Never mind about wigs, are they getting black caps?

Funny you should say that. At the hearing today, the chairs' names on the list were prefixed with “judge” and the chair when introducing the PO to my client said “she’s not here to prosecute you”. Freudian slip perhaps?