All articles by Catherine Baksi – Page 53
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News
No solicitors make the silk round
Not a single solicitor was among the 88 new Queen's Counsel appointments announced today. Of the 214 applicants, only two came from solicitor advocates; neither was successful. Since 2008, six solicitors have been made QC. Last year two out of the five who applied ...
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News
Time for the silk cut?
Since the Queen's Counsel selection panel replaced the more secretive machinations of the Lord Chancellor for the appointment of silks, only 11 of the 714 who have received the accolade have been solicitors.
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Tuckers offers services to rival firms
Criminal law firm Tuckers is to make its billing, diary management and other back-office operations available to rival firms in an innovative partnering initiative that it hopes will cut operating costs and save lawyers’ jobs.
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LSC chair pledges to safeguard ‘high-quality’ legal aid system
The legal aid system in England and Wales ‘compares favourably’ with any in the world, despite the proposed cuts, according to the chair of the Legal Services Commission. In a speech, Sir Bill Callaghan (pictured) told Liverpool Law Society: ‘Together the LSC and legal aid ...
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News
Mesothelioma ruling opens way to higher payouts for elderly
Elderly victims of mesothelioma could be entitled to substantial compensation, following a landmark ruling on damages for pain and suffering. In the High Court last week Mrs Justice Swift awarded 92-year-old Dennis Ball £50,000 compensation for pain and suffering after he developed asbestos-related cancer following his ...
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Scots join outcry against HSBC panel
The Law Society of Scotland has called on lender HSBC to suspend its new conveyancing panel system, which it claims will cause chaos for hundreds of property transactions north of the border. The Society said only ‘a handful’ of law firms in Scotland are among ...
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MoJ interpreting hub a ‘false economy’
Concern is mounting that the Ministry of Justice's central contract for interpreting work could prove a false economy, incurring knock-on costs for criminal justice agencies.
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Protect legal privilege, bar urges government
The Bar Council has urged the government to protect the right of citizens to hold private conversations with their lawyers. The call, supported the Law Society, comes as the proposed Protection of Freedoms Bill, intended to protect people from unwarranted state intrusion in their private lives, goes through parliament.
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News
Roger Smith: legal aid reforms ‘unsustainable’
The director of law reform and human rights organisation Justice has condemned the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill as ‘so bad’ that it will not survive if it is enacted. Roger Smith (pictured) described the package of reforms in the bill, which ...
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News
Government to legislate on shared parenting - Clarke
Strengthening shared parenting after divorce and speeding up care and adoption cases are among ‘ambitious and system-wide’ reforms outlined by the government today to improve the family justice system. Responding to the Norgrove Family Justice Review, justice secretary Kenneth Clarke said the government would implement many ...
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News
Restrict title to fight fraud, Land Registry urges
Property owners are being encouraged to register a restriction requiring a solicitor to certify their identity as homeowner before their property can be sold, in the Land Registry’s latest move against property fraud. From this month, the Registry’s Form LL restriction will be free for absent ...
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News
Deech: barristers and solicitors should share training
Barristers and solicitors should share most of their training, the chair of the Bar Standards Board has proposed. Lady Deech (pictured) told students at Oxford University last week that the new structures in which lawyers can practise, and the severe shortage of pupillages, have called into question the way both ...
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News
Law centres warn on legal aid cuts
Law centres will close, leaving ‘many thousands’ of the poor and marginalised without access to justice if the government’s legal aid cuts are implemented, peers have warned. In a short debate this week, Labour’s former legal aid minister Lord Bach asked what assessment the ...
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News
Law Society outlines initiatives to reinforce access to justice
The Law Society vice-president has outlined initiatives to bolster access to justice following the government’s proposed legal aid reforms - but stressed that Chancery Lane has not given up its opposition to the cuts. Lucy Scott-Moncrieff (pictured) told the Gazette that the Society has given ‘a ...
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News
Judges ponder action over pensions
Judges are considering legal action to block an increase in their pension contributions. The judges claim that the changes, which follow the 2010 Hutton report on public service pensions and come into force in April, would be unlawful and have set up an action group to ...
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News
Government at odds with itself on domestic violence
The debate over the definition of domestic violence used in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill highlights the absence of joined-up thinking within the government. Even as the bill appears to seek to adopt a narrower definition of domestic violence than that commonly ...
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News
LSC wins right to recover overpayments
The Legal Services Commission has won a test case against solicitors to recover overpayments. The High Court decision is likely to open the way to the commission recouping millions of pounds in payments made on account which were never properly accounted for. The solicitors concerned ...
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News
News focus: lenders in the line of fire
A row over the effect of lenders’ conveyancing panel policies on consumer choice escalated this week, with HSBC denying a claim that it is forcing customers to use firms on its new panel. The bank, which has 10% of the UK mortgage market, prompted outrage earlier this month by announcing ...
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News
LSC offers final chance for family contracts
The Legal Services Commission has fended off the threat of litigation from firms that failed to get family and housing contracts, by announcing a licence-only tender to give firms a final chance to secure a contract. The Law Society welcomed the LSC’s ‘pragmatic and sensible’ decision, ...
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News
Warning over BSB's 'cab rank' plans
The Legal Services Board has formally warned the Bar Standards Board over proposed changes to the bar’s ‘cab rank’ rule. It says in a letter that the LSB is ‘considering whether to refuse’ a rule change application submitted by the BSB in October 2011. The new ...