Whilst this blog is normally dedicated to developments in and commentary on the world of Immigration Law, I hope you won't mind indulging me with a rather more self-reflective blog for the EIN.
My name is Jonathan Bridge and, last week, I started work as the new Director of EIN. The task is both daunting and, in some ways, incredibly easy. It's easy because nothing is broken; you already know that our website is well-managed, efficiently updated and has a blazingly fast and accurate search function. If you've spent the morning logging in and re-logging in to "certain other" legal databases, you'll know that this is a far from trivial achievement, especially for a small, charitable organisation.
That, too, is what makes the task daunting. How do you prepare a strategy for growth and change without breaking what already works?
First of all, I'd like to use this post to make sure that you, our subscribers, are making the most of all that this site offers.
But I'm being rude; we haven't been introduced, so here is a brief introduction: I qualified in 2007, having been involved, peripherally with the law since clerking for the Deputy Chairman of Immigration Appeals back in the days of Thanet House (for those of you with long memories). I helped set up what was then the International Association of Refugee Law Judges and edited "Migrants and the Courts", a tome with rather fewer sales than Ms. Rowling enjoys but which was, nonetheless, well-received. I have worked in the commercial sector and for The Tribunal Service but Immigration Law kept calling me back and here I am.
My brief tenure has already confirmed my suspicions that all is working well but, also, highlighted areas that may be a little underused in our offering. Here are a couple:
Not all subscribers are taking advantage of our newsletter offerings. I do have a great deal of sympathy with the automatic instinct to untick all the communication options on a website - all the things that you thought would interest you pile up unread in your inbox, often competing with time sensitive work emails. Please, though, do take a look at the Newsletters link - it's right at the top of your page after you log in, next to Account and Bundles - you can choose any or all of the three options and, as you'll see, they are of real value to anyone practicing even peripherally in our area. Should you take the wise decision to receive any of them, you will be glad to access the very latest cases whilst those "other" legal resources are still in the process of uploading the same cases - sometimes days later than us (assuming that they are currently letting you log in...).
While you're looking at links at the top of your page, please do investigate the bundles function; if you are unaware of this excellent time saver, I urge you to look here https://www.ein.org.uk/help/beginners-bundle-guide and avail yourself of this free resource. Even if you are not instructing or in any way involved with court hearings, I'm sure you know people who are and I urge you to send them the link.
Those are just two features of the site which may have passed you by. As time moves on I will be highlighting others, although I probably won't take any more valuable space in this blog.
There is just one thing I would ask of our subscribers, whether you are long term users or relatively new to the site, please, please do contact me at director@ein.org.uk with any ideas you have for improving our offering, anything that frustrates you about the site or even just to say hello!
I look forward to working with you all and, perhaps, even meeting some of you again.
Thank you for reading!
Jonathan.
director@ein.org.uk