All Law Gazette articles in Archive – Page 1331
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Bar sets out guidance on how chambers can compete with solicitors
The Bar Council has published guidance to chambers on setting up a new business model that will enable barristers to bid for work in competition with solicitors. The new concept, dubbed ProcureCo, is a separate corporate vehicle that can be formed as an adjunct to ...
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General counsel ‘bypass law firms’ and go directly to the bar
General counsel are increasingly bypassing law firms to go directly to the bar for legal advice, according to a report published today. A study by research company Winmark found that while commercial law firms are banking on an increase in corporate legal spend to boost their ...
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Warning that local solicitors will become an ‘endangered species’
Support group the Lawyers Defence Group (LDG) has called on the next government to legislate to protect access to justice and high street firms by imposing marketing restrictions on alternative business structures. The group has warned that local solicitors will become ‘an endangered species’ if ...
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Solicitors beware
The HomeBuy Direct Scheme assists first-time purchasers with government grant delivered by the Homes and Communities Agency via housing associations.
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Big brands will ‘drive small personal injury firms out’
Small ‘pure play’ personal injury law firms will become extinct once ‘big brands’ can offer legal services, Richard Langton, partner at national firm Russell Jones & Walker, told the conference. Langton predicted that personal injury firms with fewer than 30 fee-earners will be driven out of ...
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Bubble trouble
They say that even bad publicity is better than no publicity. As far as Jeremy Betts, managing director of My Brief in Kent is concerned, that is fortunate. Betts has got himself into a spot of bother over a cartoon (see below) which he has been using to promote his ...
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Firms shrug off disruption caused by Iceland’s volcanic eruption
Hundreds of City lawyers were stranded across the globe by flight disruption caused by Iceland’s volcanic eruption this month. However, firms played down disruption to clients, noting that solicitors were able to make use of remote working or overseas offices. ...
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Pro rata practising certificate plea for part-timers
Solicitors who work part-time should pay a reduced, prorated practising certificate fee, the Association of Women Solicitors has said. Under the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s proposals for reform of the way the practising certificate is charged, a flat fee of around £510 will be payable per individual ...
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Conveyancing discrimination
I was unable recently to act on behalf of a client in a conveyancing transaction because my firm was already acting on behalf of her seller.
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It’s a fair cop guv
Prison law associate Mike Pemberton (pictured), of Manchester firm Stephensons, went above and beyond the call of duty to try to empathise with his clients last week. He got himself banged up for half a day in a Victorian cell at the Manchester Police Museum. The heinous crimes for which ...
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Nominations sought for Law Society Council
Elections for new Law Society Council members have now opened, with 17 seats up for grabs across 15 constituencies. The deadline for nominations is 6 May, and successful candidates take office on 15 July. The term of office is four years, and for the casual vacancy ...
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Law Society unveils new online resource with details of CPD courses
The Law Society has launched a new online resource with details of hundreds of CPD courses from leading suppliers, and a free CPD planning and recording tool. The new CPD Centre, which aims to be the portal of choice for all CPD requirements, takes solicitors through ...
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Criminal law
Affray – Bystanders – Threatening to kill – Public Order Act 1986 Carol Leeson v Director of Public Prosecutions: DC (Lord Justice Pill, Mr Justice Rafferty): 16 April 2010 The ...
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Time for solicitors to reinvent their customer services
In a rapidly changing market it can often help to look at other businesses and economies for an indication of how things might develop.
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Full disclosure required
Gillian Phillips is absolutely right in calling for claimant libel lawyers to disclose the outcomes of their CFA-funded cases (see [2010] Comment, 15 April, 10). CFAs and the accompanying high success fees genuinely have a ‘chilling effect’ on freedom of expression. As my firm represents the ...
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Should the SRA provide discounts on PC fees for part-time workers?
Diversity considerations have occupied a fair chunk of the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s time in the last couple of years, and will clearly continue to do so. Certainly, the Association of Women Solicitors’ claim that the proposed flat-rate practising certificate fee for individuals potentially discriminates against ...
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Dispute resolution: reasonable settlement and third parties
Where a defendant settles a claim with the claimant and then seeks to recover his losses from a third party, the third party may attempt to challenge the settlement on the basis that it was unreasonable. What approach, therefore, would the courts take in assessing whether a settlement was reasonable?
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Will parliamentary privilege protect ex-MPs from prosecution over expenses?
In a month’s time, lawyers for three former Labour MPs will try to persuade Mr Justice Saunders that he has no jurisdiction to try them on charges of false accounting.
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Family law
Human rights – Local government decisions – Placement orders – Risk to children Re A (children) sub nom EH v (1) X London Borough Council (2) AA (3) Rea & Rha (by their guardian) [2010] EWCA Civ 344: ...