All Law Gazette articles in Archive – Page 1378
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Law firms face obstacles as they seek to exploit emerging markets
As developed countries continue to wrestle with their recession-hit economies, most savvy international law firms are turning their attention to emerging markets, with BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China), receiving particular interest.
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Moses stars in epic
Court three of the Royal Courts of Justice was packed out for the result of the Law Society’s challenge to the family legal aid tender last week. But the press pack became somewhat disconcerted when they learned that the court’s stenographers had been engaged for the next four hours. Four ...
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French toast
Obiter raises a glass to personal injury solicitor James Wood for recently becoming the first man with an injured spinal cord to swim the English Channel. Wood, whose spine was broken in a road accident in 1990, causing him to lose the use ...
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Policestationreps sees threefold increase in lawyers using website
A website set up to connect firms doing criminal defence work with accredited police station representatives has reported a threefold increase in lawyers using the site, as solicitors face tightening profit margins. Policestationreps.com provides solicitors with the contact details of local police station representatives so that ...
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Legal profession ‘inherently masculine’, says report for LSB
Stereotyping and bias are preventing women and black and minority ethnic (BME) solicitors from furthering their careers, a report funded by the Legal Services Board has found. The report by the University of Westminster claimed that the profession is ‘segmented and stratified’ along the lines of ...
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Intestacy rules in need of updating
Nearly two-thirds of the public do not have a will, and a change in family relationships points to a need to amend the current intestacy rules, research has suggested. A report by the National Centre for Social Research, conducted to provide the Law Commission with up-to-date ...
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Sour smell of success
Pity Nigel Jones QC of Hardwicke, who has learnt the hard way how the British like to keep talent in its place. His mini-biog at the second Global Managing Partners Summit conference in London last week included a Legal 500 quote describing the barrister as ‘refreshingly in tune with business ...
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Is Lord Young being too harsh on personal injury lawyers?
No personal injury lawyer enjoys being called an ‘ambulance chaser’, even if, on occasion, they slip a business card into the bloodied hand of a car crash victim. Such a scene (fictional, I should add) was played out in a TV advertisement I saw last week ...
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SRA closes Burges Salmon investigation
South-west firm Burges Salmon will not face the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal following allegations that it gave inappropriate legal advice to farmers, a long-running investigation by the Solicitors Regulation Authority has decided. The SRA, which for two years considered allegations about advice given by Burges Salmon to ...
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Political Risk?
Kenneth Clarke’s speech to the Birmingham Law Society and Lord Young’s pronouncements at the weekend remind me that the political risk issues I learnt about at business school are alive, well and threatening further disruption.
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Political risk?
Kenneth Clarke’s speech to the Birmingham Law Society and Lord Young’s pronouncements at the weekend remind me that the political risk issues I learnt about at business school are alive, well and threatening further disruption.
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The lie behind the money laundering legislation
I am a regular listener to Radio 4’s Any Questions programme, and always wonder about those panellists who are greeted by a round of applause after their contribution. What must it feel like? Well, now I know. Last week, I was in Vancouver for the International Bar Association’s annual conference. ...
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Sadiq Khan named as shadow lord chancellor
Former human rights solicitor Sadiq Khan was today named shadow lord chancellor, as new Labour leader Ed Miliband assembled his first shadow cabinet. Khan, who was a partner at London human rights firm Christian Khan before standing as Labour candidate for Tooting in the 2005 general ...
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High Court defamation claims soar
The number of High Court defamation claims has risen to the highest level since the Woolf reforms, figures have shown. Defamation claims in the High Court rose to 298 last year, up 15% from 259 in 2008, according to an analysis of judicial statistics carried out ...
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House price fall could prove fillip for conveyancers
Conveyancing solicitors moved to calm concerns over a looming housing crash this week, and suggested that a fall in house prices could have a ‘silver lining’ for the profession. Last week, the Halifax reported a 3.6% decline in house prices in September, the biggest monthly fall ...
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Lord Young declines meeting with profession’s regulator
Lord Young of Graffham turned down an offer to meet with the solicitors’ regulator in advance of his report on health and safety and the ‘compensation culture’, the Solicitors Regulation Authority has said. ...
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Homeowners' policy could lower PII premiums
Insurance provider First Title has launched a homeowners' protection policy (HOPP) that it claims could lower professional indemnity insurance (PII) premiums for solicitors, if it becomes widely adopted by clients. First Title said that a similar product launched in Canada led to a 50% drop in ...
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Information to unlock bank finance
If there was a core message for attendees at last week’s annual 360 Legal Conference to take away from the day, it was the urgency of addressing financial questions.