All Law Gazette articles in Archive – Page 1586
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Keep out of politics
The Law Society says that government plans to make it easier for small businesses to dismiss employees will not help those businesses to grow. The Society’s Employment Law Committee chairman’s views to this effect were quoted in a Society press release.
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Keeping schtum
With more than 100 ABS-wannabes at stage 2 of the laborious application process, we’re not expecting a brass band to march down Chancery Lane every time the SRA approves a new alternative business structure. But perhaps it might be worth telling the successful firm itself?
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No slave labour
In his Comment Hekim Hannan states: ‘Why take on a trainee in Sept 2013, pay them £33,300 over two years when you could take on a paralegal on the minimum wage... give them a training contract the following year and pay £33,195 over a three-year period’. ...
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Memory lane
Law Society’s Gazette, 3 May 1972 Better off on supplementary benefits? (Letter to the editor) ...
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Law Society responds to training review
Bottlenecks in the legal training system are inevitable so long as there are more aspiring entrants to the profession than the market can employ, the Law Society points out in its first formal response to the Legal Education and Training Review (LETR). The response is broadly in favour of the ...
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What’s in a name?
There may be a very good reason why solicitors are reluctant to give their names to reporters after representing their clients in the local magistrates’ court. Reporters never write it down correctly and always get it wrong. I have never lived down a report in our ...
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Patently obvious? You’d think so
The UK is not universally loved in Europe. Just ask Engelbert Humperdinck. So the notoriously Europhile justice secretary Kenneth Clarke was in an awkward position this week in respect of the new European patents court. Chancery Lane added its voice to warnings that UK plc will miss out on up ...
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Unity is strength
Des Hudson and Avtar Bhatoa’s remarks (Hudson: bar strike would ‘damage profession’) will, regrettably, be music to Whitehall’s ears. The criminal bar does not want to strike. Over a number of years, we have lobbied and campaigned in the public interest against reforms and cuts ...
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Training woes
Susan Singleton clearly does not ‘get’ how hard it is these days to qualify and how much competition there is. I agree that persistence does usually pay off. However, with tuition fees now at £9,000 a year for a law degree, not to mention the Legal ...
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Let’s stop car insurance blame game
Once you’ve finished this article I urge you to buy the Highway Code. Then spend every waking hour reading it, just to avoid ever getting behind the wheel again.
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Osborne Clarke continues strong revenue trend
National firm Osborne Clarke has reported a new high in revenues for the last financial year of £97.7m. The figure was an increase of 8% on the previous year and reflected the firm’s best financial performance in its history. Net profit increased by 6% during 2011/12. ...
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Portal won’t cope with extension, says Law Society
The Law Society will refuse to support an extension of the RTA portal until there are major structural changes to the system. The Society has warned the government it will be impossible to extend the portal to include employer and public liability cases.
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LSB sets diversity reporting deadline
Law firms have until the end of September to provide diversity data about every member of staff, including their ethnicity, religious beliefs, socio-economic background and sexual orientation. The timeline emerged last week when the Legal Services Board (LSB) published its qualified approval of the Solicitors Regulation ...
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Three questions about the International Bar Association
I am writing this from The Hague in the Netherlands, where I am attending a variety of International Bar Association (IBA) meetings, including one for Bar Leaders. It has led me to reflect on the structure and aims of the IBA, which are not often publicly discussed. I have as ...
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Matrimonial lawyers and accounting experts
European finance ministers are currently learning what matrimonial lawyers have known for years - a change in relationship is rarely straightforward when there is a lot of money at stake.
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Darwinian times
Last week’s announcement by the Co-operative that it is looking to add 3,000 staff to its 475-strong legal services arm over the next five years shows just how fierce competition is going to get in the legal market. Of course time will tell whether the Co-op achieves its ambitious plans.
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Why I plotted to smuggle explosives
My palms sweat when I think about it now, but I was once party to a plot to smuggle plastic explosives into the Palace of Westminster.
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Law firms warned of cyber crime threat
UK law firms must strengthen their online security to protect clients from international hacking fraud, a former assistant US attorney warned today. He added that UK and US intelligence services report that China and Russia are both putting more resources into industrial espionage operations and that ...
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DWF to merge with Scots firm
National firm DWF has announced plans to merge with Scottish firm Biggart Baillie from next month. The business law firm, which last week topped the £100m turnover mark for the first time, will add to its 10 existing offices with further bases in Glasgow and Edinburgh. ...