Headlines – Page 1163
-
News
Lawyer trust stats to inform Society campaign
The need to build public trust will inform a forthcoming Law Society campaign to promote the solicitor brand, after a high-profile survey revealed a contrasting picture of consumer perceptions. Satisfaction with the value for money of legal services rose from 56% in 2011 to 59% ...
-
News
Medics shake up regulation
An independent medical tribunal that is expected to handle some 340 doctors’ fitness-to-practise hearings a year launches today. The new Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS), which is operate separately from the General Medical Council (GMC), is to adjudicate on complaints made against any of the UK’s ...
-
News
LSB report highlights web advice shortfall
Consumers of legal services want more tailored support from the internet as a first point of contact for their legal problems, a report has found. Research carried out by the Legal Services Board found consumers were often ‘swamped’ by information online and gave up halfway through ...
-
News
Is a 'liberal' approach to knife crime working?
Don’t tell the Daily Mail, but the government is getting softer on knife crime - and it might just be working. Yesterday the Ministry of Justice confirmed the offences and sentencing figures for the first quarter of 2012. You can tell they’re ...
-
News
Forced marriage to be criminalised
Forcing someone to marry will become a criminal offence in England and Wales, the prime minister confirmed today. But the legislation will not be introduced until the 2013/14 parliamentary session. The maximum sentence for the offence has yet to be decided. Breach of a Forced ...
-
News
Law firms warned of cyber crime threat
UK law firms must strengthen their online security to protect clients from international hacking fraud, a former assistant US attorney warned today. He added that UK and US intelligence services report that China and Russia are both putting more resources into industrial espionage operations and that ...
-
News
DWF to merge with Scots firm
National firm DWF has announced plans to merge with Scottish firm Biggart Baillie from next month. The business law firm, which last week topped the £100m turnover mark for the first time, will add to its 10 existing offices with further bases in Glasgow and Edinburgh. ...
-
News
Why I plotted to smuggle explosives
My palms sweat when I think about it now, but I was once party to a plot to smuggle plastic explosives into the Palace of Westminster.
-
News
Three questions about the International Bar Association
I am writing this from The Hague in the Netherlands, where I am attending a variety of International Bar Association (IBA) meetings, including one for Bar Leaders. It has led me to reflect on the structure and aims of the IBA, which are not often publicly discussed. I have as ...
-
News
Matrimonial lawyers and accounting experts
European finance ministers are currently learning what matrimonial lawyers have known for years - a change in relationship is rarely straightforward when there is a lot of money at stake.
-
News
Darwinian times
Last week’s announcement by the Co-operative that it is looking to add 3,000 staff to its 475-strong legal services arm over the next five years shows just how fierce competition is going to get in the legal market. Of course time will tell whether the Co-op achieves its ambitious plans.
-
News
Let’s stop car insurance blame game
Once you’ve finished this article I urge you to buy the Highway Code. Then spend every waking hour reading it, just to avoid ever getting behind the wheel again.
-
News
Osborne Clarke continues strong revenue trend
National firm Osborne Clarke has reported a new high in revenues for the last financial year of £97.7m. The figure was an increase of 8% on the previous year and reflected the firm’s best financial performance in its history. Net profit increased by 6% during 2011/12. ...
-
News
Portal won’t cope with extension, says Law Society
The Law Society will refuse to support an extension of the RTA portal until there are major structural changes to the system. The Society has warned the government it will be impossible to extend the portal to include employer and public liability cases.
-
News
LSB sets diversity reporting deadline
Law firms have until the end of September to provide diversity data about every member of staff, including their ethnicity, religious beliefs, socio-economic background and sexual orientation. The timeline emerged last week when the Legal Services Board (LSB) published its qualified approval of the Solicitors Regulation ...
-
News
Intellectual property
Database rights - Infringement Football Dataco Ltd and other companies v Sportradar GMBH and another company; Football Dataco Ltd and other companies v Stan James Abingdon Ltd and other companies: Chancery Division (Mr Justice Floyd): 8 May 2012 ...
-
News
Local government
Council tax - Respondent being non-British spouse of foreign student Harrow Borough of London v Ayiku: Queen's Bench Division, Administrative Court (London) (Mr Justice Sales): 9 May 2012 The Administrative ...
-
News
Conveyancing panels
The recent announcement of automatic admission for CQS firms to the HSBC panel is a welcome return to normality. Perhaps not quite ‘as you were’, but a major step towards recognition that the best interests of our clients and their borrowers are served by a diversity of choice within the ...
-
News
Unity is strength
Des Hudson and Avtar Bhatoa’s remarks (Hudson: bar strike would ‘damage profession’) will, regrettably, be music to Whitehall’s ears. The criminal bar does not want to strike. Over a number of years, we have lobbied and campaigned in the public interest against reforms and cuts ...