Firms see boom in high-value litigation

Tuesday, 07 September 2010 A quarter of litigation disputes involve claims of more than £3m, and legal costs exceed £500,000 in 10% of cases, a survey of the heads of litigation at the UK’s top 200 law firms has revealed. The research, commissioned by Harbour Litigation Funding, showed that commercial contract disputes formed 44% of firms’ litigation workload, follo... More news...
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In Practice

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Changes to the law of homicide

Thursday, 02 September 2010 In relation to acts or omissions on or after 4 October 2010, critical changes to the law of homicide are made by the Coroners and Justice Act 2009. The issues are dealt with in part 2 chapter 1. The first set of changes deals with diminished responsibility. Section 2 of the Homicide Act 1957 is amended in relation to this defence, reducing murde... More In Practice...

In Business

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Ten tips on how best to survive in the managing partner hot seat

Thursday, 19 August 2010 I became managing partner of Birkett Long Solicitors on 1 June 2002, and handed over to my successor, Adrian Livesley, on 31 March 2010. During my time in the role, I saw many changes, both internal and external, laughed a lot, saw more than a few tears (mine and other people’s), and had the privilege of undertaking a most satisfying job. The... More In Business...

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Barristers offer ‘lifeline’ to criminal solicitors

Monday, 06 September 2010 Barristers’ chambers could provide a ‘lifeline’ to small criminal law firms, Bar Council chairman Nick Green QC has told the ...

LSC extends family contracts

Monday, 06 September 2010 The Legal Services Commission has agreed to extend the family legal aid contracts for a month, as the Law Society won an application for an ...

Adam Sampson is the first to acknowledge that his new job as legal ombudsman is potentially a poisoned chalice. One of the main catalysts of the Legal Services Act (LSA), which brought his organisation into being, was (as he puts it) ‘the woeful record on complaints-handling [of] the Legal Complaints Service and predecessor bodies’. The former chief executive of homeless charity Shelter goes still further, using the word ‘scandal’ to describe the profession’s past inability to get its house in order.