All Law Gazette articles in Archive – Page 1293
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Hourly fee charging is under fire but it drives efficiency and quality
by Dick Jennings, a practising solicitor and member of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing & SupplyThere is growing condemnation among in-house counsel of hourly fee charging. Private practice lawyers cower, meekly agreeing or asserting that they have been against it all along.
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New laws strengthen the influence of the Law Commission proposals
For a body that exists to promote reform of the law, the Law Commission has surprisingly little legislation that it can call its own. There is little more than a statute enacted in 1965, setting up a body to review the law ‘with a view to its systematic development... simplification ...
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Strictly confidential
It is well known that the post-Christmas period is peak time for divorce lawyers, with a dangerous cocktail of too much booze, too many in-laws and too much time with each other combining to put many a marriage on the rocks.
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Dictation diktat
As a regular visitor to courts I am well used to being searched and generally do not have a problem with it. What does grate is when I am required to surrender my hand held dictation machine.
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Downward trend
I fully endorse Trevor F Moore’s comments (see [2009] Gazette, 3 December, 11), with regard to the pointlessness of being a solicitor.
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Expert evidence - revisions to the rules have stood the test of time
Expert evidence was one of the most controversial issues in Lord Woolf’s civil justice inquiry in the 1990s.
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Law Society unlikely to introduce fellowship scheme
The Law Society appears likely to rule out introducing a fellowship scheme in the near future, but may consider extending membership in light of the introduction of alternative business structures. Introducing a fellowship scheme for solicitors ‘who reach an agreed professional standard’ was one of the ...
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Personal injury
Delay – Discretion – Limitation periods – Road traffic accidents McDonnell and anor v David Walker (executor of the estate of Richard Walker, deceased): CA (Civ Div) (Lords Justice Waller (vice-president), Rimer, Sir Paul Kennedy): 24 November 2009 ...
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Memory lane
The 'modest' demeanour of Robert Maugham. An old Christmas competition and a council members' letter with a sense of humor . The Law Society’s Gazette, December 1959 ...
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Water project, lottery loans and town planning
Water works: City firm Trowers & Hamlins advised a consortium of lenders on financing the $1bn (£612m) Salalah independent water and power project in Oman. City firm Denton Wilde Sapte advised the state-owned Oman Power and Water Procurement Company. ...
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Matter of principle
I read the letter from Michael Moore claiming that solicitors need to pay referral fees for financial survival. I disagree (see [2009] Gazette, 26 November, 9).
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Weight on my mind
Without wishing to make light of what is clearly a very serious matter for the Norfolk solicitor who had been charging clients by the weight of their files – Brian D Woodham’s letter (see [2009] Gazette, 3 December 11)...
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That’s the point
Trevor Moore in his recent letter (3 December) asks ‘what is the point in being a solicitor?’ To a certain extent, I share his frustration at the role of solicitors being constantly undermined, but I firmly believe that there is something inherently ‘special’ about being able to call oneself a ...
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In praise of... solicitors
Guardian readers will recognise the above formulation, which the newspaper occasionally employs to applaud society’s less conspicuous mainstays. We employ it in part to balance last week’s opinion, which reflected on the declining respect in which solicitors believe their profession is held and ...
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Cross selling: the rainmaker’s not-so-secret weapon
Continuing our investigation into the attributes of a good rainmaker, we turn to the area of ’cross-selling', having previously considered the amount of time spent and a targeted approach. A little while ago, I was attending an event with a matrimonial lawyer, and we bumped into one of her clients ...
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Family judges must speak out, says Wall
The judiciary must ‘come off the bench’ and speak out about the ‘parlous state of family law in 2009’, Lord Justice Wall has said. Speaking at the Association of Lawyers for Children conference, the Court of Appeal judge said ‘the time has come when the historical ...
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LSB sets out rules for regulators
The Legal Services Board (LSB) today laid down its framework of internal governance requirements for legal regulators. The LSB said that it has provided legal regulators with a clear set of criteria to ensure that regulation is carried out independently of professional interests. The new rules ...
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Law Society to launch legal challenge on legal aid
The Law Society is set to launch a judicial review of the government’s move to drastically reduce the legal costs that defendants can reclaim if they are acquitted of a criminal offence.
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How others see us: ‘Anglo-Saxon’ values
I attended a round-table discussion this week, put on by one of the Belgian bars, on the topic: ‘What do we expect from a lawyer today?’ The participants came from the media, academia and various parts of the legal profession.
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New guidelines for lawyers on assessing mental capacity
New guidelines to help solicitors, doctors and other professionals assess mental capacity have been jointly issued by the Law Society and the British Medical Association. The guidelines, Assessment of Mental Capacity, set out best practice for dealing with people lacking capacity to make important decisions, ...