Headlines – Page 1088
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The trade deal to end all trade deals
The world’s two biggest economies have begun negotiating a deal to create a £3.3 trillion free-trade zone – and yet my pulse isn’t racing at the prospect of the biggest trade deal in history. (Three trillion is three followed by 12 zeros, although you probably knew that already.) ...
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Managerialising death
by Jacqueline Laing, a solicitor and lecturer at London Metropolitan University One needs no Sibylline insights but only an understanding of human nature to have observed the financial, political and medical interests that there are in institutionalising sedation-and-dehydration regimes,
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Excise duty
Customs and Excise – Duties – Imported goods – Personal use Stern v United Kingdom Border Agency: Queen's Bench Division, Divisional Court: 23 January 2013 The appellant bought a substantial ...
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Immigration
Leave to remain – Defendant secretary of state rejecting applications – Claimants challenging secretary of state's policy as unlawful on ground of ambiguity R (on the application of Sharmilla and others) v Secretary of State for the Home Department; ...
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Extending our jurisdiction
Despite hysterical ‘end of the world’ concerns about fiscal cliffs and apocalyptic Mayan calendars, it seems we all managed to see out Christmas without too much controversy. But much as I was relieved not to meet my doom on 21 December, the joy was short-lived ...
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Encourage firms to work with claims centre
In the last 12 months, there has been considerable scepticism expressed about the introduction of the County Court Money Claims Centre (CCMCC). As such, I think it is important to balance those views against the fact that the centralisation has been a massive undertaking that will clearly take time to ...
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Innocent until proven guilty
With regard to Mr Grayling’s remarks on legally aided ‘criminals’ not having access to QCs, I assume he means that, if a defendant is so poor they need legal aid, they are only entitled to a lower standard (no insult to other barristers intended) than the prosecution. ...
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Warnings follow Cobbetts collapse
The demise of top-100 firm Cobbetts should serve as a wake-up call for legal practices with outdated structures and mounting bank debts, legal sector finance experts said this week.
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Small-claims revamp may hit portal
The future of the RTA Portal will become clearer on Friday when a protocol, forms and rules for a new small-claims system are finalised at a meeting of the Civil Procedure Rule Committee. The protocol will enable the system to deal with claims up to £25,000, ...
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Collective actions will fuel ‘litigation culture’
A US industry body has added its voice to concerns about government plans to simplify collective actions under competition law. The US Institute for Legal Reform echoed the Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI’s) warning that US-style collective actions would ‘fuel a litigation culture in the ...
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Courtroom savings hard to interpret
Doubts have been cast on the level of savings claimed by the government for its courtroom interpreting contract, as more interpreters refuse to work under the new terms. A year after the widely criticised contract came into effect, the Ministry of Justice has told the ...
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Firms sign up to beat fee ban
A claims management firm says it has signed up almost 100 legal practices to a business model designed to sidestep the impending referral fee ban. Chris Georgiou, managing director of Accidents Direct, said he has spent 18 months refining a panel scheme which he says will ...
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Disclosure ruling rocks banks
Banks are struggling to control their liabilities following a Financial Services Authority finding that 90% of interest rate swaps (IRS) products banks sold to SMEs were in breach of regulatory requirements, and a judge’s ruling rejecting 24 Barclays employees’ demands for anonymity. Stephen Rosen, head ...
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Exceptional case proves Jackson rule
Litigation lawyers should ‘ignore Jackson at their peril’ regardless of a landmark costs ruling that appeared to undermine imminent reforms, a solicitor in the case said this week. James Heath, from London firm Taylor Hampton Solicitors, warned firms not to be complacent about costs despite ...
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News Focus: Cobbetts
As the Gazette went to press, it was unclear whether a drinks party at national firm Cobbetts was going ahead as planned. In the uncertainty following the firm’s acquisition amid financial troubles, the atmosphere at the Birmingham event would hardly have been conducive to ‘a wind-down and a few celebratory ...
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Barristers pose no ‘alternative solicitors’ threat, says bar chair
Barristers offering public access work are not planning to ‘flood the market’ – but the relationship between the two professions will become more fluid, the new chairman of the Bar Council has suggested. In an interview with the Gazette, Maura McGowan QC, the second woman to ...
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SRA redraws plan to increase fines for firms
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has re-opened discussions with the Ministry of Justice on raising the amount it can fine firms from the current maximum of £2,000. Last year the MoJ rejected a request to bring the maximum penalty for traditional firms into line with the ...
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No line under mis-selling
The Financial Services Authority’s report on interest rate swaps mis-selling by four major banks draws some creditably momentous conclusions. Lawyers acting for business owners recognise a thorough job by the regulator, which concluded that banks failed in their regulatory obligations in 90% of the 173 sales reviewed by the City ...
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Judges need support over costs budgeting
By Rachel Rothwell, editor of Litigation Funding Now that we are only two months from Jackson D-Day, solicitors are waking up to the prospect of costs budgeting.