All Law Gazette articles in Archive – Page 1444
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News
Some ideas from the US for the new SRA Handbook
Here is my second attempt to analyse provisions of the new SRA Handbook. I am prompted to think about it again because the American Bar Association’s Ethics 20/20 Commission, which is looking at whether new ways of working need a change to ethics and regulation, ...
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News
How long will ABSs last?
History has a habit of repeating itself. Why do we never learn from previous experience? There are many good things. The introduction of non-lawyers to ownership is one following years of consideration. Some other factors are, however, doubtful in my ...
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News
Lawyers unaware of pro bono costs orders, charity warns
Legal charities are missing out on funding because the majority of lawyers are unaware of the existence of ‘pro bono costs’ orders, research has suggested. Where a civil case is won by a lawyer providing free legal representation, under Section 194 of the Legal Services Act ...
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News
Ethics, the public interest and regulation
by Dr Richard Willis, a historian and published author Law Society president Linda Lee pointed out in President’s Podium that the critical importance of legal ethics must not be sidelined as the market changes – opening up to greater competition with the licensing of Alternative Business ...
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News
Landmark ruling on miscarriages of justice expected
Hundreds of people wrongly convicted of a serious crime will hear this week if they can make a fresh bid for compensation. Nine senior judges from the Supreme Court will decide the exact definition of a ‘miscarriage of justice’ in a landmark ruling expected tomorrow. ...
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News
Implications of new product placement regime for lawyers
On 28 February 2011, viewers of the This Morning breakfast show witnessed the first paid-for product placement on UK TV – the Dolce Gusto coffee machine. This cost Nescafé a reported £100,000, but what return on investment (ROI) did it generate, how was the price ...
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News
Conveyancers council will authorise ABSs
The Legal Services Board has approved an application for the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) to become a licensing authority for alternative business structures. With this approval, the CLC becomes the first ABS licensing authority. Its scope is limited to probate, ...
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News
Law Society warns health select committee over CFA reforms
The Law Society today told MPs that the government’s reforms to litigation funding will cause ‘rejoicing in the boardrooms of insurance companies’. Chief executive Desmond Hudson appeared before the Health Select Committee to tell MPs that coalition government proposals go too far. ...
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Lessons for lawyers in Northern Ireland from past lawyer ‘strikes’
Following the introduction last month of new fees for criminal legal aid work, solicitors in Northern Ireland have withdrawn their services in Crown court cases. Pearse MacDermott, executive member of the Solicitors Criminal Bar Association told the Gazette that the rates of pay for Crown court ...
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Feature
BOOK REVIEW Drafting Employment Contracts (2nd edition)
Author: Gillian Howard Any book about forms and precedents is a valuable addition to any practitioner’s library – and this one is no exception. However, writing a book of forms and precedents in employment ...
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News
European Union is subject to Aarhus Convention, UN rules
Europe’s courts must stop barring citizens and non-governmental organisations (NGO) from challenging European Union decisions that affect the environment, a United Nations committee ruled last week.
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News
LSB recommends new powers for solicitors’ regulator ahead of ABSs
The Solicitor’s Regulation Authority will be given new powers to operate a single compensation fund for alternative business structures and non-ABSs, if parliament follows a recommendation made by the Legal Services Board yesterday. The LSB also recommends that the SRA should be able to charge non-ABS ...
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News
Solicitors from Hell to face legal action
The Law Society is set to launch legal proceedings against the owner of Solicitors from Hell, the website that blacklists law firms and solicitors. Chancery Lane will seek two injunctions against the site and its owner Rick Kordowski: one on behalf of solicitors and firms named ...
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News
Fixed fees could spark legal aid 'exodus', says top family lawyer
A leading family lawyer has warned that the new fixed fees regime for private family cases, which came into force this week, could lead to a ‘significant exodus’ of firms from family legal aid. Christina Blacklaws, Law Society Council member for child care, said the ...
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News
NI solicitors withdraw services over legal aid dispute
Criminal solicitors in Northern Ireland have withdrawn their services in Crown court cases in a dispute over legal aid fees. Their action follows the introduction of a payment regime that solicitors say cuts the fees paid for Crown court work by 54% in real terms. ...
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News
Charges plans hardly take justice from Silent Witness back to Life On Mars
As Gazette online reported on Monday, the home secretary has announced plans for the power to decide charges for those suspected of crimes to be passed from the Crown Prosecution Service to the police in 80% of cases. Such plans, we are told, will save ...
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News
Lady Justice Hallett could become the first woman lord chief justice
Lady Justice Hallett’s handling of the London bombing inquests has done her chances of becoming the next lord chief justice no harm at all. There isn’t a vacancy, of course, and Lord Judge, who celebrates his 70th birthday next week, is on excellent form. ...
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News
Sex discrimination case begins
A woman solicitor who alleges that her boss remarked she had ‘all the traits of a blonde’ and should find herself a rich husband has begun tribunal proceedings for sexual discrimination and unfair dismissal. Kate Welch, who worked at Birkenhead firm Nadim Associates from 1 July ...
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News
Comparisons between doctors and lawyers are outdated
by Beth Wanono, the outgoing Law Society Council member for students and trainees Jonathan Goldsmith drew an analogy between lawyers and doctors in his optimistic piece ‘Solicitors pass medical’.
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News
Insurer blames personal injury solicitors for whiplash claims
A leading UK insurer has blamed claimant personal injury solicitors for a rise in whiplash claims despite a fall in the number of collisions. Simon Douglas, director of AA Insurance, also suggested that law firms are partly responsible for spiralling motor insurance premiums. The Law Society has hit back at ...