All articles by Catherine Baksi – Page 49
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Riverview barristers offer fixed-price divorces to wealthy
An innovative legal practice today launched a barrister-led fixed-price divorce service to cut costs for wealthy couples.
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‘Ludicrous, immoral and wicked’: Bach bites back at LASPO
Lord (Willy) Bach, the peer who led Labour’s opposition to the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders bill in the House of Lords, stepped down last week as shadow legal aid minister, a couple of days before the measure received royal assent to become an act. ...
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Justice chief to step down after 11 years
Roger Smith, the director of human rights group Justice, has announced that he is to stand down at the end of October after 11 years in the job. Smith, a solicitor and Gazette columnist, said he intends to do more journalism and work on a book ...
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Labour would ‘rebalance’ justice system and legal aid
Labour will not yet commit to reversing specific changes contained in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act, the shadow justice minister said this week. However, Andrew Slaughter MP promised a future Labour government would ‘rebalance the justice system’ in favour of those ...
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Clarke asks top judges to probe disclosure sanctions
Justice secretary Kenneth Clarke has asked two senior judges to review sanctions for disclosure failures in criminal trials, to ‘mitigate the resource burden’ imposed by disclosure.
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Appeal court backs law firm in ‘you’re fired’ retainer row
Solicitors are entitled to suspend work for clients who have not paid their bill in accordance with the contractual term of business agreed, the Court of Appeal has ruled in a key case on retainers. The judgment, in favour of Hampstead, London, firm Cawdery Kaye Fireman ...
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LASPO goes on the statute book
The controversial Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act received royal assent today, 11 months after it was introduced to parliament. Part 1 of the act paves the way for cuts to the scope of and eligibility for legal aid; part 2 reforms conditional fee agreements. Both come into ...
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UK right not to adopt EU justice measure, Lords committee says
European Union laws setting minimum rights for defendants and victims are in the interests of British citizens, but the government was right not to sign up to a Lisbon treaty proposal guaranteeing suspects access to a lawyer, a committee of peers has said. The Lords Justice ...
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Solicitor judges get their own network
The Law Society is to create a new membership section - the Solicitor Judges Division - to create a community of solicitor judges. The division, which will be launched at Chancery Lane on 9 May, is intended to provide opportunities for networking and supporting solicitors in their judicial careers, through ...
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Move to close criminal advice loophole
A legal loophole that has allowed police to deny suspects their right to consult a solicitor could be closed by a change in the law. Home Office officials have agreed to propose an amendment to the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) 1984, imposing a ...
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LASPO bound for statute book after cliffhanger final vote
The government’s controversial legal aid reforms are set to become law after it won its final battle over the bill in the House of Lords yesterday. Peers had inflicted 14 defeats on the government in votes on proposed amendments to the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment ...
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Competition reform could boost collective litigation
Government proposals to reform competition law, making it easier to bring class actions against firms in breach, could ‘fuel’ claims and ‘create a new business in collective litigation’, the Confederation of British Industry has warned. A consultation published this week by the Department for Business, Innovation ...
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Chancery Lane slams ‘flawed’ BSB report
The Law Society has condemned as ‘flawed and self-serving’ a Bar Standards Board survey alleging a decline in the quality of advocacy. The report, Perceptions of Criminal Advocacy, found that a majority of barristers responding to an online survey blamed pressure on criminal legal aid ...
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Court interpreter situation 'improving'
Large numbers of court hearings are still being hit by interpreter problems nearly three months after new contracting arrangements began - but the situation has improved, new figures indicate.
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Private prosecution pioneer opens
A firm thought to be the first private prosecution specialist in Britain opened in London last week to ‘fill a gap in the tackling of economic crime’. Edmonds Marshall McMahon, established as a legal disciplinary practice, will specialise in fraud, counterfeiting, regulatory offences, corporate crime and ...
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Legal aid bill back in Commons for latest ping pong round
The government suffered three more House of Lords defeats to its plans to cut legal aid last night, setting the scene for a further tussle in the Commons today. The parliamentary ping pong follows 11 defeats initially inflicted by peers on the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of offenders bill, ...
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Will-writing must become reserved activity, LSB says
Proposals to regulate all providers of will-writing and estate administration come a step closer today as the Legal Services Board confirms plans to make the services ‘reserved activities’. Under proposals published today, designed to provide greater consumer protection, all providers of such services would be regulated. ...
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Solicitor advocates dragging standards down, says BSB research
Low rates for criminal legal aid and the growing share of work taken by solicitor advocates are contributing to a decline in advocacy standards that is harming the administration of justice, according to a survey by the Bar Standards Board. The report, Perceptions of Criminal Advocacy, ...
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Interpreter 'bite' mistake causes trial collapse
A four-day burglary trial at a London Crown court collapsed last week after an interpreter made a mistake translating the defendant’s evidence. The trial at Snaresbrook (pictured) was halted on Friday afternoon after the Romanian language interpreter admitted mistakenly telling the court that the defendant had allegedly been ‘bitten’ rather ...
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Care crisis looms without more funds, Society says
The Law Society has warned that greater resources are needed to prevent a crisis in the care system as the number of applications soars to record levels. Annual figures released by the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) show that for the ...