All articles by Deven Pamben
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Tribunals in Wales face major shake-up
Tribunals in Wales face substantial reform after their supervisory body found them lacking in independence, openness, impartiality and efficiency.
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Straw vows corruption bill will become law
Justice secretary Jack Straw has told parliament that he is determined to ensure that the draft bribery bill becomes legislation before a general election. He was responding last week to a joint committee’s concerns about the parliamentary time available for the new measure, which would create two new offences.
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Charles Plant named as SRA’s next chair
Charles Plant has been appointed chair of the Solicitors Regulation Authority board. The Herbert Smith consultant will take up his post on 1 January 2010, taking over from Peter Williamson. The appointment was made by a panel of five, chaired by Elizabeth Filkin, the former parliamentary commissioner for standards. ...
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Kent local authority legal teams join forces
Three mid-Kent local authorities are to join forces in a shared legal services project that aims to save more than £250,000 a year. Under the new model, legal staff at Swale, Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells borough councils will remain based at their authorities but support ...
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Cuts, freezes and sabbaticals mooted at top-100 firms
Top law firms are re-evaluating their staffing policies by introducing more flexible working to avoid making redundancies, according to research by Sweet & Maxwell. The legal information provider found firms are introducing more flexibility, offering sabbaticals, retraining and part-time working to their employees.
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Professional independence in danger, incoming president warns
The legal profession is in danger of losing its independence, incoming Law Society president Bob Heslett warned last week. Heslett (pictured), who assumes the office next month, has identified three key themes and 11 objectives to tackle during his year in office. The themes will ...
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Lawyers on honours list
Michael Smyth, a partner at Clifford Chance, has been awarded a CBE for services to pro bono legal work in the Queen’s birthday honours list. A partner since 1990, Smyth is an author of Business and Human Rights Act (2000) and chairman of Public Concern at Work, the whistleblowing charity.
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Law Society research shows women’s share of the profession growing
The number of women admitted to the profession grew five times faster than the rate for men in the 10 years to July 2008, new Law Society research reveals. The latest Trends in the Solicitors’ Profession study, carried out by Chancery Lane’s research unit, paints ...
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LCS puts coal-compensation claims on hold
The Legal Complaints Service has gone against the advice of its watchdog by refusing to re-open around 160 complaints against Yorkshire law firm Raleys concerning compensation payments to miners. The LCS, which suspended investigations in March, said it will not reopen the cases until the ...
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Chancery Lane defers decision on compensation fund levy
The Law Society’s Council yesterday deferred a final decision on the level of this year’s compensation fund levy until its next monthly meeting in July.Society president Paul Marsh said this was to accommodate further discussion with the SRA on the matter. Papers for yesterday’s meeting include ...
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MoJ publishes report on local legal advice
A government-commissioned report on local legal advice provision has recommended that the Legal Services Commission work with service providers to reduce the bureaucratic burdens heaped upon them.
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LSB’s £20m is a drop in the ocean, says Kenny
The £20m set-up costs of the Legal Services Board and Office for Legal Complaints to be paid for by the sector ‘is a not a real issue’, according to LSB chief executive Chris Kenny. Speaking to the Gazette, Kenny (pictured) said that, against the ...
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SRA proposes recovering costs of investigations
Solicitors found guilty of breaking rules could be further hit in the pocket with the cost of investigations doubling under plans put forward by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Changes could be implemented in two phases as the Solicitors Regulation Authority moves towards full cost ...
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Chancery Lane defers decision on compensation fund levy
The Law Society’s Council today deferred a final decision on the level of this year’s compensation fund levy until its next monthly meeting in July. Society president Paul Marsh said this was to accommodate further discussion with the SRA on the matter. Papers for today’s meeting ...
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News
Forced-marriage case training for lawyers
Solicitors working on cases involving forced marriage and honour-based violence are to be offered specialist training and accreditation. Cris McCurley, a partner at Ben Hoare Bell solicitors in Newcastle and charity Karma Nirvana have been working with family law organisation Resolution to create an ...
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Former justice minister cleared of code breach
Former justice minister Shahid Malik (pictured) has been cleared of breaching the ministerial code over a rental agreement. Malik stepped down last month while the prime minister’s independent adviser on the code, Sir Philip Mawer, examined the financial arrangements of a £100-a-week rent deal on a ...
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Whitehall department struggles to recruit BME solicitors
One of the biggest Whitehall departments is having a ‘depressing’ struggle recruiting black and minority ethnic lawyers, according to its legal chief. All 30 successful candidates in an anonymised recruitment exercise at the Communities and Local Government (CLG) department last year were white, ...
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Law firms must adopt a mature attitude to age
During a recent speech to aspiring lawyers at the College of Law, Cherie Booth QC mentioned age and how ‘we’ have not got our heads around the issue.
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Michael Napier steps down from Legal Services Board
Michael Napier QC today resigned from the Legal Services Board in the wake of last week’s high-profile Court of Appeal decision to allow magazine Private Eye to publish details of a complaint against him. The Irwin Mitchell senior partner said he would no longer be able to devote the ...
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Appeal court denies attempt to block publication of complaint details
The Solicitors Regulation Authority is considering the ramifications of a Court of Appeal decision to allow the magazine Private Eye to publish details of a complaint against former Law Society president Michael Napier. Napier, senior partner at Irwin Mitchell, had been seeking an injunction to stop publication of identifying details ...