Commentary and opinion – Page 186
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OpinionChannel 4 was right to screen The Murder Trial
Last night’s two-hour TV documentary about the Scottish trial of fruit and veg seller Nat Fraser for the murder of his wife Arlene offered a fascinating insight in the reality and banality of the courtroom. Despite the horrific and extraordinary nature of the offence, the programme, even with its sometimes ...
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Opinion
Lewisham Hospital prompts tribunal of the people
It is increasingly obvious that citizens worldwide are becoming disenchanted and disengaged with established government. This has been manifest in various forms of political and economic meltdown. Underpinning all the movements is a desire for accountability and transparency. Where this is not forthcoming ordinary people are finding ways of exercising ...
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Opinion
London legal pre-eminence is not set in stone
Honeyed words from Abhijit Mukhopadhyay, in-house head of legal at the multi-billion-pound international Hinduja Group. ‘There is a global respect for English law and London lawyers are the most experienced in the world,’ he told delegates at the Law Society’s International Marketplace Conference last week. Yet the global market is ...
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OpinionWhy the Magna Carta still has relevance today
What shall we be doing in the summer of 2015? A general election is scheduled for 7 May. If Theresa May gets her way, we shall be voting on whether to denounce a list of rights and liberties that will have been binding on our rulers for little more than ...
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Opinion
Helping out litigants in person
A report has been published by the Judicial Working Group on litigants in person. It explores possible judicial responses to the expected rise in litigants in person caused by the recent cuts to public funding for legal aid.
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OpinionTactics emerge in costs budgeting
Some interesting points emerged in relation to costs budgeting at IBC Legal’s Impact of Jackson conference last week. By now, many litigators will have had to knuckle down and complete Precedent H – the form through which they must provide the opposing party with an estimate of their costs in ...
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Opinion
Axa calls for three-day limit on whiplash claims
Whiplash claims should be made within three days of the alleged accident and include evidence of physical injury if they are to succeed, insurance giant Axa said today. The recommendations are part of a wishlist for the government to adopt on whiplash, copying models already in place in France and ...
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OpinionDefendant firms are turkeys protecting Christmas
This may surprise you, but not all my correspondence is adoring fanmail. Indeed, on some occasions people tell me rather forcefully that I’m wrong, and often in the kind of language that gives our email filter system nightmares. The majority of angry responses come from defendant firms who take issue ...
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OpinionCounting the cost of interventions
The cost of law firm failures is being felt across the solicitors’ profession. The Gazette reported recently that the unprecedented bill for the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) intervening in failing firms means that we will all have to pay an extra £23 each towards the compensation fund in the coming ...
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Opinion
Open justice? Open court listings would be a start
A century ago, in Scott v Scott (1913), the House of Lords affirmed the common law rule that courts must administer justice in public. Just last week, Lord Justice Kay cited the ruling when rejecting a request by a Saudi prince for litigation to be heard in private. He ruled: ...
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Opinion
Using Google Analytics
GA is a simple piece of code/script that drops a cookie onto a visitor, to track them and their behaviour whilst on your website.
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OpinionThe jury’s out on the European Public Prosecutor
Ladies and gentlemen, this is the case of United Kingdom vs the European Public Prosecutor’s Office.
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Opinion
Legal aid proposals intended to strengthen the power of the state
No one can say that I have not done my bit for the profession
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OpinionPrivate client: a good place to be
There was a very positive mood at the Private Client Section’s annual conference on Friday.
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OpinionThe best of summer holiday reading
It’s the time of year when every respectable journal tells you what reading to pack for the beach, and so here goes. Crime The fiction list for lawyers has not been strong this year. A late contender is the publication in the last few days of the Financial Action Task ...
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OpinionVictim surcharge: unintended consequences
I have always felt uneasy about the victim surcharge
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OpinionVulnerable people are most at risk from PCT
The legal profession has been up in arms over the proposed introduction of price-competitive tendering. But no one should be more concerned than individuals living with learning difficulties and disabilities such as autism, because they are the ones most at risk as a result of the changes. Criminal defence specialists ...
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Opinion
Legal walks have come to exemplify all that is best about the profession
In our exclusive interview with the justice secretary last week, Chris Grayling stressed that he would never use the term ‘fat-cat lawyer’.
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OpinionWorkplace giving could help your firm demonstrate its CSR credentials
Charitable giving can be a very personal thing, and at a time when we all have our hands on the purse strings charities need extra support now more than ever.
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OpinionEU withdrawal would be dire for profession
Withdrawal from the EU is staring us in the face. It is a good time to spell out what the consequences might be for lawyers.