All Law Gazette articles in Archive – Page 1164
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Law reform programme unveiled
The Lord Chancellor will be forced to update Parliament annually on plans to implement Law Commission recommendations, the commission’s chair said this week. Sir Terence Etherton told journalists the proposal was a sign of a closer working relationship between the commission and government. ...
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We want the logo
I was very interested to read the letter ‘No logo’ from Dermot Burke in last week’s Gazette (see [2008] Gazette, 5 June, 11). I agree that it is time for there to be a solicitors logo.
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Property search 'lottery'
The London Borough of Hillingdon has been dubbed the worst performing local authority for delivering property search services, according to a joint survey by search company One Search Direct and home information pack (HIP) provider Simply HIP. The research said the council took an average of ...
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Protection 'racket'
Solicitors are poised to take on a wave of new legal work following a Competition Commission (CC) report on payment protection insurance (PPI), which showed that policyholders appear to be overcharged by more than £1.4 billion a year. The provisional findings of the CC investigation, published ...
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Put diversity on the agenda, urge counsel
Leading black minority ethnic (BME) in-house counsel have called on aspiring company lawyers to use their positions to promote the diversity agenda. Sandie Okoro, group general counsel at Baring Asset Management, said: ‘You have an enormous amount of influence as an in-house counsel, so get diversity ...
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Anonymity fears
Criminal practitioners have urged the government to consult properly before ploughing ahead with emergency legislation to allow witness anonymity, which they fear could jeopardise fair trials. Ian Kelcey, chairman of the Law Society’s criminal law committee, said: ‘The home secretary should stop and think about the ...
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Titan prison plans under attack
The government’s plans to build its way out of prison overcrowding came under attack last week from the authors of a seven-year investigation into the criminal justice system.
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India pact 'years away'
A free-trade agreement between India and the EU – which should help open up the legal market to foreign firms – is still at least three years away, according to one of the EU negotiators. Sajjad Karim, a Conservative MEP on the international trade committee, also ...
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Breaking down the barriers
Here’s a thought: the law is to be fully exposed to the unfettered free market, yet the neo-liberal orthodoxy which has dominated government policy for three decades – and which gave birth to the Legal Services Act – is suddenly tainted. Does this matter?
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In-house beautiful
Almost a quarter of practitioners now work in-house, and very few of them appear to have any intention of returning to private practice. As the old days of aiming for partner and owning a stake in a law firm slowly pass away in favour of ...
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Lack of capacity and beneficiary liability
Baker v Baker [2008] WTLR 565 illustrates an increasing tendency for probate cases to involve a number of different claims. While terminally ill in hospital with liver disease, Mr Baker executed a will prepared by his brother, Richard. ...
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SRA eyes visits to big firms
Clifford Chance has undergone a trial Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) inspection as the regulator works out how best to inspect larger law firms. The City giant volunteered to be the SRA’s ‘guinea pig’ and five inspectors spent a week at the firm, learning how a practice ...
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Bond Pearce in Grand Prix win
South-west firm Bond Pearce advised Donington Park race track on the deal that will make it home to the British Grand Prix for ten years from 2010. The deal was struck between Donington’s owners and Bernie Ecclestone’s Formula One Management, which was advised in-house. Formula One’s ...
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Court calamities
I feel compelled to respond to Majid Shafiq’s ‘challenge’ to find ‘a bigger failure by a court to conduct business in an acceptable way’ (see [2008] Gazette, 26 June, 11). My recent experiences of various courts include: A telephone ...
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Call for more 'users of justice' on CJC
The Civil Justice Council should have more ‘users’ of justice and fewer lawyers among its members, an independent review has recommended. Jonathan Spencer’s review, published this week by the Ministry of Justice, says the concept of the council is sound, and commends its ‘essential mediating ...
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Councils launch court fee challenge
Four local authorities have joined forces to launch a judicial review against the government, claiming that new powers forcing councils to bear the full cost of child-care cases are unlawful, the Gazette can reveal. Hillingdon Borough Council in London, Leeds City Council, Liverpool City Council and ...
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Society wary over Charter Mark idea
The Law Society has reacted cautiously to the Legal Services Ombudsman’s idea of introducing a Charter Mark scheme for solicitors. Ombudsman Zahida Manzoor also warned that the Legal Complaints Service’s (LCS) current proposals to publish complaints records ‘could potentially lead to some solicitors paying compensation irrespective ...
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Employment law needs reality check
Whitehall is right to abandon the controversial Dispute Resolution Regulations. Ever since the ill-fated Dispute Resolution Regulations 2002 were first introduced, there has been a groundswell of opinion, led by the Employment Lawyers Association (ELA), to have them reversed.
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Sir Igor is new chief justice
Sir Igor Judge, the current President of the Queen’s Bench Division, has been named as the next Lord Chief Justice.
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Constitutional law
Governments – Implied promises – Legitimate expectation – Parliamentary privilege – Referendums R (on the application of Wheeler) (claimant) v (1) Office of the Prime Minister (2) Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (defendants) & Speaker of the House of Commons (interested party) ...