All Law Gazette articles in Archive – Page 1389
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News
Do UK governments care about human rights in China?
If the government is serious about speaking up on human rights abuses in China, then it has left it too late. It was too late when David Cameron left for Beijing.
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News
Protecting clients of ABSs and traditional law firms
The Solicitors Regulation Authority remains on course, subject to Legal Services Board approval, to license and regulate alternative business structures (ABSs) from 6 October 2011. I am aware that this is not what all solicitors want to hear. Concern has been expressed, in particular about whether ...
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News
Neuberger endorses accreditation scheme
The master of the rolls has given judicial backing to the proposed quality assurance for advocates (QAA) scheme, saying judges are the ‘ultimate consumers’ of advocacy services and are well placed to assess quality. Speaking at the Bar Council’s annual conference, Lord Neuberger defended the proposal ...
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News
Rail acquisition, energy listing, bank sale and telecoms loan
Rail thing: Magic circle firm Allen & Overy advised a private equity consortium comprising 3i Group, Star Capital Partners and Morgan Stanley on the consortium’s £2.1bn acquisition of HSBC’s train-leasing business Eversholt Rail Group. Magic circle firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer advised HSBC. ...
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News
Hands across the water
It would only take a small improvement in the value of sterling against the US dollar and we’d be touching down at JFK, headed for courtroom 14B, 500 Pearl Street, Lower Manhattan in the hope of being put straight by judge Jed Rakoff. He is not a man shy of ...
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News
Concern over use of 'Henry Vlll' powers to overturn acts of parliament
The coalition’s approach to legislation is neither conservative nor liberal. That much is clear from the new Quangos (Bonfire) Bill, or the Public Bodies Bill as it is more properly called in parliament. It is through this legislation that the government intends to reform nearly 500 ...
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News
Publicly funded legal advice gets a ringing endorsement
by Steve Hynes, director of the Legal Action Group In the wider media, legal aid is often demonised, with only two stories tending to predominate. Story one concerns the unworthy, scrounging recipients of legal aid – the clients. The latest high-profile variation on this theme concerns ...
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News
Big majority backs free legal advice
More than eight out of 10 people believe civil legal advice should be free for people on average earnings or below. This conviction is consistent across all social classes, a nationwide opinion poll has found, raising fresh questions over the government’s mandate for swingeing legal aid cuts.
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'Solicitors from Hell' owner vows to persevere after another libel loss
The owner of solicitorsfromhell has vowed to keep the site going, despite losing the latest in a string of libel cases. In the High Court last week, London firm Brett Wilson forced site owner Rick Kordowski to make an undertaking to the court: not to publish ...
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Another route to qualification
I write in response to Robin Dunne’s letter . I agree that it is truly unfortunate when a law student has accrued considerable debt in completing their degree and LPC, then cannot secure a training contract. But it is not correct to say that, unless the LPC providers restrict the ...
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News
Judicial Appointments Commission survives quangos cull
The Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) and the Judicial Appointments and Conduct Ombudsman will not fall victim to the government’s ‘bonfire of the quangos’. Justice secretary Kenneth Clarke (pictured) told parliament today that the two bodies will remain ...
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News
ProcureCos could earn bar ‘millions’ in new work
The bar is in ‘rapid change mode’ and could secure ‘hundreds of millions of pounds’ of work through its new ProcureCos, Nick Green QC told the bar’s annual conference. But the bar’s chairman said that despite a ‘jockeying for position’ with solicitors, the two professions would ...
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How the south-west legal market is battling recession
The south-west’s economy has recently brightened after the gloom of the recession, recording a rise in the Business Activity Index at the end of the summer from 52.8 to 54.1. This is good news for the large, commercial firms in the region, which confirm that their own numbers have improved ...
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Surprise fall in solicitors' PII bill
Solicitors paid 11% less to insurers for professional indemnity insurance (PII) this year, official figures have revealed. The cost of insuring the profession on the open market in 2010 was £214m, down from £241m in 2009 and £226m in 2008. The fall occurred despite some solicitors ...
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Feature
BOOK REVIEW Civil Costs: Law and Practice
Author: Dr Mark Friston One can be forgiven for wondering why you should consider purchasing a book on costs. It is unlikely to provide one with sparkling dinner party conversation, and it is also rather heavy to carry. ...
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Born to hang
It was, we recall, a singing Telly Savalas (aka Kojak) who crooned that a ‘picture paints a thousand words’. And how right he was. To that end, we urge you to lay down your pen (or iPad, BlackBerry – whatever) and pick up your paintbrush. For more submissions are requested ...
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News
Virtual court pilot in ‘chaos’
Efforts by the Ministry of Justice to increase use of the virtual court at Camberwell Green magistrates’ court in London have led to ‘chaos’ because the court list is overloaded, criminal solicitors allege. For the last fortnight all overnight remands from the 20 London police ...
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Downgrading of child protection
I was alarmed to learn of the government’s recent decision not to abolish the court fees payable by local authorities when commencing care proceedings. In his report following the Baby P case, Lord Laming called for these fees to be reviewed. A review followed which ...
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News
Miners’ compensation claims website under investigation by MoJ
A no win, no fee website set up to farm former coal miners’ undersettlement claims is being investigated by the government claims regulator, the Gazette has learned. The Ministry of Justice is investigating justiceforminers.org.uk after Kevan Jones, Labour MP for North Durham, complained to the claims ...
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News
The legal needs of vulnerable clients
Lindsay Taylor’s experience of financial institutions’ ignorance of the difference between a lasting power of attorney and court order will be a familiar story to most solicitors specialising in elder and capacity law.