Headlines – Page 1364
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Law Society criticises jury trial proposals as 'entirely wrong'
Proposals to scrap jury trials for lesser offences were today criticised by the Law Society as ‘entirely wrong’. Chancery Lane said that the ‘constitutional fabric’ of England and Wales would be put at risk if the proposal by the commissioner for victims Louise Casey is implemented. ...
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Outsourcing association for law firms launched
Eight UK companies have formed an association, chaired by a solicitor, to provide outsourcing services for law firms across the country. The Solicitors Outsourcing Association said it aims to assist solicitors in reducing their overheads. The association, chaired by solicitor ...
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Trust in marketing management
The semantic debate over the words 'client' or 'customer' that divides the new legal service providers from solicitors only obscures the issues around the future of legal services. The people and businesses that seek legal help might as easily be described as 'service users' or 'punters'. What’s important is to ...
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Trade union backs asbestos appeal
Trade union Unite will back an appeal to the Supreme Court over the liability of insurers to pay compensation to victims of work-related asbestos exposure, it said yesterday. On 8 October, the Court of Appeal overturned a 2008 High Court ruling on mesothelioma, a cancer of ...
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Two cheers for the European parliament
I have been reading the first volume of Chris Mullin’s political diary A View From the Foothills, covering his period as a junior minister in the Blair government from 1999 to 2005. I can recommend it – very readable and most instructive about those years. He is usually more benign ...
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Personal injury solicitors rebuff ABI claims over ‘excessive’ costs
Personal injury lawyers have hit back at claims that they ‘take motorists for a ride’ by charging high legal fees for settling road traffic accident (RTA) claims. The Association of British Insurers (ABI) said last week that legal fees add £40 a year to the average ...
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With economy on the mend, are we out of the woods?
A year has passed since the end of the recession; with an expected lag between a recessionary and subsequent insolvency peak of 12-18 months, many predicted that 2010 would see a large rise in corporate insolvencies. Instead, comparing Q2 2009 and 2010, we have seen a 19% fall in liquidations ...
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How should oversupply of LPC graduates be tackled?
This week’s news that BPP is to open three new legal practice course (LPC) centres this autumn, in Newcastle, Cambridge and Liverpool, has given fresh impetus to what is an ongoing debate about the oversupply of LPC graduates.
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Law Society calls for reform of murder sentencing
The Law Society has called on the government to look at introducing a three-tier system of sentencing for murder, after research published today revealed a lack of public support for the current mandatory life sentence. The report, by Barry Mitchell of Coventry University and Julian Roberts ...
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‘Nothing is off the cards’ in ABS era, says Co-op
Co-operative Legal Services may offer firms a franchise arrangement for some legal services, its sales and marketing director suggested in an interview with the Gazette today. Jonathan Gulliford said that a franchise or licensing model, whereby firms could operate under the Co-op brand, was one ...
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Watchdog raps costly CPS failures
Failings at the Crown Prosecution Service and police are costing the taxpayer £600,000 a year in abandoned trials and preventing cases from being brought before the courts, a CPS inspection report found this week. One eminent solicitor warned that the report showed a criminal justice ...
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Solicitors sue police and Prison Service
Three solicitors are suing the police and Prison Service after being arrested and detained for storing a dictation device and memory sticks in the wrong lockers during prison visits. The three lawyers were among five solicitors who were held at HMP Brixton in unconnected incidents, following ...
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Senior judge slams court closures
The senior presiding judge for England and Wales has criticised the government’s plans to close 157 courts, in a consultation response intended to reflect the views of many judges and magistrates. Lord Justice Goldring (pictured) said he was ‘particularly concerned’ about the impact of the proposed ...
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Profession facing 'demographic time bomb'
Legal aid lawyers have warned of a ‘demographic time bomb’ facing the profession as the number of young criminal defence lawyers declines as a result of uncertainty over the future of criminal legal aid. Law Society head of legal aid Richard Miller said the number of ...
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Law Commission launches consultation over new fitness test
The Law Commission has launched a consultation proposing an overhaul of the rules governing who is considered mentally fit to stand trial. The commission suggests scrapping the current ‘fitness to plead’ rules which have been in place since 1836, and replacing them with a procedure that ...
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BPP Law School defends new centres
BPP Law School has defended its decision to open three new branches next year, amid concerns over the lack of training contract places available for legal practice course graduates. The law school will launch LPC courses in Newcastle, Liverpool and Cambridge next autumn, providing 180 new ...
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Employment fears spark call surge
Government spending cuts have triggered a sharp rise in employment law queries from consumers in the last three months, according to statistics from law firm network Contact Law seen by the Gazette. Employment-related calls accounted for one-fifth of the 28,000 calls received by the service in ...
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Lawyers call for details of £350m legal aid budget cut
Lawyers have called on the Ministry of Justice to give details of how it intends to cut £350m from the legal aid budget, following the outcome of the government’s spending review, announced last week. Chancellor George Osborne told the House of Commons that the MoJ’s current ...
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Children 'at risk' over court fees
Solicitors have warned that local authorities may be deterred from placing vulnerable children into care, following the government’s decision not to scrap the controversial court fees paid by councils in care and supervision cases. In a ministerial statement last week, justice minister Jonathan Djanogly said the ...
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Solicitor jailed for fraud
A Canterbury solicitor has been jailed for five years after pleading guilty to 14 fraud-related offences. Derek Speed, a former probate solicitor at Kent firm EMD Law, was sentenced last week after admitting the counts of fraud at Maidstone Crown Court.