Headlines – Page 1050
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News
Criminal justice ignorance
‘I don’t believe that most people who find themselves in our criminal justice system are great connoisseurs of legal skills.’ The words of justice secretary Chris Grayling in his interview with the Gazette last week defending plans to remove the ability of suspects to choose their ...
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London Legal Walk 2013
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Law firms: information overload?
Firms will soon be obliged to publish diversity data – perhaps on their website or in reception if they have no website. I find it hard to see how, in a firm which consists of one person only (such as mine), it can be consistent with the Data Protection Act ...
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A sad day for the legal profession
Until this afternoon I had sympathy with colleagues who specialise in claimant personal injury work; that was until I received an unsolicited call from a north-west firm. About 18 months ago, my vehicle was involved in a collision where a car collided with my driver’s door, causing damage. I was ...
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Barmy PCT model
You report the excellent news that of the 25 highest-earning criminal legal aid firms, only a tiny minority will sign the new contract. This shows that, at long last, our branch of the profession has found its spine. Governments have respect only for those who fight hard, as our medical ...
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Welsh office
The National Assembly for Wales was delighted to feature in the Gazette (interview with Elisabeth Jones). However, we would like to point out a small, but important, slip in the first paragraph of the hard copy edition, in which Ms Jones is described as leading ...
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Turning lord chancellor into just another politician was a mistake
In less than a month’s time, we shall be marking the 10th anniversary of a constitutional revolution. It will not be a cause for celebration. On June 12, 2003, the judiciary lost its head. In sacking Lord Irvine of Lairg, Tony Blair was not merely reshuffling his cabinet. The prime ...
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Pilot aims to limit clinical negligence solicitors’ fees
Solicitors could receive as little as £500 for clinical negligence cases worth up to £25,000 in a proposed fixed costs pilot scheme drawn up by the NHS Litigation Authority. In a document prepared by the authority and seen by the Gazette, the terms of the fixed ...
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Will-writing could still be regulated
Will-writing could eventually be brought within the scope of regulation, despite the government’s spurning of the profession’s call to make it a reserved activity. Justice secretary Chris Grayling last week responded to the Legal Services Board’s recommendation for regulation by saying there was insufficient evidence ...
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Appeal Court applies Russian law in dispute
The Court of Appeal has applied Russian law to dismiss an appeal by a wealthy Russian businessman who sought a half-share of the family’s £40m London home. The dispute concerned the beneficial ownership of a family home bought by Vladimir and Olga Slutsker using an offshore ...
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Insurers to revamp third-party code
Insurers are to rewrite a code of conduct on the practice of third-party capture of claimants, the Gazette can reveal. James Dalton, head of motor and liability at the Association of British Insurers (ABI), said he wanted the voluntary code to be more robust and ensure ...
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Court interpreters reject new contract deal
Courts are being disrupted on a ‘daily basis’ as interpreters continue to boycott the private sector contract for translation services, despite a peace move by the Ministry of Justice, an interpreters group claimed this week. The ministry last month revealed that it would foot ...
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European data plan labelled ‘demented’
European Commission data protection plans are the biggest threat currently facing the UK economy, a senior Downing Street figure said this week. Rohan Silva, the senior policy adviser behind the government’s Tech City initiative, described the draft European data protection plan as ‘a completely demented ...
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Grayling asks for quality standard for PCT firms
The justice secretary has asked the Law Society and Bar Council to develop a quality standard for firms bidding for criminal legal aid contracts under controversial plans for price-competitive tendering (PCT). In an exclusive interview with the Gazette, Chris Grayling said: ‘I have invited both the ...
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NewsRoundtable: immigration
Former home secretary John Reid described the immigration system as 'not fit for purpose'. Judging by the way cases are dealt with, it plainly still is not
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Saudi Arabia accepts registration of female lawyer
Arwa Al-Hujaili has become Saudi Arabia’s first female lawyer – but only after spending three years post-graduation petitioning the kingdom’s Ministry of Justice to register her as a trainee. However, Al-Hujaili’s problems may have only just begun: any Saudi judge who disapproves of women speaking in ...
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Regulating will-writing is simple common sense
The Gazette has been known to raise an eyebrow at the laissez-faire proselytising of the Legal Services Board – that’s not what it is (or ought to be) there for. But this week the super-regulator has been effortlessly outflanked by justice secretary Chris Grayling (pictured), seemingly in defiance of all ...
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Price-competitive tendering risks demolishing the supplier base
by Desmond Hudson, chief executive of the Law Society Whether driven by political dogma or economic necessity, it is clear that the Ministry of Justice will have to find savings in criminal legal aid.
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Don’t worry about Jackson fallout – judge
The High Court judge responsible for implementing the Jackson civil litigation reforms has made two speeches seeking to allay lawyers’ fears about the reforms’ impact. Speaking to the Commercial Litigation Association annual conference, Mr Justice Ramsey urged more ‘hot-tubbing’ of expert witnesses to improve the ...