All Law Gazette articles in Archive – Page 1208
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News
Ormerod to head Law Commission
The Law Commission has appointed Mark Ormerod as its new chief executive. Ormerod, who is currently director of access to justice policy at the Ministry of Justice, will take up his new position on 2 March, replacing William Arnold, who has been acting chief executive ...
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Commodity fetish
I note the recent sad administrations of Hammonds Support Services and Fox Hayes (see [2009] Gazette, 29 January, 1). They were probably two of the biggest examples of firms who followed Professor Richard Susskind’s regular entreaties to the legal profession to ‘commoditise’ legal work. Will ...
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Conveyancing crisis: a reflection of the times
I am writing as chair of the Direct Conveyancing Association, which represents some of the largest direct conveyancers in the UK, to respond to comments made by Law Society President Paul Marsh (see [2009] Gazette, 29 January, p1).
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Female decoration
We welcome two new members to the club of long-serving legal stalwarts: secretaries at Suffolk firm Greene & Greene who have clocked up a combined total of 84 years’ service. Lorraine Palfrey joined the firm in October 1966 as an office junior, being promoted ...
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Penalties for maintenance defaulters ‘draconian’
Civil liberties lawyers have dismissed as ‘disproportionate’ and draconian new powers to confiscate without a court order the driving licences and passports of parents who default on child maintenance. The Welfare Reform Bill, in the House of Commons committee stage this week, will allow the ...
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Delivering the post on time
Practising solicitors are proving slow to grasp the business development opportunities offered by the internet, as this column somewhat didactically observed last month. The findings of this year’s Law Society Software Solutions Guide (see In Business) confirm what we know.
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False economies
Your article ‘Dial J for Justice’ claims CDS Direct saves money (see [2009] Gazette, 5 February, 10). John Sirodcar [director of national accounts at the Legal Services Commission] says they get £18 or £19 a call as opposed to £30.25 in private practice – giving a £1m saving.
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Real estate, hair products and energy efficiency
Heathrow hub: Birmingham firm Wragge & Co advised international real estate group Goodman on its £17m acquisition of a 220-acre site near Heathrow airport from Argent, the property development company. Goodman says it plans to develop a rail freight distribution hub on the ...
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Firms face lobbying scrutiny
UK law firms of all sizes risk being dragged into the debate surrounding parliamentary lobbying, as pressure to make consultancy agreements more transparent was stepped up this week. UK law firms engage 15 Lords and four MPs as consultants a Gazette investigation has found. A number ...
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Law firms’ parliamentary links under scrutiny
UK legal firms employ 15 Lords and four MPs as consultants for as much as £61,000 a year, a Gazette investigation has found. Although the relationships are above board and break no rules, parliamentary activity is likely to come under scrutiny amid calls for tighter ...
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World games
When we cheerfully predicted that new technology would cause the demise of the legal typo, we forgot about a new peril: the predictive text software that’s supposed to make life easier for people sending text messages or emails on the fly. Unless you’re careful, messages thus generated can range ...
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Immigration
Human rights - Confidentiality - Deportation orders - Terrorism Z v (1) Secretary of State for the Home Department (2) Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs; and 11 other cases against (1) and (2) brought by ...
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Pinsent Masons
Thanks to our friends at Pinsent Masons for sending us a preview of the firm’s stylish new Manchester premises in the city’s Spinningfields development. Apparently the property fit-out specialist Overbury has started work on the décor, ready for a June move-in. The aim is ‘a visually striking, welcoming and user-friendly ...
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Time to move on
I reply to Peter Browne’s letter asking us not to follow the crowd and in particular resistance to paying referral fees (see [2009] Gazette, 29 January, 9). As owners of an estate agency, we are well aware that most estate agents successfully try to persuade buyers and sellers to use ...
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Taxing problem for solicitors
Paying tax has been identified as the number one concern of solicitors hit by the credit crunch. Late incoming payments from third parties are making the problem worse, according to an online survey by the Law Society. Most firms said private clients were not paying their bills on time, which ...
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Scent of a woman
Last month Obiter reported Berkshire solicitor Hilary Messer’s recollection of misunderstanding a female judge’s enquiry about the perfume she was wearing. Roberta Tish, a consultant with London firm Blacklaws Davis, reckons Messer was lucky. ‘How times have changed,’ Tish writes. ‘In the very early sixties, I was appearing before ...
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The Law Society’s Gazette, February 1959
Notes of the month by The Editor: The Electronic Lawyer: A recent issue of Punch contains an article entitled ‘The Electronic Lawyer’ by Mr Rupert Townshend-Rose. The article in ...
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Business Court opening date slips back to 2011
The new Business Court, due to open in 2010, will not now be ready until the following year, the Gazette has learned. The new court will replace the Commercial and other courts currently working from St Dunstan’s House in Fetter Lane in the City of London. ...
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Claims companies warned on misleading advertising
Claims management firms that mislead consumers by claiming they can arrange for debts to be written off have been warned that they face enforcement action by the Ministry of Justice. Justice minister Bridget Prentice delivered the warning as the MoJ issued new guidance on misleading advertising which sets out ...