Headlines – Page 1352
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News
Is more mediation in divorce cases missing the point?
In recent speeches legal aid minister Jonathan Djanogly has emphasised the government’s commitment to increasing the use of mediation, particularly in disputes over arrangements for children, property and finances that arise when family relationships break down. As well as the obvious desire to achieve savings that ...
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Youth crime has fallen, report suggests
The volume of crime committed by young people has fallen by 25% over the last decade, according to a report published today by the National Audit Office. However, the report reveals that those offenders who receive serious community sentences or custodial sentences remain just as likely ...
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CSI put on trial
One does not imagine that lords justices of the Court of Appeal come home at the end of a long day to flop down onto the sofa and reach for the remote control, but why should they not? Lord Justice Leveson has clearly been watching the goggle box, and there ...
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Tuning into mediation
Simon Cowell is determined to bag the Christmas Number One, after splashing out £1m to record five different winners’ songs for X Factor contestants. However, the bullish impresario now has a formidable rival, in the unlikely form of Norwich solicitors Hatch Brenner. Partner Mark Fitch has written and recorded a ...
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Criminal law – Sentencing Council guidelines
On 6 April 2010 the new Sentencing Council came into being. Previous guidelines are deemed to be guidelines of the council until they are reconsidered. Courts must now follow any relevant guideline unless it is satisfied that it would not be in the interests of justice to do so. Similarly, ...
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Disgraced MPs broke new legal ground last week
The hour before lunch last Friday was a bad one for two former Labour MPs. First, the High Court ruled that an election court had acted lawfully when it found Phil Woolas guilty of an ‘illegal practice’. There was just time to hear Woolas announce that he would not be ...
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Our client protection regime must be reformed to align with OFR
Much of the Solicitors Regulation Authority board’s time during 2010 has been devoted to ensuring that the professional indemnity insurance (PII) regime is fair and fit for purpose, particularly when trading conditions are difficult. Good progress has been made in containing the financial burden of the assigned risks pool upon ...
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How networks can help law firms break into emerging markets
For lawyers who wonder where growth in demand for legal services could come from, the following numbers are instructive. According to the Financial Times, emerging markets M&A volume was up in 2010 by more than two-thirds to date at $575.7bn, while European volume has increased by barely a fifth to ...
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The folly of quick-fix cuts in local government
by Ishkan Robinson, principal solicitor at Nottinghamshire County Council It is still common to hear sneering at local government lawyers by private practice lawyers who see them as an inferior group. The latter are under the illusion that local government lawyers are not capable of delivering ...
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Justice and showbusiness should never mix
The head of Sky News has used the trials of parliamentarians accused of dishonesty over their expenses to renew his plea for cameras to be allowed into courtrooms. John Ryley said televising proceedings would help tackle ‘growing public dissatisfaction with the judicial process’.
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The court system isn’t for everyone
I am writing to congratulate Lord Justice Jackson on his splendid recommendations for the reform of civil costs, and in particular the proposed removal of after-the-event insurance. I have long been of the opinion that people from a working-class background should not have access to the ...
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Consumer interest must be paramount
I am instructed by a lady awaiting estate money due to her. She had rung her solicitor only to hear a recorded message saying that the firm had ‘closed until further notice’. The firm had in fact been the subject of an intervention by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. I duly ...
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Duncan Lewis courts FTSE takeover
Duncan Lewis, the country’s biggest civil legal aid law firm, is preparing to be taken over by a public company once reforms allow, the Gazette can reveal. The London firm is discussing a takeover with a company listed on the FTSE 250 index, and said it ...
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Where there’s a will
Your recent article, Rise in number of intestacy disputes, highlighted two interesting issues: hard times encourage people to contest inheritances; and intestacies offer more opportunities for such disputes to take place. My summary of this state of affairs is that necessity and greed are powerful motivators of human behaviour, and ...
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PII reforms a ‘disaster’ for high street
Plans for reform of the professional indemnity insurance rules could ‘hand control of the conveyancing market to lenders and insurers’, solicitors have been warned. Former Law Society president Paul Marsh, an industry specialist, said the proposals are ‘potentially a disaster’ for high street conveyancers.
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LSC under fire over spending
The Legal Services Commission’s ‘unlawful’ family tender cost around £1m, its legal director told the House of Commons justice committee last week. The LSC also came under fire from MPs over senior executives’ pay, after its recently published accounts showed that former chief executive Carolyn Regan ...
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Family lawyers offered ADR fee
Legal aid minister Jonathan Djanogly has proposed that family solicitors should receive £150 to provide legal help to clients who engage in mediation, to demonstrate the government’s commitment to alternative dispute resolution. Speaking at the National Family Mediation conference last week, Djanogly (pictured) announced that where ...
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Libel defence broadened to reflect internet age
The first libel case to be appealed to the Supreme Court has seen a defence dating back to Victorian times broadened to meet the needs of the internet age. In Spiller v Joseph, Lord Phillips said the defence of ‘fair comment’, which places a burden on ...
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Solicitors miss out on judicial posts
Two women and two ethnic minority lawyers were among the 13 candidates recommended for appointment to the High Court in the most recent selection round, the Judicial Appointments Commission has said. The JAC said the appointments would increase ethnic minority representation in the court to ...
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Lawyer denies ‘£1.4m theft’
A Leeds solicitor and his wife stole £1.4m from the firm where they both worked to fund a luxury lifestyle, a jury at Leeds Crown Court heard last week. Simon Morgan, 50, who was senior partner at Milners in Leeds, and his wife Ann Young-Morgan, 55, ...