All Law Gazette articles in Archive – Page 1180
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For richer, for poorer...
Adding back – but when and how? Christopher Tromans reviews the court’s powers when family assets have been dissipated. If a party to a marriage squanders part of the family assets before the final hearing of an ancillary relief application, what can the court do to ...
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A question of priorities
Government plans to slash the courts service budget will have a damaging effect on the public’s access to justice. Black holes in space are a scientific fact, but black holes in public sector budgets are often a matter of dispute. This is the case with the ...
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Seeing red
‘A criminal crime simply does not make sense!’ shouted an exasperated Russian interpreter in front of stunned delegates, before slamming the door shut on his sound booth. Following an already fiery exchange regarding the recent conflict in Georgia, the Russia & Rule of Law seminar at the Bar Council’s Holborn ...
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Water warriors
It was no baptism of fire for trainee solicitor Ashley King. It was more a dunking in freezing, peat-stained water. The trainee at 11-partner Black Country commercial law firm George Green was part of a four-man team competing in the Lakes Challenge – a gruelling seven hours of mountain biking, ...
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Adding less insult to injury
The ‘blame game’ over fees must not detract from the critical issue of clinical safety within the NHS. The Gazette recently featured the headline ‘lawyers blamed for negligence fees rise’ (see [2008] Gazette, 18 September, 2). I have serious concerns that the blame game over fees ...
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New Labour's legal aid folly
You ‘fat-cat’ solicitors are in reality doing more for less. Did you know that selling a grey squirrel is now against the law? There is gallows (sic) humour in the fact that New Labour has created 3,600 new criminal offences since it came to power ...
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Anger at ‘propaganda’ of MoJ family courts report
Activists have dismissed a Ministry of Justice (MoJ) commissioned survey into family courts’ handling of contact orders as ‘propaganda’. The survey of 11 courts, by Oxford University’s Centre for Family Law and Policy, found that the perception that courts awarded non-resident parents little or no contact ...
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Battle won
Five retired Gurkhas and a serviceman’s widow have successfully challenged an immigration policy preventing Gurkhas who retired before 1997 from settling in the UK. Tuesday’s judgment by Mr Justice Blake at the High Court alluded to the Military Covenant, an agreement between servicemen and the nation to honour debts of ...
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Killer bill
For general counsel, the hours spent poring over legal bills is probably not the highlight of the job. But, every now and again, a rare gem may be uncovered – something that cracks a smile or even draws a snigger. At the C5 forum on reducing ...
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Bitter will to swallow
Readers may be aware of a new business model being launched where the legal profession is encouraged to ‘sign up’ to check online computer-generated wills for free. For more complex wills, the lawyer is able to charge for the service – but at no point would the lawyer meet the ...
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Ghana’s black gold to lure lawyers
Oil and gas-rich Ghana could provide a wealth of opportunities for legal experts as it upgrades its legal and physical infrastructure, according to members of a lawyers’ trade mission. The mission, led by the Law Society’s International Division, met Ghanaian lawyers, government and industry figures ...
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Typing blunders
Steamy goings-on in the Cotswolds. Richard Davies, of Kendall and Davies in Bourton-on-the-Water, continues our series on legal typing errors with the all-time classic ‘sex party application’. He recently received a letter on a matrimonial matter from solicitors acting for his client's husband – referring to his ‘Stella contribution’. ...
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In-house lawyers ‘bullied’ by firms
Corporate counsel are being bullied into retaining panels of law firms despite conflicts of interest, a conference heard last week. Counsel at the C5 Reducing Legal Costs event reported taking the decision to drop law firms from their panel because those firms were simultaneously advising competitors – but some said ...
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Diversity charter threat
The Society of Asian Lawyers (SAL) has threatened to withdraw its support for the Law Society’s diversity charter, amid fears it will be watered down. The scheme, initiated by SAL and supported by BT, is modelled on a project in the US. It aims to ...
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LSB chief pledges separation of powers with the Society
Ensuring robust separation between the Law Society and Solicitors Regulation Authority will be a priority of the Legal Services Board, its chairman has promised. In a speech at the Law Society last week, David Edmonds highlighted the weight he places on the proper independence both of ...
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Firms shut as cover crisis deepens
High street firms are being forced to close because they cannot afford to pay vastly increased professional indemnity insurance (PII) premiums, while hundreds more are destined to end up in the assigned risks pool (ARP), the Gazette has learned.
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CPA plans huge India expansion
CPA Global, the legal process outsourcing (LPO) provider, is to expand its 450-strong team of lawyers in India nearly eight-fold, in response to growing demand from Europe and the US. The company expects to employ 3,500 lawyers in India by 2011, the Gazette has learned. The ...
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The international dimension
Globalisation is the defining characteristic of the profession and must not be obstructed by protectionist impulses, which may re-emerge as the economy declines.