Headlines – Page 1468
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Law Society launches election manifesto
The Law Society today published a policy manifesto ahead of the forthcoming general election, urging all political parties to respect the rule of law and safeguard access to justice. The 24-page document, contains a detailed and wide-ranging ‘wishlist’ of recommendations, ranging from support for the ...
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Government use of ADR falls – but settlement rate increases
The use of alternative dispute resolution by government departments fell last year, though settlement rates increased, a report published by the Ministry of Justice has revealed. In 2008/09 ADR was used in 314 cases, leading to settlement in 259 (82%), saving costs estimated at £90.2m, the ...
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Time to embrace back-office outsourcing
The term ‘outsourcing’ is hardly new to the legal world: there has been much discussion over several years about legal process outsourcing (LPO)...
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A new judicial architecture for Europe
The reference to judicial architecture in the title is not to the buildings in which judges sit and decide cases – although if that is your interest, there is a European group for people who share your hobby. There is a European group to cater for nearly every taste.
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The state we are in
It is perhaps fortunate that your lead letter 'Tools of the trade' writer (see [2009] Gazette, 18 February, 11) withheld their personal details...
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Why Lexcel needs a rebrand
I read with little surprise at the Law Society being voted strongest Business Superbrand in its sector, or at its overall 75th placing. The Law Society is an internationally recognised brand with an enviable heritage.
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Concerns over terminating retainer
I refer to the Court of Appeal decision in Buxton v Mills-Owen [2010] EWCA Civ 122 which seems to me to raise some issues of general concern to the profession.
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Only one solicitor among new QC appointments
Just one solicitor was among the 129 Queen’s Counsel appointments announced by the lord chancellor today in the fourth competition run by the independent selection panel. George Trinick, energy partner at national firm Eversheds, was the only solicitor of the 10 who applied to be appointed. Only four solicitors applied ...
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Lawyers work ‘extreme’ overtime, study reveals
Lawyers are among the most likely workers to do ‘extreme’ unpaid overtime, figures have revealed. Research by the Trades Union Congress found that 18% of legal professionals did more than 10 hours of unpaid overtime a week. The study found that ...
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Assisted suicide: a mercy killing charter?
The new policy on assisted suicide is not the mercy killing charter that some religious groups, charities and newspapers have painted it.
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Civil procedure
Costs – Personal injury – Allocation – Detailed assessment Drew v Whitbread: CA (Civ Div) (Lords Justice Waller (vice-president), Hooper, Etherton): 9 February 2010 The appellant (D) appealed against ...
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Local government
Environmental health – Buildings – Burials and cremation – Religions R (on the application of Ghai) (appellant) v Newcastle City Council and Others (respondent) and Secretary of State for Justice (interested party) and (1) Ramgharia Gurdwara, Hitchin (2) ...
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Employment
Local government – Bonus payments – Equal pay – Sex discrimination Gibson and Others v Sheffield City Council: CA (Civ Div) (Lords Justice Pill, Maurice Kay, Lady Justice Smith): 10 February 2010 ...
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Data page for February 2010
The data page is the financial rates and data compiled for the Law Society Gazette by MoneyFacts group, the UK's largest supplier of savings and mortgage data. DownloadsDownload the data ...
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The controversial business of tracing beneficiaries of unclaimed estates
In May 2009, Trevor Moore, a 61-year-old IT consultant from Hertfordshire, was alerted to the existence of a hitherto unknown cousin by the approach of a one-man-band probate research company that was looking for potential beneficiaries for an unclaimed estate. Trevor was told it ‘probably wasn’t you’, but this unsolicited ...
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Roar deal
Jennie Swaby, a child care solicitor at Southampton firm Eric Robinson (pictured with her husband Mark), has sent us this snap from her recent month-long stint as a volunteer at Antelope Park in Zimbabwe, which is the subject of the documentary Lion Country currently airing on ITV. Looks like she ...
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Commission impossible
As Obiter waits with bated breath to read Sir Ian Magee’s report on the Legal Services Commission (incidentally, there’s no word yet on when it might be published, even though the anticipated January delivery date has been and gone), there was even more bad news from the beleaguered quango last ...
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Lost in translation
Obiter’s mailbox has been inundated following last week’s request for amusing dictaphone bloopers.
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MoJ research has vindicated the jury system, but jurors need more help
by Ian Kelceychairman of the Law Society criminal law committee The publication of an important piece of Ministry of Justice-commissioned research by Professor Cheryl Thomas into the fairness of juries has aroused significant media interest.
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Finding alternative ways to fund legal aid
Whatever the outcome of the forthcoming general election, it would take a rash and rose-tinted legal sector observer to predict any real terms increases over the next few years in the UK’s £2bn legal aid budget. Talk of swingeing cuts at those government departments not ...