All Law Gazette articles in Archive – Page 1595
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CML moves to pool data on mortgage lender panels
Work is under way on the development of a system for sharing data about members of mortgage lenders’ conveyancing panels, to ease the administrative burden on solicitors, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) revealed last week. Paul Smee, the CML’s director general, told a Conveyancing ...
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Court flaws
The new procedure for issuing money claims out of Salford Business Centre makes no provision for proceedings which are up against the limitation date.
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Court lists and performance data to go online
Court lists and data on individual courts’ performance are to be made available online under plans expected to be published by the government today. A ‘right to data’ white paper from the Cabinet Office will also set out a timetable for publishing judges’ sentencing remarks online, ahead of their planned ...
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Herbert Smith merger creates ‘truly global’ giant
International law firm Herbert Smith is to merge with Australian firm Freehills to create one of the world’s largest firms. The new firm, Herbert Smith Freehills will, subject to regulatory approval, launch on 1 October, Herbert Smith said today. It will have 2,800 lawyers, including ...
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Injustice and vulnerable defendants
Vulnerable defendants are not getting fair trials and should have the benefit of the sort of special measures available to vulnerable witnesses in criminal trials, the Prison Reform Trust (PRT) suggests today.
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Flash Gordon
Describing solicitor Jeffrey Gordon (pictured) requires some impressive numbers. He was admitted in 1956 after five years of articles, which means the 78-year-old has been working in the law for 61 years. He has run more than 100 marathons, including all 32 London marathons, and he has run the London ...
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New technology forces legal profession into uncharted territory
Cloud computing is a form of outsourcing. There is legal process outsourcing where, classically, a large law firm sends some legal work to India where it will be undertaken more cheaply. And there is non-legal outsourcing – such as cloud computing – where a back-office function, such as file storage, ...
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Form guide
If ever there is a case for triple checking (what we sociologists call ‘triangulation’) what a client tells you, it is over the question of his criminal convictions, writes James Morton.
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Growing schism
Max Hill QC’s recent letter to the Gazette in reply to comments made by solicitors’ representatives highlights the schism between the two branches of a single profession.
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Intellectual property
Patent - Petition for revocation - Obviousness Unilever plc v SC Johnson & Son Inc: Patents County Court (Judge Birss QC): 25 May 2012 The Patents County Court held that ...
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Separate jurisdiction could leave Wales in slow lane, Society says
The Law Society has warned that creating a separate legal jurisdiction in Wales could ‘dilute some of the benefits’ which accrue to the country from its present alignment with England. Such a move would also raise questions relating to whether there needs to be a ...
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A retrograde step: scrapping trainee minimum
Charles Plant, chair of the board of the Solicitors Regulation Authority, says that the trainee solicitors’ minimum salary was introduced by the Law Society in 1982 ‘to prevent exploitation and attract high-calibre entrants. However, there is little evidence that it meets these aims effectively’ (By the Book).
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Soundbite propaganda
It would be helpful if those who believe they are entitled to instruct others on policy paid attention to their own words. Dr Peter Swinyard - no doubt an esteemed professional - being one such individual (‘Top GP backs checks on whiplash claims’).
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20 sign up to composite form as PII renewal gets under way
The Law Society has published a list of brokers and insurers accepting its composite proposal form for professional indemnity insurance as brokers warned solicitors to start sorting out cover early. So far brokers Aon, Bar Professions, Brunel, Giles Insurance, Hera Indemnity, Howden, Marsh, Prime Professions, QPI ...
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Land Registry promises fee cut after taking axe to costs
Land Registry fees will fall by an average of 10% next year thanks to savings made over the past five years, according to the agency’s latest annual report. However the registry said it could not say exactly which fees will be cut and by how much until a fees order ...
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Steer clear of CMCs, financial watchdog warns bank litigants
City regulator the Financial Services Authority has cautioned small business owners against using claims management companies (CMCs). The warning comes at the end of a damning report on the mis-selling of interest rate hedging products which highlighted banks’ ‘poor sales practices across a number of products’.