Headlines – Page 1387
-
News
Rain of terror
A new front has been opened in the ongoing battle between solicitors and overzealous court security staff. Not only are lawyers routinely having digital recording devices and telephones removed from their person – with the ‘Brixton Three’ even finding themselves arrested last month for storing dictation machines and memory sticks ...
-
News
Class ceiling
Obiter was intrigued by a recent study on cuts to first-class travel, which are costing the legal profession a whopping £15,500 in lost productivity per employee per year, apparently.
-
News
Have a gander
In Bury St Edmunds, local firm Gross & Co has graciously given up its front window to advertise this year’s Theatre Royal Christmas pantomime production of Mother Goose. The firm’s window displays have been catching the eye on Guildhall Street for many years, but Gross is particularly proud of this ...
-
News
Stubble trouble
A group of men brandishing razor blades used to mean that someone was about to demand your wallet. But these days it merely signals the return of the month of ‘Movember’, when offices across the country are filled with comically moustachioed men growing facial hair in support of men’s health ...
-
News
Food merger, coal deal, children's car seat sale, and petroleum loan
Food for thought: City firm Herbert Smith advised food group Northern Foods on its merger with Irish food company Greencore Group, advised by magic circle firm Slaughter and May, to create £500m FTSE 250 company Essenta Foods. ...
-
News
India will liberalise ‘in time’
The Law Society remains optimistic that sustained trade negotiations with the Indian government will eventually open the country’s legal market to English law firms, its vice-president John Wotton said this week. Wotton’s comments came after Veerappa Moily, Indian government minister for law and justice, told the ...
-
News
Immigration cap unveiled
The Home Office has announced a 21,700 annual cap on the number of skilled immigrants from outside the EU allowed into the UK, in a move that will disappoint those in the legal profession concerned that the limit will prevent them from employing the foreign lawyers needed to service clients. ...
-
News
Djanogly in mediation push
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 outlined government plans to support mediation in the wake of proposals to slash legal aid. Speaking at the Centre for Effective ...
-
News
BME firms told to embrace alternative business structures
BME firms should embrace alternative business structures to stay in business, the new chair of the Black Solicitors Network told the Gazette this week. Nwabueze Nwokolo, who is also the Law Society council member for ethnic minorities, said: ‘Most black lawyers work in small firms, but ...
-
News
Unite and fight legal aid cuts – Kennedy
Baroness Helena Kennedy has called on the legal profession to pull together to fight against proposed legal aid cuts that will ‘leave a real lacuna for those most in need’ and increase the risk of miscarriages of justice. Her plea came as the Law Society launched ...
-
News
Real estate litigation to rise
Next year will see a ‘significant’ rise in litigation within the real estate market, providing more work for some lawyers but putting others at risk of legal action, according to research by City firm Hogan Lovells seen by the Gazette. A survey of 160 senior executives ...
-
News
Stolen data used for email scams
Employees at foreign call centres that were engaged by claims management companies have stolen customer data that was later used to launch email scams in the UK, the Gazette has learned. The Ministry of Justice claims management regulator said this week that, after some claims management ...
-
News
Internet ‘threat’ to jury system
Misuse of the internet by jurors is posing a threat to the integrity of the jury system, the lord chief justice warned last week. In a lecture to the Judicial Studies Board in Belfast, Lord Judge suggested jurors could be found in contempt of court ...
-
News
Law Society to fund panel action
The Law Society has agreed to fund an opinion from counsel on whether a Hertfordshire firm can sue Santander and Lloyds Banking Group after being removed from their conveyancing panels. Paul Judkins, a partner at Judkins, said more than 50 firms had contacted him to express ...
-
News
Calls for major reform to law training
Pressure mounted for sweeping reform of the education and training of lawyers this week, as regulators announced a root-and-branch review of the current framework. The review was unveiled as research seen by the Gazette suggested that there are currently three times more final-year law students who ...
-
News
Why the legal profession needs an effective opposition
Politics is a brutal business. One day it is all red boxes, Newsnight, and Yes Minister. The next, no one recognises you. This may seem an odd time to consider the position of the Labour party, particularly as we gear up for a major debate on the future of legal ...
-
News
Where the real unfairness lies in our ‘compensation culture’
I came across a court case the other day that throws an interesting light on the unfairness of our ‘compensation culture’. It involved a supermarket customer who tripped over a basket which had been discarded near the checkout counter. She fell and injured her shoulder. ...
-
News
Online law degree launched in Scotland
A Scottish university will next year launch what is believed to be the first online law undergraduate degree. The online LLB from the department of law at Robert Gordon University’s Aberdeen Business School will run from September 2011. The university already runs online law masters courses. ...
-
News
The EU may have something to say about any coalition attempts to cut legal aid
Viviane Reding is a tough cookie. Now EU commissioner for justice, freedom and security, she previously saw off the mobile phone companies and reduced their charges. France is smarting under the lash of her comparison of its Roma policy with that of Hitler’s Germany. And now she threatens to get ...
-
News
Herbert Smith to open document centre in Belfast
City firm Herbert Smith has announced it is to open an office in Belfast next year. The new branch will focus on reviewing and analysing the large volumes of documents found in major contentious work, notably in litigation, arbitration and regulatory investigations. ...