Headlines – Page 1124
-
News
Court of Appeal ruling in 'whistleblowing' case
Members of limited liability partnerships are not ‘workers’ under employment legislation, the Court of Appeal ruled this week dismissing a whistleblowing claim made against City firm Clyde & Co. English qualified solicitor Krista Bates van Winkelhof alleged that she had been sacked by the firm in 2011, after she made ...
-
News
Top 25 firms 'eclipsed' in growth figures
Law firms outside the top 25 in the UK are growing at a faster rate than those inside the top 25, new figures have revealed. Research by Deloitte into the first quarter of 2012/13 found firms between 26 and 50 grew fee income by 4.5%, whilst ...
-
News
College of Law orders exam resits
The College of Law has ordered that 18 students retake two exams after papers were left overnight in a car that was then stolen. The scripts were driven off-site by a tutor from the Birmingham centre on August 29 but taken after burglars stole her handbag ...
-
News
Defining the coroner’s role has been the work of centuries
In the world of sudden deaths, the law tends to move slowly. Parliament first passed legislation setting out the duties of coroners well over 700 years ago, in 1275. But the Statute of Westminster can also be seen as the last act of parliament to define the coroner’s role, in ...
-
News
Commercial
Sale of goods – Passing of property – Set-off – Right of set-off FG Wilson (Engineering) Ltd v John Holt & Company (Liverpool) Ltd: Queen's Bench Division, Commercial Court (Mr Justice Popplewell): 6 September 2012 ...
-
News
Warnings needed on ‘redesigned’ judicial pension scheme
I am a salaried judge of the First-tier Tax Tribunal and a solicitor. It is a matter of common knowledge that the judicial pension scheme is currently being ‘redesigned’. The leaflet published by the Judicial Appointments Commission in connection with the pension scheme reform (which was highlighted in your recent ...
-
News
Conscience call
The impugners of conscientious objection in the case of Ms Ladele were allowed more than 500 words in which to express their illiberal opinions; Mr Davis’ letter contains about 50, and, though well-intentioned, scarcely touches the heart of the matter.
-
News
BarCo escrow scheme ‘levels the playing field’
The Bar Council has developed a scheme to allow barristers to hold client money through a third party, a move that its chair says will create a ‘level playing field’ with solicitors. Today it launches BarCo, a third-party escrow account which holds client money, allowing barristers ...
-
News
Law firms blamed for claim delays
Law firms are delaying the processing of thousands of claims at the new centralised facility in Salford by stopping cheques and sending duplicate documents, the centre has complained. In the six months to 7 September, firms stopped 872 cheques, worth £167,140, that they had sent to ...
-
News
Judge speaks out on pensions
A solicitor judge unhappy with pension reforms has warned lawyer colleagues to ‘think carefully’ before ‘burning their bridges’ in private practice to join the bench. In a letter to the Gazette published today the judge, whose name is withheld on request, says they ‘no longer feel ...
-
News
Mutiny on Merseyside over weekend courts
The Ministry of Justice has denied reports it has ditched or delayed plans to open courts at weekends. But the ...
-
News
Family lawyers call for more ADR support
A leading family lawyer has called for more government and judicial support to encourage separating couples to resolve disputes out of court. Jo Edwards, vice-chair of family lawyers’ group Resolution, made the plea following a survey that showed a lack of awareness among the public of ...
-
News
Drafting a constitution
At the heart of any failed state is a constitution that is not performing – either because the balances its drafters struck between competing demands on the document were wrong, or because the machinery, will and resources to make it work are woefully inadequate.
-
News
Jackson’s 10% increase in general damages
On 1 April 2013, the reforms to civil costs contained in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 will come into force. Part 2 of the act provides for the implementation of recommendations 7, 9, 14 and 94 of the final report on civil litigation costs by ...
-
News
There's a limit to how challenged anyone can feel by a closely related professional
As the legal services sector liberalises, often-daily announcements confirm increased competition from unfamiliar sources. As we report today, the Bar Council’s launch of ‘BarCo’, a third-party escrow account to hold client money is the latest – allowing as it will, barristers to offer a full range of legal services without ...
-
News
Should pro bono be compulsory?
by Lia Moses, a caseworker at LawWorks, a national charity working with solicitors to support pro bono across the profession The New York State Bar this month made it a requirement for all lawyers to carry out 50 hours of pro bono work before being admitted.