Headlines – Page 1066
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In-house practitioners warm to mediation
In-house lawyers are becoming more confident about mediation without assistance from external firms and three-quarters expect their use of mediation to grow in the next three years, according to a leading dispute resolution group. A survey by the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR) showed that of 50 respondents, 42% ...
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More firms using unrated insurers for PII
The proportion of law firms relying on an unrated insurer for professional indemnity insurance (PII) cover almost doubled last year, a new survey has revealed. Around 16% of cash-strapped practices – including almost a quarter of sole practitioners – ignored warnings about unrated insurers as they ...
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Legal aid ‘deserts’ warning
There could be job losses for close to a third of legal aid lawyers and advisers as firms close or cut services, creating ‘advice deserts’ across the country in the wake of the legal aid cuts, according to a report published today. According to an online ...
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Army law: uniform instructions
Some press reports estimate that up to one in four of the army’s lawyers face being cut. And the overall picture for the army is one of drastically reduced headcount – the Ministry of Defence’s Future Force 2020 plans will see the army cut 20,000 regular soldiers by 2020, with ...
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Leveson: overview
2010 was full of vociferous comment on the libel reform campaign; 2011 gave us Ryan Giggs and ‘superinjunction spring’. And 2012 provided the finer detail of the phone-hacking scandal and the resulting Leveson Inquiry. Anyone browsing the array of domestic newspapers over the last few years would be forgiven for ...
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Leveson: the press
The current state of play post-publication of the Leveson Report can only be described as an unsatisfactory stalemate. When Lord Justice Leveson published his recommendation that newspapers should operate a system of independent self-regulation, he surely cannot have envisaged the political turmoil, in-fighting and secret backdoor deals that have resulted. ...
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Law firm ABS ventures for insurer Admiral
Insurance giant Admiral Group has confirmed two joint ventures with law firms. The UK motor insurance giant has joined with national firm Lyons Davidson and Cardiff firm Cordner Lewis to create Admiral Law and BDE Law. The insurer confirmed in a ...
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Ealing process begins after cuts
A not-for-profit law centre in London opened last week, the day after wide-ranging civil legal aid cuts came into force. Ealing Law Centre will provide specialist housing and immigration support. A small group of volunteers (pictured) has built up the centre since October 2011 with ...
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Leveson: private practice
The proposed new scheme of press regulation agreed by the main political parties and encapsulated in a Royal Charter includes an arbitration arm as part of the new body. Leveson was keen to ensure that people of all means had access to justice under the new regime and not just ...
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Hold the front page
In case you didn’t notice, April Fools’ Day brought something special to the mass media this year. The news famine generated by a four-day holiday pulled the topic of civil legal policy from the dusty corners of the classified ad sections to the dazzling sunlight ...
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DLA Piper’s Unicef pledge
International law firm DLA Piper has announced a £980,000 partnership over three years with the United Nations Childrens Fund (Unicef) to help it expand its global child justice work, and ensure that children coming into contact with the law are better served and protected.
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Matchmaking sites go live
Two new online matchmaking services for legal professionals claim to offer tickets to survival. Springboard.net is described as a LinkedIn-style social network for solicitors. Its founders say it allows members to tap into a national network of new business opportunities, control and manage ...
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Catherine, the language warrior
There is a tradition which is stronger on the continent than in the UK, that of the Festschrift or Liber Amicorum. ‘Celebratory book’ is probably the closest in English. For the second time, I have been asked to contribute to one, and it is thoughts about the lawyer in whose ...
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Customers or clients?
Believe it or not, being chief Legal Ombudsman does not lend itself to fan mail. On the contrary, when a letter or email arrives – looking insidiously like private correspondence from a lawyer – my natural inclination is to mull over what I might have said recently in the press ...
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New code of conduct for CMCs
Claims management companies will have to agree contracts in writing with their clients before taking fees, the Ministry of Justice announced today. The MoJ’s claims management regulator published new conduct rules – coming into force from this summer – in its response to a consultation on ...
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Solicitors must comply with stringent new Civil Procedure Rules
by District Judge Harold Godwin, president of the Association of Her Majesty’s District Judges The introduction of The Civil Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2013 on 1 April heralded the start of a stringent era of court-led case management, which will likely see many cases struck out for ...
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Identity check
If a new client instructs me on the sale of a property and I have not acted for that person before, then in addition to the normal ID checks and due diligence, I can recommend asking the would-be client if they can tell me in what year they purchased and ...
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A good thing?
In the last edition of the Gazette (25 March) the Law Society announced that it had managed to secure a postponement on the abolition of the recoverability of success fees and insurance premiums in insolvency cases until 2015.