Headlines – Page 1478
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Media: is Google a publisher or merely a facilitator?
A Google search is the first port of call for many of us when researching anything online. Indeed, according to Wikipedia, Google receives several hundred million queries each day. The Google engine searches an index of web pages, compiled and updated by Google automatically, and provides access to the sites ...
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Data page for September 2009
The data page is the financial rates and data complied for the Law Society Gazette by MoneyFacts Group, the UK's largest supplier of savings and mortgage data. ...
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Barristers and the Legal Services Act: will the bar modernise in time? Does it even need to?
It is almost five years since Sir David Clementi rocked the legal establishment with his report on the regulatory framework for legal services. Since then, debate on the product of that report – the Legal Services Act 2007 – and the impact on the profession of new legal disciplinary partnerships ...
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Judge for yourselves
Obiter was privileged to be given a tour of the new Supreme Court building this week, and must admit to being impressed. No longer the dingy and dirty-stoned Middlesex Guildhall that some had muttered would not be an appropriate home for such a ...
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Wings of a dove
Readers may recall that Obiter issued a challenge to readers two weeks ago to show the Ministry of Justice how it could have saved itself £26,000 just by getting a lawyer to design its Supreme Court emblem (above). We are now pleased to announce a lucky winner: Shaheen Hussain ...
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Opportunity knocks
Everyone knows that first impressions are all important. But did you give that any thought before you knocked on the door for that all-important client introduction or job interview? Knock too quietly and you’ll come across as a meek little mouse. Too loud and you’ll imply a ‘negative state of ...
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No man is an island
I agree with Susan Singleton that being a sole practitioner does not mean living as a hermit or having no friends (see [2009] Gazette, 10 September, 9). However, for many who are currently having a rather hellish time getting their insurance renewed, and having panel membership taken away...
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Fixed-fee concerns
I am writing following your report about the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers withdrawing from the fixed-fee mediations run by the Civil Justice Council (see [2009] Gazette, 17 September, 3).
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Why bad-mouth conveyancing?
Groan. At the end of a recent Gazette editorial, the piece described conveyancing (and probate) as private practice’s ‘more prosaic functions’ (see [2009] Gazette, 10 September, 8).
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Closing down
I am incensed after reading last week that a London firm has to shut because its professional indemnity insurance premium was quoted as £110,000 for the forthcoming year (see [2009] Gazette, 17 September, 1).
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Race to the top
I write regarding last week’s news item ‘Aspiring judges quizzed on race’ (see [2009] Gazette, 17 September, 1).
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PII cover – should there be a new policy on renewal dates?
Should there be a single renewal date for solicitors’ professional indemnity insurance? As the renewals season draws to a close, a growing number of lawyers and some PII brokers are calling for reform. Solicitors say more flexibility is required because of ...
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How will more changes to points-based immigration affect the City?
In August 2009, the UK Border Agency announced further changes to the points-based immigration system that was introduced in late 2008. These changes, introduced after months of lobbying, go beyond the scope of the almost weekly changes and 'fixes' that employers and immigration lawyers have been getting used to. ...
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Product placement could mean lucrative work for lawyers
Legal advice and litigation in respect of television product placement could boost City firms’ income next year, after the government said it will consider lifting an existing ban. The government’s announcement has stirred interest among law firm media and marketing practices. Stephen Groom, consultant and head ...
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Probe into amount paid to law firms on Olympic Park project
The London Development Agency (LDA) faces a probe over the amount it has paid to law firms for advice on the Olympic Park project, the Gazette has learned. ...
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Office for Legal Complaints consults on complaints
The Office for Legal Complaints (OLC) has published for consultation a revised version of its draft rules. The new rules reduce the timeframe it had originally proposed for clients to bring a complaint, in response to concerns from solicitors. Under the new ...
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FSA contemplates action on third-party capture by insurers
The Financial Services Authority will decide this month whether to launch an investigation into the insurers’ practice of acting for non-policyholders through ‘third-party capture’. Ken Hogg, director of the insurance sector at the FSA, said it was currently undertaking ‘exploratory work to gather information on the ...
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Solicitors raise confidentiality concerns in virtual court pilot
Police station interview rooms used by defendants in the virtual court pilot are not soundproof and put confidentiality at risk, criminal practitioners have warned. Bruce Reid, a freelance solicitor-advocate, represented a defendant in custody at Brixton Police Station via the videolink from Camberwell Green Magistrates’ Court. ...
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SRA board appointment call rejected by LSB
The Legal Services Board has rejected a request from the Solicitors Regulation Authority to take greater direct control of its own board appointments. In its latest consultation on legal services regulation, the umbrella body dilutes an earlier commitment toward a more discrete structure separating Chancery ...
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Barristers to form ‘procurement companies’ for block contracts
A Bar Council taskforce has put forward proposals for barristers or groups of chambers to form procurement companies to contract as a block for publicly funded advocacy work. The structure would give barristers greater power in negotiating contracts and allow the bar to take advantage of the practice changes permitted ...