All Law Gazette articles in Archive – Page 1640
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News
Which? welcomes new civil court powers
Consumer charity Which? has welcomed government proposals to give courts new powers to provide redress for consumers. Executive director Richard Lloyd said plans outlined in a consultation on civil enforcement remedies ‘should help ensure consumers are no longer left out of pocket if they ...
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News
‘No guarantees’ RTA Portal will be ready for new role
The operator of the RTA Portal has said there are ‘no guarantees’ that changes needed to extend the claims system’s scope will be completed by the government’s April 2013 implementation date. Changes to the electronic claims system are being made to meet the Ministry of Justice’s ...
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News
ABS takes the high road to Scottish market
Recent alternative business structure convert Parabis has announced a move into the Scottish market. The firm says its expansion has been driven by demand from clients in England and Wales and is reflective of a changing legal profession in Scotland. The new Parabis office in Glasgow ...
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News
Teaching lawyers not to be shy
Is shyness holding you back in your legal career? Whether it’s a networking event, a meeting, a public speaking opportunity or even a pitch to a new client – all of these can be painful experiences if you are very shy. And if you are avoiding ...
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News
PII market shrinks as firms shop around
Law firms appear to have shopped around more in 2012 than in previous years as they spent £240m on professional indemnity insurance. The leading three insurers’ share of the market fell from 43% to 38%, according to figures released by the Solicitors Regulation Authority today. XL ...
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News
Forensic science: the police piper calls the tune
Alistair Logan provides a powerful account of the disturbing consequences of the enforced closure of the Forensic Science Service (FSS). We, who were members of the FSS until its closure, write to amplify the concerns that he expressed.
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News
Claims managers to cough up more for regulation
The government is to raise fees for claims management regulation as it prepares for an exodus of companies from the market. The Ministry of Justice, which regulates claims management companies (CMCs), plans to raise application fees in 2013/14 by 47% and remove the current cap on ...
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News
Digital by default
For some reason it failed to top the world’s news agenda, but yesterday the government announced a revolution in the way it interacts with citizens and businesses. The Cabinet Office published a strategy for Whitehall to go ‘digital by default’, meaning that Amazon-style online transactions will finally replace paper forms, ...
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News
APIL slams £500k ‘token gesture’ crime victim fund
The government is to push through cuts of £50m from compensation to crime victims - but will provide a £500,000 hardship fund to help some victims excluded under the reform. Lawyers denounced the measure as ‘a token gesture’. Justice minister Helen Grant told parliament last week ...
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Society steps in over Hamza legal aid row
The Law Society has offered to work with the government to increase public understanding and confidence in legal aid after the justice minister announced an ‘immediate examination’ of the system following the Abu Hamza extradition case. Chris Grayling ordered the review yesterday after it emerged ...
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News
All fright on the night
Last week’s London Legal Support Trust Halloween thrash was held in the appropriately sepulchral precincts of the Royal College of Surgeons, Lincoln’s Inn. The drinks reception in the Hunterian Museum of anatomy beforehand was certainly not suitable for those of a nervous disposition. Jar after ...
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News
Anachronistic nonsense
Now that the Bar Council has decided to imitate the stupidity of our side of the profession and allow barristers to practise in an alternative business structure, why is it continuing to maintain the pretence of the cab-rank principle? This only ever existed in the way ...
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News
Bureaucracy is dragging the criminal justice system back centuries
by Christopher Coltart, a barrister at 2 Hare Court Historically, it was by no means easy for an acquitted defendant to recover legal costs. Indeed, until 1774, acquitted defendants were not even released from custody until their prison dues had been paid.
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News
Bare essentials
As Gazette readers will know, debate rumbles on between lawyers and the Legal Services Commission about the timeliness of payments. Invited by the Law Society president to crowd-source solutions for parts of the legal profession that are struggling, Obiter cast a productive set of yeux ...
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News
Blazing a trail: women and the judiciary
Who was the first woman judge in England and Wales? If you replied ‘Elizabeth Lane’, award yourself an A grade: Lane (1905-1998) became the first female county court judge in 1962, moving to the High Court three years later.
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News
ECJ blocks Hungarian retirement law
The Hungarian government’s widely criticised attempt to cull the country’s judiciary by lowering the retirement age of judges to 62 has run foul of the European Court of Justice. The court ruled this week that the changes constituted unjustified discrimination.
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News
Pro bono hours dip as cuts loom
The average amount of pro bono work undertaken by solicitors has fallen by nearly 15% over the past year, according to a Law Society survey published today. Although Chancery Lane says the decline reflects a narrower definition than that used in previous polls, the trend will renew fears about access ...
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Feature
BOOK REVIEW Shardlake series – ‘Dissolution’ and others
Author: C. J. Sansom With the recent Booker Prize mantle having gone to a masterpiece about the life of Thomas Cromwell, perhaps now is the time to revisit CJ Sansom’s superb Tudor thrillers. The ‘Shardlake’ series bursts into the ...
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Feature
BOOK REVIEW Children and Cross-Examination: Time To Change The Rules?
Author: Edited by John R Spencer and Michael E Lamb The thesis of this collection of essays is that the treatment of a young child’s evidence in criminal proceedings needs to be radically changed. In 1989 the Pigot Committee ...
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News
Firms must rethink how to tap into energy boom
Flashpoints in the international energy industry, from oil drilling in the Arctic to gas field disputes in the eastern Mediterranean, will mean big opportunities for law firms – if they are prepared to reassess how they practise, according to City consultants. A report published last week ...