All articles by Gazette reporter – Page 33
-
News
Chancery Lane warning over budget tax hike
The capital gains tax (CGT) increase announced in this week’s budget will mean trustees and personal representatives administering the estates of the deceased could feel the full brunt of the rise, the Law Society has warned, as gains made will be at risk of exposure to the new higher rate. ...
-
News
SRA consults solicitors on overhaul of regulation
The Solicitors Regulation Authority today launched its biggest consultation to date, on root-and-branch changes to regulation of the legal sector. The campaign, Freedom in Practice: Better Outcomes for Consumers, will see the SRA enter a comprehensive dialogue with solicitors in England and Wales on the ...
-
News
Brussels simplifies rules on cross-border successions
The European Commission has today adopted a proposal that should greatly simplify the rules on successions with an international dimension in the EU. The aim is to make life easier for citizens by laying down common rules enabling the competent authority and law applicable ...
-
News
Veale Wasbrough poised to merge with Vizards Tweedie
Veale Wasbrough and Vizards Tweedie today announced that they are engaged in advanced merger talks. The combined firm would have about 330 members of staff and 46 partners, operating from offices in central Bristol and Fetter Lane in London and generating a combined turnover of £22m. ...
-
News
Top 100 hit by downturn, says Deloitte survey
Fee income at the UK’s top 100 law firms decreased by 4.3% in the quarter ending 30 April 2009) compared with the same period last year, according to business advisory firm Deloitte’s Quarterly Legal Sector Survey. The report, published today, predicts that the quarter’s fall ...
-
News
Eagle promoted at Ministry of Justice
Junior minister Maria Eagle MP, a former solicitor, was today promoted by under-fire prime minister Gordon Brown. Eagle, a parliamentary under-secretary of state at the Ministry of Justice since June 2007, was today appointed minister of state at the MoJ, one of several new ministerial ...
-
News
Society to host emergency summit on family court media access
The Law Society is to host an emergency summit later this month to air concerns about opening family courts to the media. Under new rules proposed by justice secretary Jack Straw, the media will be able to attend all levels of family courts. Chancery Lane believes admission should only be ...
-
News
Repossession claims fall in wake of new protocol
The number of new mortgage repossession claims issued in the courts is down by 50% since the credit crunch-inspired introduction of a civil procedure affecting lenders and borrowers. The mortgage pre-action protocol (MPAP), approved by the Master of the Rolls, was introduced for possession claims in ...
-
News
Thinktank calls for overhaul of City firm regulation
A legal policy thinktank has today (23 February) called for an urgent shake-up of the regulation of City law firms. Trying to regulate the high-street practitioner and global firms under one regime produces ‘unhappy compromises’, argues the College of Law’s Legal Services Policy Institute. The institute ...
-
News
Three solicitors appointed Queen’s Counsel
Three out of four solicitor applicants for Queen’s Counsel (QC) were successful in the latest appointment round, it was announced today (19 February). And women continue to outperform men overall, with 55% of all female applicants successful in 2008/09 compared to 40% of men. ...
-
News
Taxing problem for solicitors
Paying tax has been identified as the number one concern of solicitors hit by the credit crunch. Late incoming payments from third parties are making the problem worse, according to an online survey by the Law Society. Most firms said private clients were not paying their bills on time, which ...
-
News
Cashflow outlook worsening, new LMS quarterly survey shows
Cashflow problems are worsening for law firms, according to results from the Law Society’s Law Management Section (LMS) financial benchmarking quarterly. The survey, the first results of which are to be published tomorrow, found that 40% of firms were experiencing more cashflow pressures than in the previous quarter. Firms' responses ...