All Law Gazette articles in Archive – Page 1564
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We need to reach a compromise on publishing complaints
The Legal Ombudsman had a difficult job deciding how to publish complaints details. The status quo of printing anonymised case studies is generally considered counter-productive. For consumer groups, the case studies have little authority; for law firms, they bring everyone into disrepute. But it is possible both sides of the ...
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Who’s in the running for top jobs at the ECtHR and Supreme Court?
By the time the courts adjourn for their next holiday break, we shall know who will be taking two highly influential judicial posts. The UK judge at the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) will sit on every case brought against the British government in Strasbourg. The president of the ...
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Solicitors can help litigants in person prepare for their day in court
I am on a mission and I need your help. I am worried about the increasing numbers of litigants appearing in the county courts of England and Wales without any legal representation.
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Fury like a courtroom scorned
Sitting on a jury seems an increasingly precarious business. Janet Chapman this week joined the growing list of jury members who have taken the short jump across to the dock. Her crime was so ridiculous it reads like a rejected Shameless episode. Chapman had faced three ...
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New magistrates' courts open
Two new magistrates’ courts opened this week in Chelmsford (pictured) and Colchester. Both will deal with the full range of criminal and family work, and Chelmsford will also have the capacity to deal with Crown court cases.
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Criminal law
Appeal - Engaging in misleading commercial practice R v Scottish and Southern Energy plc: Court of Appeal, Criminal Division (Lord Justice Davis, Mr Justice Nicol and Judge Kramer QC): 16 March 2012 ...
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Custodial sentence for holiday juror
A juror who pretended to be ill to go on holiday has been jailed for 56 days. Janet Chapman had telephoned the court during a four-week trial to say she would miss two weeks because she was suffering from sciatica. But Chapman had phoned in the ...
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‘Daft’ FoI requests can be ignored
Public bodies can safely ignore requests under the Freedom of Information Act (FoI) for their plans to deal with zombie invasions. Graham Smith, deputy information commissioner, told the Solicitors in Local Government annual weekend school last week that ‘silly and daft’ requests would be covered by existing guidance on vexatious ...
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Raw deal for LDPs?
Having spoken to the SRA on behalf of a current non-lawyer manager (NLM) LDP, I was left bewildered as to why any legal disciplinary practice would wish to convert to ABS before the automatic passporting process (which will be delayed). When the plans for the introduction ...
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Lit funder’s profits up
A leading US litigation funder has announced £10m profits ahead of its expansion into the UK market. In its financial results released this week, Burford Capital revealed it committed around £113m to 19 new investments during 2011. Since being launched in September 2009, the group has ...
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How to judge restorative justice
The Criminal Justice Alliance (CJA) has called on the government to legislate to increase the use of restorative justice - the process that gives victims the chance to tell offenders the impact of their crime.
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Immigration
Asylum - Refugee - Temporary admission R (on the application of ST (Eritrea)) v Secretary of State for the Home Department: Supreme Court (Lords Hope DP, Brown, Mance, Kerr, Clarke and Dyson, Lady Hale) : 21 March 2012 ...
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Intellectual property
Transfer of action - Action assigned to Patents County Court - Defendant applying for transfer of trade mark proceedings to High Court Comic Enterprises Ltd v Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation: PCC (Judge Birss QC): 22 March 2012 ...
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Taking liberties
Nothing in the world is more important than petrol and pasties, of course. But our short-attention-span media might have made even more of this week’s jaw-dropping proposals from home secretary Theresa May to introduce draconian new web snooping powers (Big Brother WILL BE watching you! trumpeted the Independent).
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NHS reforms ‘will mean more litigation’
The government’s reforms to the NHS in England are set to cause a wave of legal difficulties for local authorities, solicitors were warned this week. Ben Troke, partner at Midlands firm Browne Jacobson, told the Solicitors in Local Government annual weekend school that the Health and ...
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Stamping out misconduct
The role of tax planning in legal advice is under increased scrutiny. Tax planners are now in danger of being viewed as ‘tax avoiders’ (HM Revenue & Customs) or even ‘tax evaders’ (Solicitors Regulation Authority) - and the implications could be career shortening for solicitors. Here is why. ...