All Law Gazette articles in Archive – Page 1487
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News
Cloud computing: an ethical challenge for lawyers
The European Commission is consulting widely on cloud computing. In brief, for newcomers to the topic, cloud computing is the storage of data on servers outside your personal ownership. There are mega-providers out there who will store your data for a fee which is cheaper ...
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News
Claimant lawyers blast ABI claims over compensation
Claimant solicitors have hit out at claims by insurers that consumers get more compensation when they avoid dealing with solicitors. The Association of British Insurers suggested yesterday that the number of personal injury claims received by insurers leapt by 72% between 2002 and 2010. ...
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News
Lawyers concerned over ABS impact, survey suggests
Solicitors expect a high number of law firm closures as a result of alternative business structures, research has suggested. A survey of 150 law firms by referral service Contact Law found that 36% thought one in five high street law firms will go out of business ...
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MoJ overturns ban on cameras in court
Justice secretary Ken Clarke has confirmed the blanket ban on filming in law courts will be overturned ‘to improve public understanding’ of the justice system. Broadcasting will initially be allowed from the Court of Appeal before expanding to include the Crown court. ...
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Feature
BOOK REVIEW Banks on Sentence
Author: Robert Banks Mrs Justice Rafferty describes Banks on Sentence as simply indispensable. Yet with devastating cuts continuing to be made to public funding for criminal cases, most firms are seeking to remove any unnecessary expenditure from their budgets. ...
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News
New provider enters PII market
A new provider has entered the professional indemnity insurance market with less than a month to go until the renewal deadline. Lloyd’s of London broker Bar Professions has secured a new insurer that will look to cover firms of between one and 25 partners of any ...
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News
Stephen Mayson - ABS licensing is a 'shambles'
The Solicitors Regulation Authority’s failure to meet the 6 October target date for licensing alternative business structures was branded a ‘shambles’ by a leading market commentator this week. Professor Stephen Mayson (pictured), director of the Legal Services Policy Institute, told delegates at a Westminster Legal Policy ...
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News
Brands and the market share land grab
As the holiday season comes to an end and we face the autumn of change in the legal services market it is worth having a brief review of the announcements that will affect how you plan your firm’s marketing. These are key moves that will ...
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News
You’re on candid camera, M’learned friend
And so it begins. Cameras will soon be allowed into court, according to justice secretary Ken Clarke, beaming judges’ verdicts into living rooms like a horror version of Jackanory. Opponents to change will mourn the announcement like Luddites watching the machines start up, raging against the ...
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News
Labour targets Lib Dems on legal aid bill
Solicitors have welcomed opposition amendments to the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill tabled this week, but warned that debate on access to justice issues could be drowned out if MPs choose to focus on sentencing reform as a result of political priorities. ...
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News
Legal aid reform could be 'business deterrent'
The government’s legal aid reforms could undermine the reputation of the English legal system and deter people from doing business in the UK, the chairman-elect of the Bar Council has warned. Michael Todd QC (pictured) told the Gazette that the English legal system boasts exceptional judges ...
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News
Labour’s legal aid bill amendments fail
Opposition amendments to the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill have been rejected by a committee of MPs. The Legal Aid Committee has voted to turn down a series of changes put forward by Labour to the bill. Opponents wanted ...
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News
Whitehall plans to scrap AJTC ‘perverse’
Government plans to scrap the Administrative Justice & Tribunals Council are ‘misguided’ and ‘perverse’, the body’s chair has told the Ministry of Justice. Responding to the consultation proposing the abolition of the AJTC, Richard Thomas said the independent body, which reviews the administrative justice system and ...
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News
Alternative business structures 'some way off' in Scotland
Alternative business structures are unlikely to become a reality in Scotland until well after they are sanctioned and operating in England and Wales, it has emerged. The Law Society of Scotland said this week that the latest legislative timetable from Holyrood indicates a start date ...
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News
Record numbers of children subject to care applications
The numbers of children subject to applications to be taken into care climbed to record levels in 2011, the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) announced today. Cafcass received 885 applications last month, the highest number ever received in August since it began ...
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News
Apprenticeships make sense
If the cost of being a law student is as high and burdensome as people say it is; and if sitting the LPC is an expensive ‘punt’ at a career, why not introduce a solicitor apprenticeship (‘student solicitor’) scheme? This might copy the FILEX programme, ...
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News
Call for changes to quality assurance scheme
The Law Society is to make a direct appeal to regulators to change details of the contentious Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates (QASA). Several solicitor-advocates have contacted the Society to register their concerns at the proposed assessment scheme. In particular, practitioners have ...
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News
Unite campaign backs public service interpreting
Trade union Unite is to launch a campaign to support public service interpreting and ensure that properly trained translators are used by criminal justice agencies.
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News
‘Solicitors from Hell’ owner gets bankruptcy order
The owner of the Solicitors from Hell website, Rick Kordowski, was made the subject of a bankruptcy order on 7 September 2011, the Gazette can confirm. The petition had been supported by a number of solicitors with damages and costs awards against him. In ...
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News
Banks pledge to help with cashflow problems
Four high street banks have agreed to help law firms that are experiencing cashflow difficulties resulting from the ongoing delays in payment from the Legal Services Commission, following a request from the Law Society. Chancery Lane wrote to banks to alert them to the problems being ...