All Law Gazette articles in Archive – Page 1247
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We shouldn’t celebrate 60 years of legal aid with a wake
Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose. So, the chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland – a public servant – is set to trouser £10m if he sorts out the mess bequeathed by ‘Fred the Shred’. Meanwhile, Alistair Darling delivers a feeble speech to City high-rollers at the ...
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CPS launches national advocacy assessment
A national system of advocacy assessment will be introduced across the Crown Prosecution Service to ensure quality, the director of public prosecutions announced today. Keir Starmer QC (pictured) said the new advocacy quality management strategy will monitor performance and target training. It will be implemented ...
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Top legal aid firm avoids closure by HMRC
Top London legal aid firm Duncan Lewis has avoided being shut down by HM Revenue & Customs after falling behind in tax payments because of delayed settlements from the Legal Services Commission. A petition to wind up Duncan Lewis, last year the highest earning civil legal ...
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New anti-terrorism legislation is ill-considered and unnecessary
Nine-nil. The House of Lords does not get more decisive than that: control orders are incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights. Alan Johnson, the new boy at the Home Office, duly declared their Lordships’ judgment ‘disappointing’. But it is more the government that merits disappointment than the judges. ...
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Bad scheme based on poor evidence
In 1984 the Law Society Children Panel was set up to provide quality assurance of children’s representation in care proceedings. The tandem approach has developed into a world-recognised model of good practice. Solicitors became expert negotiators and advocates appearing at all levels of court, and mutual respect grew between solicitors ...
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Barclays sale, TomTom share offering and company takeover
Barclays sale: Magic circle firm Clifford Chance, alongside US firm Sullivan & Cromwell, advised Barclays (pictured) on the $13.5bn (£8.2bn) sale of its global investment arm. The buyer, US investment manager BlackRock, was advised by magic circle firm Linklaters and US firm Skadden.
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Straw vows corruption bill will become law
Justice secretary Jack Straw has told parliament that he is determined to ensure that the draft bribery bill becomes legislation before a general election. He was responding last week to a joint committee’s concerns about the parliamentary time available for the new measure, which would create two new offences.
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Best value tendering: working for nothing
Over the last couple of years, the Legal Services Commission has churned out consultation upon consultation about unpopular legal aid reforms. But, despite a severe case of consultation fatigue, over 1,000 groups or individuals responded to its second paper on best value tendering (BVT), demonstrating the strength of feeling within ...
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BVT – we’re listening
I would like to reassure Rodney Warren (see [2009] Gazette, 11 June, 11) that we are actively engaging with representative bodies to ensure providers are prepared for change, should best value tendering (BVT) progress.
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Criminal solicitors raise fund for court challenge to BVT
Criminal solicitors have pledged contributions for a fighting fund to challenge the government’s introduction of best value tendering (BVT) for legal aid work, the Gazette has learned. A consultation on the scheme ended last week, after attracting more than 1,000 responses expected to be overwhelmingly critical.
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Cash-strapped charities reassess their spending on professional services
Charities are increasingly feeling the impact of the recession, with more than half reporting a drop in income at the same time as demand for their services increases. This is forcing them to make painful decisions about drawing on reserves, dropping projects, selling property and shedding staff.
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How green was my council chamber
The Law Society council is off on its travels, but members don’t need to worry about anti-malarials yet. As ardent Obiter readers will remember, back in February the council decided that it should become more geographically adventurous in its choice of meeting venues. This month, the topic came up for ...
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Texting your clients should be normal practice, if you love them
Are you using text messaging to communicate with your clients? Most of us carry mobiles, so your text reaches your client instantly when there is something significant to report. In many cases, this can be more effective than phoning, when your client might not be available and neither are you ...
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Why are common law lawyers the hardest hit?
We read every week in the legal press about solicitors suffering in the current crisis: lay-offs, short-time and pay-cuts. There have been stories about trainees receiving the bad news by voicemail, and a US lawyer laying off his own wife.
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Reaffirming parliament’s stance on contracts
The recent Court of Appeal case of Trident Turboprop (Dublin) Ltd v First Flight Couriers Ltd ([2009] 1 AII ER (Comm) 16) will be of interest to both litigators and non-litigators. Although the main issue of appeal was whether the particular lease agreements in question fell within section 26 of ...
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What's cooking?
We’re not sure what Jeanette Miller, founding president of the Association of Motoring Offence Lawyers, was discussing with TV chef Marco Pierre White, but the pair seemed to be enjoying themselves at a charity event at the Lancashire County Cricket Club. Miller admitted to finding the youngest ever Michelin 3-star ...
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In-house counsel lobby for trade secrets protection
A coalition of major international corporations is to lobby the European Parliament and commission in an attempt to secure better protection for trade secrets, the Gazette has learned. In-house counsel from the 10-strong coalition of companies assert that trade secrets do not receive adequate protection in ...
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Crime figures show drop in fraud and criminal damage
The number of people sentenced for fraud and criminal damage fell during the last quarter of 2008, while fewer juveniles and young adults were sent to prison, statistics released today reveal. Provisional Ministry of Justice data show that from October to December last year, 75,300 people ...
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Criminal procedure
Confiscation orders – Drug trafficking – Market value – Statutory interpretation – Proceeds of crime R v Islam: HL (Lords Hope of Craighead, Walker of Gestingthorpe, Mance, Neuberger of Abbotsbury, Baroness Hale of Richmond): 10 June 2009 ...
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Objective selection criteria for redundancy
Getting older presents one with a number of oddities to deal with. Just how much chestnut rinse looks ‘natural’? (The answer, of course, is none.) Where is the door to my office? That kind of thing.