Headlines – Page 1472
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Lost for words
A senior lecturer has called on lawyers to abandon complex expressions that are ‘more complicated than they need to be’ [see [2009] Gazette, 1 October, 1].
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SIF referendum
The solution to the professional indemnity insurance difficulties described by Jonathan Jacobs (see [2009] Letters, 24 September, 9) is to resurrect the Solicitors Indemnity Fund. The SIF regime may have had its faults but it was greatly preferable to what we have now.
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HIP overhaul
With a general election approaching, there is much talk about creating a genuinely sustainable alternative to home information packs (HIPs). Attention seems to be focusing on ‘building on HIPS’ and introducing a mandatory legal pack which, it is claimed, will bring about a faster and more certain homebuying process.
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Sole practitioner survivor
The extinction of the sole practitioner has been prophesied for so many years now that the prophets of doom should by now be feeling a little self-conscious. Your own pages have seen some wonderfully confident predictions of disaster in the recent tough round of PII renewals.
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Software glitch
The new lasting power of attorney forms have been made available by the Office of the Public Guardian. Unfortunately, they have specifically blocked the ability for the practitioner to save the document and thus be able to amend it after minor errors have been found.
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PII – the debate continues
I have a great idea. Lets go back to the Solicitors Indemnity Fund model. I recall a friend and council member at the time telling me that voting to go to the market and leave the SIF was like a turkey voting for Christmas. How right she was. I followed ...
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Desperate argument
Rhonwen Barraclough’s letter (8 October) complained about Lord Justice Jackson’s recent suggestion of increasing the small claims limit if a deal cannot be done on fixing legal costs in fast-track claims. Among the various reasons put forward as to why this was a bad thing, the most desperate was:
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101 ways to leave the law
For any readers out there who have been wanting to quit their job for ages but have been too afraid of the senior partner to hand over the resignation letter, help is finally at hand. According to the title of Alex Steuart Williams’ new book, there are 101 Ways to ...
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High-flyers
When is a joke about disability and cruelty to animals acceptable? Answer: when it’s cracked by John Trundle, chief executive of charity Blind in Business. Trundle was welcoming guests to his An Eye for Talent project, aimed at helping law firms and others meet talented blind and partially sighted young ...
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Rhymes and misdemeanours
The Gazette continues to atone for the sin of describing conveyancing and probate as ‘prosaic’ by featuring your poems on said disciplines. This week probate solicitor Elainne Lawrie, late of collapsed Wirral firm Lees Lloyd Whitley, on ‘dealing with the deceased’: ...
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Knock knock
The annual conference of the Legal Aid Practitioners Group (LAPG) may seem an unlikely setting for joviality given the situation endured by many in the face of continued fee cuts. But, you’ve got to laugh, as they say. And Obiter was pleased to see this was something even the legal ...
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An online legal information resource will provide a clear advantage
Take the slow train out of Leeds and head west, past Halifax. Just before you leave Yorkshire for Lancashire, you’ll find a picturesque village called Mytholmroyd – which you should pronounce like thyroid, not mistletoe. Climb the steep hill by the Methodist chapel, walk past ...
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Commitment to human rights must be preserved through next general election
By John Wadham, the legal director of the Equality and Human Rights Commission As we hurtle towards a general election, the time is ripe to reflect on the attitudes of the major parties to human rights. In July 2007 the government announced that it would ...
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Legal aid budget crossroads?
The MoJ’s surprise announcement on Tuesday of a wide-ranging review of legal aid delivery must be interpreted as an implicit acknowledgement that the existing system is not fit for purpose. Many solicitors have being saying as much on the letters pages of the Gazette for as long as most of ...
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US firm could reap benefits of UK reforms with Lovells tie-up
US firm Hogan & Hartson has remained quiet on whether it might use a tie-up with City firm Lovells to access external capital in the future, following reports this week of a merger between the two firms. The merger could potentially give Hogan & Hartson access ...
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Bank paybacks cement plant upgrades
Payback time: US firm Shearman & Sterling advised French bank Société Générale on a €4.8bn (£4.4bn) rights issue. The bank will use most of the proceeds to repay the €3.4bn (£3.1bn) of emergency funding given to it by the French state.
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UN to help developing nations negotiate with western projects lawyers
Lawyers in developing countries could be given help when negotiating investment deals with City project lawyers under a UN initiative to bolster their bargaining power when human rights are at stake.
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Collaborative law a success for divorcing couples, says judge
Collaborative law has proved a huge success for divorcing couples and could soon be extended into the commercial arena, one of the UK’s most senior judges said last week. Lord Kerr of Tonaghmore, a justice of the Supreme Court, said the number of collaborative lawyers practising ...
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Surge in unfair dismissal claims puts tribunals under strain
Lawyers are witnessing a huge surge in unfair dismissal claims which is leading them to expand their employment teams but is also placing a severe strain on the tribunal system. Figures released by the Tribunals Service last week showed that unfair dismissal claims rose 29% to ...
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SRA commissions £40,000 diversity research
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has commissioned research to find out why ethnic minority solicitors are over-represented in its regulatory decisions, the Gazette has learned. The £40,000 study, by business psychologists Pearn Kandola, will look at issues including the SRA’s processes, the career progression of ethnic minority ...