Headlines – Page 1358
-
News
Forensic expert witnesses should be accredited, warns judge
A lack of accreditation of expert witnesses means that anyone with a scientific background and sufficient ‘brass neck’ could set themselves up as a forensic science expert and mislead the court, a Court of Appeal judge has warned. Lord Justice Leveson told the Forensic Science Society ...
-
News
End of the public-private world
A few years ago, BBC journalist Mark Easton gave a talk to clients at DLA Piper’s London office. His title at the time was ‘home editor’ – a title with a breadth he liked. His basic theme was the informed ‘bet’ he had made that, in the future, the private ...
-
News
A timely guide to EU actions on the financial crisis
I have chosen the ideal time to write about the new regime being established by the EU to ensure that there is not another financial crisis – now when the structure of the eurozone is tottering as a result of the crisis, and the future of the euro and of ...
-
News
Justice minister calls for greater steer towards mediation
Individuals should play a greater role in solving their problems rather than turning to the courts, justice minister Jonathan Djanogly said last week as he set out the government’s plan to support mediation in the wake of its proposals to slash legal aid. Speaking at CEDR’s ...
-
News
Scrap training contract, says thinktank
A legal thinktank has today called for the abolition of the training contract as part of proposed radical changes to legal education and training. A 53-page discussion paper from the College of Law’s Legal Services Institute (LSI) urges scrapping training contracts and making the Legal Practice ...
-
News
Society launches campaign to fight legal aid cuts
The Law Society has called on law firms to lobby MPs over the impact of the government’s proposed legal aid overhaul, in the first stage in its campaign to fight the cuts. Chancery Lane has warned that the plans outlined in last week’s consultation to reduce ...
-
News
Fixed fees shouldn’t kill time recording
If you are making strategic decisions do you have sufficient financial information to make those decisions? It seems that calculating the expense of time may have gone out of fashion. Some may never have calculated it. But how do you know if a transaction is profitable? And how, if you ...
-
News
‘Compensation culture’ peer quits over gaffe
Lord Young of Graffham will not now assist the government with the implementation of his report on the ‘compensation culture’ after quitting his advisory role this afternoon, Downing Street has confirmed to the Gazette. The government backed the Tory peer’s report, Common Sense, Common Safety, and ...
-
News
Quality street
It was with great fanfare that national law firm ‘superbrand’ Quality Solicitors launched its first ‘legal store’ in a south London shopping centre last week. Intrigued, Obiter decided to make a little trip down to Lewisham, incognito of course, to see where the legal profession is headed, from beneath a ...
-
News
Thought in the act
Italians are well known for their passionate nature, so a recent judgment by the country’s Supreme Court of Cassation has come as something of a surprise to family lawyers. According to Anthony Gold, a London firm that acts in international divorce proceedings, the Italian court has annulled a woman’s marriage ...
-
News
Civil procedure
Conflict of laws – Allocation of jurisdiction – Court fees SK Slavia Praha-Fotbal AS v (1) Debt Collection London Ltd (2) ENIC Group: CA (Civ Div) (Lords Justices Mummery, Lloyd, Stanley Burnton): 4 November 2010 ...
-
News
Follow that dream
Obiter has been mightily amused by the stunning ‘legal musical’ plotlines submitted in our competition to win two tickets to the West End show, Legally Blonde: The Musical. Plots included a secret love child conceived during a post-deal celebration; gangs of lawyers engaging ...
-
News
Shaggy dog stories
Given the British love of animals, the urbane barrister Patrick Back believed that if he could introduce a dog into his closing speech, he had one foot in the acquittal door, writes James Morton. His favourite was when the earl comes home and finds his child and the bed covered ...
-
News
Local government
Environment – Human rights – Public procurement Veolia ES Nottinghamshire Ltd (appellant) v Nottinghamshire County Council (respondent) and (1) Shlomo Dowen (2) Audit Commission for Local Authorities and the National Health Service For England (interested parties): CA (Civ Div) ...
-
News
The implications of a court ruling on vague IT contract terms
In my last column I described the syndrome of IT contract blindness – the ailment that causes parties to an IT contract not to notice that the words in the agreement bear little resemblance to what they are actually planning on doing. Since writing, it has fallen to the Court ...
-
News
When should in-house lawyers consult external counsel?
The in-house lawyer is the ultimate jack of all trades. Naturally required to know their company’s core business inside out, they are also expected to be instant experts on diverse legal fields depending on their company’s needs: employment law if an HR issue crops up; property law if the company ...
-
News
Bankruptcy proceedings and debt collection
In Everitt v Budhram [2010] Ch 1070, Mrs Budhram had been made bankrupt in 2006 for non-payment of £13,130 council tax. She paid the outstanding tax and the petitioning creditor’s costs, but steadfastly failed to engage with the trustee in bankruptcy, and ultimately in 2009, the trustee sought an order ...
-
News
Specialisms not easily acquired
As an experienced practitioner in the field of private client law, I am always pleased to see solicitors, old and new, wishing to practise in this complex and rewarding area of law. However, I do think we need to address the assumption that a ...
-
News
Deputy difficulty
I was very interested to read the letter Capacity issue by Lindsay Taylor. I have been appointed as deputy for a family friend who has all the symptoms of dementia but is living in his own house with a care package to assist him. I duly registered the deputyship order ...