All Law Gazette articles in Archive – Page 1412

  • Feature

    BOOK REVIEW Essential Mental health Law: A guide to the revised Mental Health Act and the Mental Capacity Act 2005

    2011-02-03T00:00:00Z

    Author: Anthony Maden and Tim Spencer-Lane The mental health lawyer is now spoilt for choice of books on their field. The leading work is Jones’ Manual which is now in its 13th edition. It costs a hefty £69.00 ...

  • News

    The debate about employment tribunals and the rise in claims

    2011-02-03T00:00:00Z

    Reforms to employment law and the employment tribunal system did not feature in the 2010 Conservative election manifesto. But there was a clear commitment to reducing regulation of small businesses. In recent weeks, it has become clear this commitment has translated into controversial plans for substantial reform to tribunal procedures.

  • News

    Decision time on ABSs

    2011-02-03T00:00:00Z

    Next month, the Law Society council will have to make the most important decision in my presidential year, the outcome of which will have long-term implications for the profession. Council will have to decide whether to apply for the Solicitors Regulation Authority to be allowed to ...

  • News

    Supreme Court widens definition of violent abuse

    2011-02-03T00:00:00Z

    Solicitors have welcomed a Supreme Court ruling that domestic violence extends beyond physical contact to include other forms of violent conduct.

  • News

    Accountancy

    2011-02-03T00:00:00Z

    Autrefois acquit - Cause of action estoppel - Disciplinary procedures - Abuse of process R (on the application of Coke-Wallis) v Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales: SC (Lords Phillips, Rodger, Collins, Clarke, Dyson): 19 January 2011 ...

  • News

    LoveFilm acquisition, steel demerger, fencing sponsorship and shoe sale

    2011-02-03T00:00:00Z

    In the picture: City firm Hogan Lovells advised internet retailer ­Amazon on acquiring £200m worth of shares in film rental company LoveFilm, giving it a majority stake. City firm Stephenson Harwood advised LoveFilm. ...

  • News

    Coalition is moving the Bribery Act issue into the 'too difficult' tray

    2011-02-03T00:00:00Z

    Monty Raphael, special counsel to Peters & Peters and author of Blackstone’s Guide to the Bribery Act 2010, describes the government’s decision to delay implementation of the act as ‘puzzling’.

  • News

    Acting solicitors

    2011-02-03T00:00:00Z

    Budding thespian solicitors, who have been waiting for a chance to prove it is not just barristers who can be star performers on their feet, may have their chance to shine this summer. The Tricycle Theatre in north London is again opening its doors to ...

  • News

    ProcureCos add insult to injury

    2011-02-03T00:00:00Z

    I welcome Avtar Bhatoa’s assessment of the threat posed by the use of ProcureCos to obtain contracts from the Legal Services Commission. The Ministry of Justice proposals threaten the very existence of our firms.

  • News

    Taking advantage of a media circus

    2011-02-03T00:00:00Z

    When a high-profile television presenter makes an age-discrimination claim against the BBC you can be sure there’ll be a frenzy of media attention. That’s exactly what happened in the case of Miriam O’Reilly, one of the former hosts of the TV show, Countryfile. O’Reilly lost her ...

  • News

    Council cuts reprieve for legal advice centres

    2011-02-03T00:00:00Z

    The High Court has quashed a decision by administrative body London Councils to cut £10m from its £26.4m grant scheme for voluntary organisations across the capital, including legal advice centres. The decision would have left more than 200 groups, including the Mary Ward Legal Advice ...

  • News

    Citizens’ advice bureaux in Birmingham to close

    2011-02-03T00:00:00Z

    Five citizens’ advice bureaux in Birmingham are expected to close their doors next week, unless they can raise £50,000 per month to continue, after the city council withdrew all of its £600,000-a-year funding. Without new money, the City Centre, Northfield, Tyseley, Handsworth and Kingstanding services ...

  • News

    Appeal court backs CFA costs agreement

    2011-02-03T00:00:00Z

    Solicitors must be allowed to shoulder the risk of adverse costs orders on behalf of their clients to ensure proper access to justice, the Court of Appeal has ruled, in a judgment welcomed by the Law Society. Giving judgment in Sibthorpe and Morris v London Borough ...

  • News

    The proposed legal aid cuts are both irresponsible and inequitable

    2011-02-03T00:00:00Z

    The recent rally by Justice for All brought to the heart of Westminster the concerns of a coalition of organisations about the Conservative-led government’s proposed cuts to the legal aid budget.

  • News

    Law firm not liable to loan losses, says appeal court

    2011-02-03T00:00:00Z

    A law firm that gave negligent advice to a bank before the bank lost £28m in loans advanced to two local authorities does not have to reimburse those losses, the Court of Appeal ruled last week. Overturning a High Court decision, the appeal court ruled in ...

  • News

    Treatment of inherited assets upon divorce

    2011-02-03T00:00:00Z

    Ever since the House of Lords ­decision in White v White [2000] UKHL 54, there has been an ongoing debate among family lawyers regarding the treatment of inherited assets upon divorce. As Lord Nicholls stated in White: ‘The judge should take it into account. He should decide how important it ...

  • News

    MoJ drops bill to modernise law of damages

    2011-02-03T00:00:00Z

    The government dropped proposals to modernise the law of damages last month. The Ministry of Justice has decided not to proceed with the Civil Law Reform Bill published in December 2009. The bill had put forward several amendments to the law on damages, as recommended ...

  • Feature

    BOOK REVIEW The Naked Lawyer: RIP to XXX

    2011-02-03T00:00:00Z

    Author: Chrissie Lightfoot This eBook takes risks - risks in its use of language; chatty style and ideas; the heavy use of the authors’ own life examples; the significant talk around soft skills and for that matter in the ...

  • Feature

    BOOK REVIEW Buying Professional Services: how to get value for money from consultants and other professional services providers

    2011-02-03T00:00:00Z

    Author: Fiona Czerniawska and Peter Smith Buying Professional Services educates and provides a framework for organisations in employing and controlling consultants (including legal firms).

  • News

    Embracing new business models

    2011-02-03T00:00:00Z

    Avtar Bhatoa’s article is an interesting contribution to the debate about ProcureCos and their role in allowing the bar to bid directly for Legal Services Commission contracts (see [2011] Gazette, 27 January, 12). But his characterisation of the two sides of the legal profession as being at loggerheads is ...