Headlines – Page 1346
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MPs oppose legal aid cuts
Members of parliament have voiced opposition to the government’s proposed legal aid cuts, and warned that the cuts could lead to the closure of many legal advice centres. Fifty-one MPs responded to a survey conducted by consultancy DG Legal for campaign group Justice for All, including ...
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Growth remains 'anaemic' in top 50 law firms
The UK’s biggest law firms did not snap into sustained recovery over the past 12 months, experts told the Gazette, as the 2010/11 financial year drew to a close last week. On average, top-50 firms will report flat revenues and profits when they publish their 2010/11 ...
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Eversheds and DLA Piper lose employment tribunal cases
Two national firms have separately lost appeals in the employment tribunal over their redundancy selection procedures. Eversheds and DLA Piper lost cases at the Employment Appeals Tribunal this month. The EAT upheld an earlier ruling that Eversheds had sexually discriminated against ...
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Clifford Chance advises on Arsenal deal, General Electric aquisition and more
Chance on goal: Magic circle firm Clifford Chance advised US businessman Stan Kroenke on acquiring Arsenal Football Club, valued at £730m, advised by magic circle firm Slaughter and May. Kroenke’s financial adviser, Deutsche Bank, was advised by City ...
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Taking the biscuit
As the Royal nuptials hove into view, lawyers at London’s Lloyd Platt have come up with some helpful suggestions for any solicitors out there who may or may not be drawing up a pre-nuptial agreement for the happy couple. For example, surely provision must be ...
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Sanity clause
James Morton’s account of troublesome litigants-in-person struck a chord with His Honour Timothy Lawrence, who wrote to tell us: ‘It reminded me of the kindly way my old partner, His Honour Judge ‘Bill’ Cox, dealt with the wild-eyed potential litigant who would come in with carrier bags full of pieces ...
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No skirting the issue
They say there is no such thing as bad publicity, so magic circle firm Allen & Overy will no doubt be delighted with the coverage it received in the Daily Mail, the Daily Telegraph, the Independent and London freesheet Metro last week. All reported on ...
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Likely appointment of Jonathan Sumption to Supreme Court is controversial
What does it take to become a justice of the UK Supreme Court? According to its president, Lord Phillips, those who applied for the most recent vacancies had to demonstrate independence of mind, integrity, intellectual ability, clarity of thought, an ability to work under pressure, ...
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The Sheik and the flapper
Every decade and court has its great – and often eccentric – advocate, and in the 1920s, Western Australia’s Arthur Haynes neatly filled the bill, writes James Morton. Haynes trained trotting horses and, after staying at his club until the early hours, would get up ...
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Legal aid changes will hit commercial practitioners
by Rosalind Connor, partner and head of pro bono at Jones Day The government’s consultation on its Proposals for the reform of legal aid in England and Wales has provoked an entirely predictable wave of protests from legal aid practitioners and those, such as free legal ...
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APIL warns of ‘dumbed down’ lawyers post-ABS
The new president of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) today warned of the emergence of a new breed of 'dumbed-down, legal-lite' lawyer following the introduction of alternative business structures. Addressing APIL's annual conference, David Bott (pictured) predicted that 'potentially massive' new entrants to ...
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New round of district judge appointments
The Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) is to recruit 56 district judges over the next two to three years. This is the first time in more than two years that any district judge (civil) positions have been available. It is unlikely there will be another opportunity to ...
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A career in the law? Let’s be honest…
Perhaps a passion for the musical genres of trance, house and Ibiza is the secret of securing a training contract with a law firm. It certainly worked for Radio One presenter Judge Jules, who is also, as it happens, a London School of Economics ...
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Law Commission proposes new ‘Consumer Act’
Consumers are finding it too hard to win compensation for misleading and aggressive trading practices and the law must be reviewed, the Law Commission said today. Opening a consultation on the matter, the commission said that routes to redress for ripped-off consumers are 'difficult’ and ‘far ...
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Society announces election of deputy vice-president
Solicitor Nick Fluck will become Law Society deputy vice-president in July, and will become president in 2013, Chancery Lane announced today. Fluck, partner at Lincolnshire firm Stapleton & Son and a council member since 2005, will serve one year as deputy vice-president from July, followed by ...
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Stop cancelling one-to-one meetings with staff
Many managers in private practice and in in-house legal departments struggle with issues around staff morale. Morale’s a complex area. Staff can be intelligent and productive people, team players who are trusted by their colleagues and managers, working in a ...
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Big-hitters join Society’s Human Rights Committee
Seven new members have joined the Law Society's Human Rights Committee to help highlight, challenge and condemn human rights abuses across the world. They are: Immigration solicitor Shanti Faiia of City firm Laura Devine. Faiia was previously with the United Nations development programme and the Sri ...
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New SRA Handbook passes its first test
Congratulations to the SRA on the launch of its new Handbook. I was hoping to have some mischief at its expense and tell its staff that they will have to start re-writing it straight away, as a result of an interesting judgement of the Court ...
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Legal Services Board reveals high level of ABS interest
The Legal Services Board has seen a high level of interest from banks and private equity houses in the run-up to the introduction of alternative business structures, its chair David Edmonds told the Gazette in an interview last week. Edmonds, who was reappointed for a further ...