All articles by Catherine Baksi – Page 58
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News
Judges not ‘quangocrats’ should accredit advocacy, says Deech
Judicial assessment will be a key component of the Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates (QASA), rather than assessment by ‘quangocrats and drama coaches’ according to the Bar Standards Board chair. Lady Deech said the controversial scheme ‘depends on the involvement of judges as the assessors of ...
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LSC improves its performance - but still overpays £51m
The National Audit Office has qualified the Legal Services Commission’s accounts for the third year running, due to overpayments made to providers. The commission’s annual report, published today, reveals that in 2010/11 the LSC overpaid legal aid providers an estimated £51 million; £29.5m due to solicitors’ ...
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Criminal-case mediation ‘by 2020’
Compulsory mediation of civil disputes and mediation of criminal cases could be introduced in the UK by 2020, a High Court judge has suggested. Mr Justice Ramsey (pictured) predicted that in 10 years’ time a Mediation Act would make the process compulsory before parties could ...
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Family justice manifesto calls for rethink on cuts
An alliance of groups opposed to the government’s family legal aid cuts has published a Manifesto for Family Justice, urging MPs to reconsider the proposals. The groups are concerned about the impact that provisions in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill removing legal ...
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Private equity buys into QualitySolicitors
QualitySolicitors has agreed a funding deal which marks the first major investment by private equity in the high street legal market, the Gazette can reveal. Pan-European private equity house Palamon Capital Partners has invested a ‘significant’ sum in QS. The agreement will see it gain a ...
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New revolt on advocacy accreditation
Solicitor advocates have condemned plans to roll out the ‘bar-centric’ and potentially ‘unlawful’ Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates (QASA) next April. More than 200 attended a meeting in London this week to voice their opposition to the ‘deeply flawed’ scheme, which some claim is ‘designed ...
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Government’s mediation drive reflects ‘jaundiced’ view of law
The government’s drive to encourage mediation instead of court litigation is diverting attention from cuts to civil legal aid and the consequent reduction in access to justice, according to a leading academic. Professor Dame Hazel Genn told the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators' mediation symposium on Wednesday ...
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News focus: property conference
Attendance at the Law Society’s property conference in London last week was the highest since 2008. Perhaps this demonstrates the need for firms to come together for support as they grapple with upheavals in the legal services sector and conveyancing market.
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News
Bring on ‘Woolf II’, top judge urges
A leading judge has called for a second wave of civil justice reforms, encouraging better use of IT, and greater efforts to promote UK legal services internationally. Mr Justice Vos said the UK’s law and legal system are highly respected overseas, but ‘not enough is done ...
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Bach seeks to scupper 10% legal aid fee cut
Former legal aid minister Lord Bach has tabled a House of Lords motion calling for the statutory instrument that introduced 10% cuts to legal aid lawyers’ fees this month to be annulled.
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Focus on new markets to survive house-buying collapse, conveyancers told
Residential conveyancers should focus on landlords and investors to survive the collapse in the traditional market, property lawyers were told this week. Yolande Barnes, director of residential research at estate agents Savills, told a Law Society property conference there is a ‘fundamental structural change’ in the ...
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Quality assurance scheme to go ahead from April
The architects of a scheme to assure the quality of criminal advocates say it is back on track to start in April 2012. The Joint Advocacy Group (JAG) said that the Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates has been tweaked to ensure it ‘protects the public ...
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Spending cuts 'could threaten' innovative court
Spending cuts could threaten the future of the Family Drug and Alcohol Court (FDAC), the judge behind the innovative institution has warned. He called for joined-up government to recognise the savings it makes.
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News
Conveyancers could sue over panels
Conveyancing firms removed from the panels of Santander and Lloyds Banking Group could have claims against the lenders, according to legal advice obtained by a Hertfordshire firm. Paul Judkins (pictured), a partner at Judkins, has received advice from Philip Coppel QC, of London’s 4-5 Gray’s Inn ...
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Clegg censures lawyers on social mobility
The legal profession needs to open its doors wider to new entrants and do more to encourage social mobility, the deputy prime minister told lawyers this week. Speaking to the Financial Services Lawyers Association, Nick Clegg said: ‘Your profession judges and represents people in court, so ...
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News
Extended opening hours could boost magistracy
Government plans to extend magistrates’ operating hours into evenings and weekends could increase the diversity of the magistracy, but should not be carried out at the expense of daytime sitting, according to the chair of the Magistrates’ Association. John Thornhill told the Gazette that justice minister ...
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News
Keep ministers out of legal aid decisions - LSC
The chairman of the Legal Services Commission has warned of the risk of ministers intervening for political reasons in decisions about the granting of legal aid. Speaking at the Legal Aid Practitioners Group conference in Birmingham last week, Sir Bill Callaghan (pictured) expressed concerns that ...
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News
Clarke to consult on competitive tendering
The justice secretary has confirmed that the government will publish a consultation on the introduction of competitive tendering for criminal defence services this year. In a letter to the Bar Council chair Peter Lodder QC, Kenneth Clarke sets out the government’s intention to press ahead with ...
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CPS to go paperless by April, says Starmer
The Director of Public Prosecutions has committed to making the Crown Prosecution Service entirely digital by April 2012. Keir Starmer QC told a Law Society seminar that the criminal justice system needs to move away from a paper-based system and transform the way criminal cases are ...
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Advocacy assurance scheme put on hold for a month
The launch of the Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates (QASA) has been delayed and the consultation on its design extended, the Joint Advocacy Group (JAG) announced today. The JAG, set up with representatives of the Solicitors Regulation Authority, the Bar Standards Board and ILEX Professional Services ...