All Law Gazette articles in Archive – Page 1329

  • News

    For legal aid not to suffer cuts the public needs to care

    2010-04-22T00:00:00Z

    by Jon Robinsco-author of The Justice Gap and director of the legal research company Jures. You can download Closing the Justice Gap Legal aid is a tiny, albeit vital, backwater of our public services which has critical importance in our democratic society, yet fails to resonate ...

  • News

    New civil legal aid contracts ‘will cause closures’

    2010-04-22T00:00:00Z

    The new civil legal aid contracts could result in large numbers of family firms exiting the market and leave a single social welfare law provider in some areas, consultants have predicted. David Gilmour, founder of consultancy DG Legal, which specialises in legal aid, said: ‘I ...

  • News

    Co-op's commercial logic is being applied to the legal sector

    2010-04-22T00:00:00Z

    The Co-op is determined to be in the first wave of alternative business structures. This does not necessarily mean that other supermarket groups will swiftly follow suit, however. It is instructive to look at their experiences in financial services.

  • News

    Media: British Chiropractic Association v Dr Simon Singh

    2010-04-22T00:00:00Z

    While the northern hemisphere is paralysed by the seismic shift that has caused the Icelandic volcano, Mt Eyjafjallajökull, to erupt, the case of the British Chiropractic Association (BCA) against Dr Simon Singh promises to have an equally seismic effect on the legal landscape of libel in the UK and the ...

  • News

    How to deal with problem employees and avoid tribunals

    2010-04-22T00:00:00Z

    Employment laws change so frequently that if you tried to keep on top of them, you would probably go out of business. Or die miserably...

  • News

    New brand to promote barristers’ services direct to the public

    2010-04-22T00:00:00Z

    A new brand to promote barristers’ services directly to the public is due to launch this summer, the Gazette has learned. Ian Dodd, director of virtual chambers BarFutures, plans to launch the National Advocacy Network, aimed at promoting public access to the bar.

  • News

    Local government legal departments braced for cuts

    2010-04-22T00:00:00Z

    Local government legal departments are braced for a double whammy of budget cuts and an increase in workload, exclusive research for the Gazette has revealed. The study also found that 61% of departments are considering reducing their use of external advisers. The ...

  • News

    Judicial mediation in Employment Tribunal cases falls short

    2010-04-22T00:00:00Z

    Mediation provided by judges in Employment Tribunal cases has failed to achieve the anticipated time and cost savings over unmediated cases, the results of a pilot scheme have revealed. The Ministry of Justice piloted a judicial mediation service for Employment Tribunal discrimination cases which started between ...

  • News

    Solicitor concerns over ‘chaotic’ DSCC handover

    2010-04-22T00:00:00Z

    The ‘chaotic’ handover to the new operator of the Defence Solicitor Call Centre (DSCC) may have left detainees unrepresented and caused firms to lose work, criminal solicitors have warned. On 1 April Ventura, one of the biggest call centre operators, took over the running of the ...

  • News

    Civil procedure

    2010-04-22T00:00:00Z

    Employment – Transport – Balance of convenience – Industrial action Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd v National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers: QBD (Mrs Justice Sharp): 1 April 2010 ...

  • News

    Co-op in new drive to promote legal services to food shoppers

    2010-04-22T00:00:00Z

    The Co-operative Group is planning a new campaign to promote its legal services to food shoppers in its 3,000 supermarkets nationwide. The news came as the group, which aims to be one of the first alternative business structures, told the Gazette that it believes ‘the die ...

  • News

    Higher court

    2010-04-22T00:00:00Z

    Obiter was tickled to receive this picture issued by the Press Association of Sir John Dyson, who was sworn in as the 12th and final justice of the new Supreme Court this week. Is it just us, or does it look for all ...

  • News

    Slithery customer

    2010-04-22T00:00:00Z

    Obiter is grateful to professor Phil Thomas of Cardiff Law School for sending in a news snippet from the Hindu English language newspaper in India. A four-foot snake slithered into a judge’s chambers last month, and had to be ‘rescued’ by Fire and ...

  • News

    Scottish solicitors reject ‘Tesco law’ – and raise fears of flight to England

    2010-04-22T00:00:00Z

    The likelihood of Scotland’s ‘big four’ law firms defecting to England appears to have risen this afternoon, following a landmark vote against the introduction of alternative business structures (ABSs) north of the border. At a special general meeting of the Law Society of Scotland, members voted ...

  • News

    Recession makes the trainee jobs market tougher than ever

    2010-04-22T00:00:00Z

    The recession has made the trainee jobs market tougher than ever, with more than a third of graduates expecting to work more than 50 hours a week and almost 40% forced to look for jobs outside law, according to research published today.

  • News

    The sour smell of failure

    2010-04-22T00:00:00Z

    As prosecutors and defence lawyers know only too well, criminals can be pretty, well, gormless is the word – or the ones who get caught can be, at any rate. Obiter has spotted a wealth of stories about foolish offenders recently. There was 68-year-old John Maurice, who was sentenced last ...

  • News

    Family law

    2010-04-22T00:00:00Z

    Cafcass – Children – Contract orders – Removal from jurisdiction Re D (a child): CA (Civ Div) (Lords Justice Wall, Aikens): 8 April 2010 The appellant father (F) appealed ...

  • News

    Playing with fire

    2010-04-22T00:00:00Z

    Solicitors are notably risk averse and can be relied on, in Obiter’s long experience, to spot a dozen dire threats where others see only tranquility. And yet just last week this column witnessed a roomful of the profession’s finest demonstrate unblinking insouciance in the face of near certain incineration. The ...

  • News

    No pain no gain

    2010-04-22T00:00:00Z

    There is such a thing as a glutton for punishment, and it seems that is what the Legal Services Commission must be.

  • News

    Quinn to re-enter UK insurance market

    2010-04-22T00:00:00Z

    Quinn Insurance has been given permission for a limited re-entry into the UK insurance market following an announcement by the Irish Financial Regulator yesterday. However, the relaxation of the regulator’s restrictions preventing Quinn from writing new business in the UK does not extend to solicitors’ professional ...