All Law Gazette articles in Archive – Page 1430
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Government announces implementation of Jackson’s reforms
Lord Justice Jackson’s headline civil costs reforms will be implemented in full, the government announced today, as it simultaneously opened a consultation on reform of the county court system. The Law Society warned that the reforms meant ordinary people would no longer be able to obtain ...
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Litigation funder boosts its investment resources
Third-party litigation funder Burford Capital has boosted its investment resources above the $300m (£187m) mark, making it the largest fund of its kind in the world, according to its first annual report. The company, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange’s Alternative Investment Market (AIM), ...
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Family law
Babies - Habitual residence - Jurisdiction - Parental responsibility Barbara Mercredi v Richard Chaffe: CA (Civ Div) (Lords Justices Thorpe, Elias): 17 March 2011 The appellant mother (M) appealed against ...
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Lord Judge warns of media ignorance of human rights law
Media ignorance of human rights legislation is harming the independence of the judiciary, the lord chief justice said in a speech in Jerusalem yesterday. Lord Judge said that journalists must understand that, when judges apply decisions of the European Court of Human Rights via the Human ...
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Tools or techniques?
When presented with the ‘next big thing’ in legal services marketing there is a good question to ask at the outset that will help you gain the best for your firm. Is the latest idea a tool for marketing and promotions or a technique of ...
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Expert witnesses lose 400-year-old immunity
Expert witnesses have lost their immunity from being sued over matters arising in the course of proceedings, following a landmark ruling today. By a majority of five to two, the Supreme Court removed the 400-year-old protection that gave expert witnesses immunity from suit for breach of duty whether in contract ...
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SRA set to become ABS regulator
The Law Society Council gave the green light to the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s application to become a licensing authority for alternative business structures last week. Having obtained the council’s approval, the SRA will now submit its application to the Legal Services Board, putting it on track ...
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Bribery Act start date revealed by Clarke
The Bribery Act will come into force on 1 July, the government announced today, as it published delayed compliance guidance for businesses. Briefing reporters this morning, justice secretary Kenneth Clarke said that it was ‘best to get it right rather than head for some artificial deadline’. ...
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Employment law changes could ‘affect women’
Changes to employment laws announced in last week's budget are encouraging for small employers but could disproportionately affect women, solicitors have warned. Plans revealed by chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne included a three-year moratorium on new regulations for small companies and start-ups; a consultation to ...
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An alternative view on litigation costs
by Seamus Smyth, senior partner in Carter Lemon Camerons LLP and President of the London Solicitors Litigation Association What’s wrong with our civil litigation? Why have we had to have Woolf and Jackson? Is there a solution to the cost-and-access problem?
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'Exhausted' lawyers in care cases need more support
A detailed and enlightening report on the representation of parents in care proceedings was published this week by academics at Bristol University law school. The study, by Julia Pearce and Professor Judith Masson, provides an interesting insight into the pivotal role played by lawyers in the ...
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Fraudsters jailed for £140,000 injury law scam
Six fraudsters were jailed last week for fronting a fake claims company that defrauded 19 personal injury law firms of almost £140,000. The company, North West Claims, which was run from an apartment in the Beetham Tower, Manchester, referred fictitious road traffic accident claims to solicitors ...
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Wragge & Co advises Phones 4u, Unilever's Sanex sale and JJB Sports stock exchange switch
It’s for you: Birmingham firm Wragge & Co advised the management of mobile phone retailer Phones 4u on its sale to private equity house BC Partners, for an undisclosed sum. US firm Weil Gotshal & Manges advised private ...
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Making the grade: examining accreditation schemes
A campaign to raise public awareness of the Law Society’s accreditation schemes and their value in helping people choose firms or specialist practitioners in increasingly competitive markets will be launched shortly. There is growing interest within the profession about the schemes.
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Accreditation schemes give consumers more choice
The Oxford Dictionary defines ‘accreditation’ thus: ‘Give authority or sanction to someone or something when recognised standards have been met.’ Which is precisely what happens when someone qualifies to be a practising solicitor, a point not lost on those who are ambivalent about the development of ...
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Proposals address ‘scandalous’ delays in family proceedings
The Family Justice System is ‘not working’ with ‘scandalous’ delays which are harmful to vulnerable children and adults, according to the independent Family Justice Review panel. The panel’s interim report, published today, said the system needs significant reform to tackle delays and ensure the 500,000 children ...
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Time to adopt US libel model
Lawsuits fought by foreigners who often have no link with Britain should soon be an historical anomaly if Kenneth Clarke has his way. But putting an end to ‘libel tourism’ is only part of the problem. Defendants can already put forward the defence of fair ...
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Age-old problem
How many firms of solicitors are complying with equality legislation, with particular regard to age discrimination? Time and time again (indeed it is the norm) I see jobs advertised for staff who are, for example, ‘1-3 years qualified’, or ‘5-10 years qualified’. ...
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MPs call for rethink on legal aid
An influential committee of MPs has criticised the government’s ‘dramatic’ legal aid reforms and called on ministers to ‘refine’ their proposals. In a report published this week, the House of Commons Justice Committee recommended that the Ministry of Justice look at other ways to make the ...
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Legal aid firm merger to ‘embrace new opportunities'
Two high-profile legal aid firms are to merge this week to create one of the largest publicly funded criminal defence practices in the country, the Gazette can reveal. Noble, with offices in Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Northamptonshire, will merge with Wembley and Watford firm Tank Jowett on ...