Headlines – Page 1134
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‘Cutting edge’ approach to ethics needed - LSB
Proposals to monitor ethics across an increasingly diverse legal services market are set out by the Legal Services Board (LSB) today. Its report says that ensuring the integrity of the profession in this way is central to maintaining public confidence in the rule of law.
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Mergers cannot just be finance driven
The publication of The Law Consultancy Network’s research (July 2012) shows that the appetite for mergers continues unabated, with 80% of the firms surveyed having considered the possibility within the last six months. And for firms heading down the merger path, the spotlight tends ...
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Cameron turns right in sweeping justice reshuffle
Prime minister David Cameron has confirmed that Chris Grayling will become justice secretary in what was emerging as a comprehensive clear-out of ministers at the Ministry of Justice. Earlier today Kenneth Clarke became a high-profile casualty of Cameron’s first major reshuffle since coming to office. ...
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Time to get on with portal plans
If you are trying to run a personal injury practice, you may be feeling pretty frustrated right now. You know that the government intends to extend the road traffic accident protocol vertically to higher value cases (up to £25,000) by next April. You know it will also be extended horizontally, ...
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Jersey court endorses third-party funding
The Royal Court of Jersey has once again endorsed the legitimate role of litigation funding in bringing cases on the island.
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SRA considers lighter touch for whistleblowers
Whistleblowers who give evidence against colleagues suspected of misconduct may be offered a more lenient punishment for their own involvement under new Solicitors Regulation Authority guidelines. The regulator is this week expected to approve proposals to offer mitigation to witnesses who come forward.
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Crunch time for EU criminal lawyers
Last week, as the summer holidays drew to a close, I tried in vain to be funny. This week, I am back in my school uniform, hair brushed and in serious mode, because the EU is about to discuss an important piece of legislation - the right of access to ...
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SRA urges advocates to register as deadline looms
Three weeks before the deadline under the quality assurance scheme for advocates (QASA), a quarter of criminal advocates have not yet notified the Solicitors Regulation Authority of their intention to practise after 2013, the regulator has revealed. By 21 September all solicitors and regulated European lawyers ...
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Insurers fight uplift ruling
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has appealed against the Court of Appeal’s decision to increase general damages. Three senior judges ruled in July that a 10% uplift to be applied to all personal injury awards from April 2013 applies also to cases launched before that ...
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Death of a Colombian family
First they killed Omairi's daughter. The paramilitaries meant to kill her husband, a journalist who was exposing corruption in Colombia, South America. They bungled the assassination and he survived, but their daughter died. That was 22 April 2004, their daughter's twentieth birthday. More than eight years later, just one person ...
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Benefit fraud: additional checks
This is the third of four articles focusing on benefit fraud prompted by the case of Coventry City Council v Vassel 2011 EWHC 1542 Admin. In particular, it highlights the additional checks solicitors make when reviewing the evidence and alternative penalties. ...
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The reshuffle and the business of law
Under the coalition government, the Ministry of Justice has been marked by a phenomenally loose grasp of detail at the top. When it comes to the business of running a legal practice, this, more than the left-right positioning of ministers, has been a problem. In areas such as the implementation ...
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Lawyers berate new law criminalising squatters
Lawyers have branded as ‘headline-grabbing’ and unnecessary the introduction of a new criminal offence of squatting, warning that it could harm vulnerable people. But the government is unrepentant, declaring that the move signals the end of ‘squatters’ rights’. Justice minister Crispin Blunt (pictured) confirmed ...
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Oligarch case judge laments ‘heavily lawyered’ approach
The judge presiding over the acrimonious High Court battle between Russian oligarchs has criticised the ‘heavily lawyered’ nature of the case that undermined witness statements.
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Honours even?
‘There’s nothing new under the sun,’ as my grandmother (92 and still going strong) is gnomically wont to opine. News that a committee of MPs has concluded that too many people - particularly civil servants - receive government honours ‘just for doing their jobs’ shows that the dictum retains ...
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Religious beliefs should be respected - when rights are not impeded
Next week, the European Court of Human Rights will hear four claims against the UK that raise perhaps the most sensitive rights of all: the freedom of thought, conscience and religion guaranteed by article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Although the freedom to hold religious views is ...
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Feasibility of scheme to help fund advice needs to be investigated
We welcome the debate initiated by the Law Society about how we can protect access to justice for people on low incomes after the legal aid cuts come into force next April. Some of the comments on the Gazette’s website following the article, ‘Lawyer trust accounts "could fill legal aid ...
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Medical treatment
There is no evidence whatsoever that the availability of conditional fee agreements (CFAs) is a factor behind the increase of claims for medical blunders (‘Doctors blame "no-win, no-fee" for rise in legal actions’).
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PI pressure
I read that a GP was recently found to have unreasonably induced a patient to accept a cosmetic procedure by offering a discount if it was booked with two other patients. This and other failings led the General Medical Council (GMC) to impose 10 conditions on his registration.