Headlines – Page 1126
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‘Clear risk’ of negligence claims if IFA referral is liberalised
Solicitors will be vulnerable to negligence claims if they are allowed to refer clients to financial advisers who are not wholly independent, the Law Society has warned. In its response to the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s consultation on financial advice, the society pointed to the danger of ...
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Met upgrades cell security to ensure safety of solicitors
Concerns raised by the Law Society about the safety of solicitors in police custody cells have led the Metropolitan police to implement changes. Wimbledon firm Burnley-Jones Bate & Co raised the issue of the personal safety of solicitors conducting interviews with clients in locked custody rooms ...
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Let’s have a legal complaints mash-up
Think the Legal Services Ombudsman is going too far by publishing figures of complaints against named law firms? Think again. What if the information was linked to data showing each firm’s geographical location together with that of named solicitors subjected to Solicitors Regulation Authority sanctions?
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Three rings or you’re out?
Promising levels of service seems an easy thing to do. The Co-operative announced that a caller 'will receive a response from a trained lawyer within three rings'. QualitySolicitors promised a number of things including direct lawyer contact, first consultation free, no hidden costs, same-day response and Saturday office opening.
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Damages uplift ‘will cost defendants £300m’
Insurers told the High Court today that defendants stand to lose more than £300m if claimants are given the ‘windfall’ of a risk-free rise in damages.
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When human rights and clients’ rights conflict
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a fashionable concept. Big firms flaunt their CSR credentials, and no one knows whether it is a marketing strategy to make us buy their goods and services, or a serious attempt to promote a better society. It was only a matter of time before law ...
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Separating couples ignorant of dispute resolution options
Nearly half of British adults think they have to go to court to get divorced, according to a survey that shows a lack of awareness of non-court options for family law matters. A poll of 2,018 adults by family lawyers’ group Resolution today reveals that 45% ...
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Supplementary Legal Aid Scheme is abandoned
The government has abandoned a scheme to take up to 25% of damages awards from clinical negligence victims. The Supplementary Legal Aid scheme was intended to fund cases that would still come under the scope of legal aid from next April. Campaigners argued it amounted to ...
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Economies of scale needed to set up a firm have actually fallen
by Ian Wimbush, chair of the Legal Software Suppliers Association When Kenneth Clarke told members of the Birmingham Law Society that alternative business structures (ABSs) would herald a ‘whole new world’ for lawyers, he said that 3,000 high street firms would disappear.
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Banking reforms would ‘damage English legal system’
The Law Society has warned of dire consequences for the English legal system if the government presses ahead with ‘protectionist’ measures contained in its banking reform plans. In a 54-page response to the Treasury’s June white paper on banking reform, Chancery Lane focuses on ...
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Ten thousand register for criminal advocacy
Over 10,000 solicitors have notified the Solicitors Regulation Authority that they will be seeking criminal advocacy accreditation next year when the Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates (QASA) begins. The controversial scheme is scheduled to start on 14 January when all solicitor-advocates wishing to practise criminal advocacy ...
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LSB calls for ‘open debate’ on cost of regulation
The legal profession’s umbrella watchdog today calls for an ‘open debate’ on the cost of regulation which would encompass all the levies lawyers must pay in order to practise. In its response to the government’s first triennial review of its activities, the Legal Services Board ...
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How digital age strengthens in-house professionals
I am delighted to be writing for the Law Society Gazette as an in-house lawyer in industry. The Law Society represents and services the interests of 126,000 solicitors. Some 33% of these lawyers are working in house.
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Solicitors warned off SDLT avoidance schemes after landmark judgment
Schemes designed to dodge stamp duty land tax (SDLT), which cost the public purse £170m a year, will face tough scrutiny from HM Revenue & Customs after a landmark tribunal judgment this week. Regulations have also been laid that will force users of avoidance schemes to disclose them to the ...
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Chief coroner sets out new regime in first speech
Only lawyers will be appointed as coroners from next June, the first holder of the new post of chief coroner for England and Wales has announced in his first public speech. Judge Peter Thornton QC told the annual conference of coroners today that new appointments ...
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PI specialist is thirtieth alternative business structure
The former president of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers has steered his firm to alternative business structure status. David Bott, who stood down as president in April, will bring practice manager Paul Hinchcliffe and finance manager Gary Froggatt, both non-solicitors, into equity partner status at ...
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Intellectual property
Patent - Infringement - Proceedings for infringement Eli Lilly & Company v Human Genome Sciences Inc: CA (Civ) (Lord Justices Hooper, Lewison, Sir Robin Jacob): 5 September 2012 The proceedings, ...
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Human rights
Infringement of human rights - Right to life - Proceedings arising out of the killing of 24 civilians by British troops during 1948 Malayan Emergency Keyu and others v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and another: ...
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Injunction
Pre-trial or post-judgment - Relief - Interim injunction - Claimant applying for interim injunction McClaren v News Group Newspapers Ltd: QBD (Mr Justice Lindblom): 5 September 2012 The claimant was ...