Headlines – Page 1065
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Bias concerns
Joshua Rozenberg’s article ‘Balancing act’ (4 March) discusses Lady Hale’s lecture on equality in the judiciary and the question of ‘positive discrimination in senior judicial appointments’. The emphasis appears to be on the appointment of more women, but there is little discussion of African, Caribbean and Asian applicants.
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Why the fuss over RTA?
I read that Law Society chief executive Desmond Hudson sees the changes in low-value RTA litigation as ‘serious.’ He notes ‘all the spurious talk about fraudulent claims’. I can see his point but, having defended fraudulent insurance claims for the past 16 years, I can assure ...
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In the loop
I would like to thank your team for the Daily Gazette updates. I read them after work on my iPad and your articles have helped me plan various strategies for the survival of our practice, while the personal injury and civil litigation worlds seem to be collapsing all around us. ...
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Society wins apology for legal aid injustice
The Law Society has declared itself vindicated after the Legal Services Commission apologised for ‘maladministration’ that caused ‘injustice’ to legal aid solicitors. The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman upheld a complaint made by the Society in 2008 that the commission failed both to run a recoupment ...
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Paper jam at the MoJ
If the legal work ever dries up, may Obiter suggest a job in printer repairs? Call-outs from the Ministry of Justice alone will surely make a career change worthwhile. According to our freedom of information request, the number of ‘printer-related incidents’ reported in 2012 in courts ...
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Judges ‘ill-prepared’ for Jackson
Judges in the vanguard of the post-Jackson costs management era will go into April armed with just 4.5 hours of training, a quarterly newsletter and a podcast. In a response to a freedom of information request, the Judicial College confirmed that all 728 salaried civil judges ...
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Shakespeare's play on words
Northampton solicitor Karen Shakespeare gets our search for apt merger names off to a good start. ‘If DR Solicitors (Guildford), Heald Solicitors (Milton Keynes) and Patient Lawyers (Irwin Mitchell’s clinical negligence section) ever got together it would be DR Heald Patient,’ she writes. And if Street Solicitors (Bridgnorth, Shropshire) signed ...
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The joke's on... Grayling?
Obiter’s desk clock is steadily counting down ‘til J-Day, 1 April 2013, when the main chunk of the Jackson civil litigation reforms come into force. That’s not the only notable event of the day: 1 April is also the birthday of our lord chancellor, Chris Grayling. He was born on ...
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Young dreams
So, what do you want to be when you grow up? According to an official survey of the nation’s children, among 13- and 14-year-olds the most common answer is actor (5.6%) - followed closely by lawyer (4.4%). However, as we grow older and wiser, the stars ...
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LLPs set for tax avoidance probe
Law firms operating as LLPs could be caught in a planned crackdown on avoidance of national insurance payments. In last week’s budget, chancellor George Osborne announced plans to consult on ‘removing the presumption of self-employment’ from limited liability partnerships. The budget ...
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Delivering the verdict
The mess in which the first Vicky Pryce jury found itself really doesn’t match up to the jury that, not so many years ago, used a Ouija board to reach a verdict in a late-night session in a Brighton hotel, writes James Morton. Nevertheless, it ...
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Firm explores online advice to defendants
One of the country’s largest criminal defence firms is exploring how legal advice could be given to clients online. Mike Rainford (pictured), head of business crime at north-west firm Burton Copeland, told the Gazette this week that the firm is in discussions with IT companies to ...
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Burden of proof on firms after fee ban
Personal injury firms will be expected to retain records and management information from next Monday to prove that payments for cases do not fall within the referral fee ban. Definitive rules for the ban will be published when the SRA Handbook is changed to coincide with ...
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SFO questioned over use of Slaughter and May
Shadow attorney general Emily Thornberry has raised questions about the Serious Fraud Office’s decision to retain a magic circle firm to defend potentially the most expensive case in its history. Attorney general Dominic Grieve confirmed earlier this month that the SFO had brought in Slaughter and ...
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Watchdog may survive ‘bonfire of the quangos’
Government plans to throw a legal watchdog on to its ‘bonfire of the quangos’ have suffered a blow after the House of Commons justice committee opposed the move. The committee said there is not a strong enough case for the abolition of the Administrative Justice ...
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Pathway to Law scheme boosted by £1.2m grant
An educational charity has secured a £1.2m grant to help 1,200 sixth formers from less privileged backgrounds pursue a career in the law. The Legal Education Foundation has given £1.2m to the Sutton Trust to fund its Pathways to Law programme, open to low- and middle-income ...
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Ukraine eyes EU with code revision
Ukraine has announced a revised criminal procedure code centred on ‘freedom and human rights’ in what is believed to be an attempt to ease its entry into the European Union. Ukraine must meet certain conditions by May if it is to join the EU, including ridding ...
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Jackson reforms: trials and tribulation
One could be forgiven for thinking the campaign to halt or defer the main planks of the civil justice reforms devised by Sir Rupert Jackson is still in full swing. To be fair to the refusniks, the impression that all was not settled has been given in part by the ...
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We must give victims of sexual exploitation confidence to come forward
by Lord Carlile of Berriew QC High-profile child sexual abuse and exploitation cases have shown us that more needs to be done to give victims the confidence to disclose the harm they have suffered.
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Picture-perfect in-house advice
In-house counsel were last week urged to show the value they add ‘in pictures’ not ‘words’, to be better understood by the rest of their business. This was among the tips Richard Tapp, director of legal services at construction and support services giant Carillion, shared with 110 lawyers who attended ...