Headlines – Page 1515

  • News

    Employment

    2009-05-07T00:00:00Z

    Employment status – Limited liability partnerships - Members M Kovats v (1) TFO Management LLP (2) The Family Group of Companies: EAT (Mr Justice Birtles, T Motture, D Welch): 21 April 2009 ...

  • News

    Sentencing

    2009-05-07T00:00:00Z

    Imprisonment for public protection – Indecent photographs of children – Risk of re-offending R v Robert Lwellyn Hicks: CA (Crim Div) (Lord Justice Thomas, Mr Justice Blake, Mr Justice Burnett): 21 April 2009 ...

  • News

    Marketing matters: why standing out from the crowd is important

    2009-05-07T00:00:00Z

    With the recession apparently settling in for the long haul and law firms feeling the pinch, it is unsurprising that many are looking hard at what cuts can be made to outgoings to maximise dwindling profit margins and ensure as many jobs as possible are saved. One might be tempted ...

  • News

    When asking ‘why’ all the time is the right thing to do

    2009-05-07T00:00:00Z

    You know how it is; you tell a young child that you’re going to cut the grass, redecorate the bathroom or whatever, and you’re asked, ‘Why?’ Each answer you give is met with another ‘Why?’

  • News

    Which political party gets your vote on human rights?

    2009-05-07T00:00:00Z

    All three major political parties have recently showcased their human rights and civil liberties credentials at the British Institute of Human Rights in London. First up was the Tory Nick Herbert MP, who explained the party’s plans to scrap the Human Rights Act (HRA) and replace it with a Bill ...

  • News

    Solicitors launch national brand with bean protest

    2009-05-07T00:00:00Z

    Law firms appeared outside the Royal Courts of Justice today to stage a symbolic demonstration against the prospect of supermarkets and banks running legal services. To mark the launch of a new brand name QualitySolicitors.com, law firm members handed out cans of beans labelled: ‘Legal services by supermarkets is as ...

  • News

    City watchdog ‘not yet ready’ to debate regulation of mortgages

    2009-05-07T00:00:00Z

    City watchdog the Financial Services Authority is not yet ready to even begin the debate on regulation of the mortgage market, let alone offer recommendations, its chairman Adair Turner admitted today. Speaking at the FSA’s mortgage conference, Lord Turner said that the FSA’s detailed analysis of ...

  • News

    Solicitors favour sharp rise in employment tribunal claim limit

    2009-05-07T00:00:00Z

    More than two-thirds of solicitors are in favour of scrapping the present £25,000 cap for breach of contract claims in employment tribunals, research by the Law Society suggests. The web survey found that 61 (70%) of 87 respondents thought the £25,000 cap should not be retained, ...

  • News

    SOCA ‘motoring’ on money laundering prevention

    2009-05-07T00:00:00Z

    A solicitor figured among 67 criminals charged with money laundering following investigations by the Serious Organised Crime Agency last year, according to the agency’s annual report, published today. Stuart Creggy, former magistrate and senior partner at Mayfair law firm Talbot Creggy, pleaded guilty to a charge ...

  • News

    Legal services at the cliff edge

    2009-05-07T00:00:00Z

    The Law Management Section’s conference Rupert White mentioned a few days back was, I believe, a great success. Richard Susskind and Stephen Mayson, along with other contributors, delivered an excellent overview of the current state of and future challenges for the legal profession.

  • News

    Enforcement: Charging and third-party debt orders

    2009-05-07T00:00:00Z

    Section 24(1) of the Limitation Act 1980 (‘the 1980 act’) provides that an action cannot be brought on any judgment after the expiration of six years from the date on which the judgment became enforceable, unless an extension is granted on application by the judgment creditor.

  • News

    Human rights lawyers expose violence against their Colombian counterparts

    2009-05-04T00:00:00Z

    Sara Chandler is director of pro bono services at the College of Law, and is the Law Society Council member for the voluntary sector, and a member of the Law Society’s International Human Rights ...

  • News

    Hundreds of Colombian lawyers murdered but no one prosecuted, report reveals

    2009-04-30T00:00:00Z

    More than 400 Colombian lawyers have been murdered since 1991 but no one has been prosecuted for a single killing, a devastating report from 42 British lawyers who visited Colombia last year has revealed.

  • News

    Kenny says LSB will transform the market

    2009-04-30T00:00:00Z

    Chris Kenny (pictured), chief executive of the Legal Services Board, last week vowed to transform the legal services market, promising to promote competition and – as early as mid-2011 – license the first alternative business structures.

  • News

    Solicitors debate referral fees

    2009-04-30T00:00:00Z

    Solicitors are ‘crap at marketing’ and need claims management companies (CMCs) to fill the gap, a delegate told the APIL conference. A debate, ‘Referral fees and advertising – is it too late to put the genie back in the bottle?’, chaired by TV presenter John Stapleton (pictured), aroused strong passions.

  • News

    HMRC enforcement head announces crackdown on tax havens

    2009-04-30T00:00:00Z

    Drafters of tax avoidance schemes face greater scrutiny over the coming months as HM Revenue & Customs moves to close loopholes and bolster its disclosure regime, according to the head of the Revenue’s anti-tax avoidance group. Chris Tailby, a barrister who has directed the Revenue’s anti-avoidance ...

  • News

    Auditors seek cap on insolvency liability

    2009-04-30T00:00:00Z

    The ‘big four’ accountancy firms are to lobby the government to further limit their liability as auditors in the event of corporate collapse, despite lawyers’ concerns that client companies would be ill-advised to agree to such a step. A spokeswoman for the Institute of Chartered ...

  • News

    Acquisitions, property development and dimond shares

    2009-04-30T00:00:00Z

    Power stakes: City firm ­Herbert Smith advised ­Chinese power producer ­Huaneng Power International on acquiring a 55% stake in YangLiuQing Co-generation and a 41% stake in Beijing Co-generation from Huaneng International Power Development Corporation. The stakes are worth RMB2.35bn (£237m) combined.

  • News

    Minister questions legal aid priorities at 60th anniversary debate

    2009-04-30T00:00:00Z

    Legal aid has ‘failed the very people it was set up to protect’ the minister in charge, told a debate hosted by the Law Society this week to mark the 60th anniversary of the Legal Aid Act. In the discussion, chaired by the Guardian’s Polly Toynbee, ...

  • News

    Work out what pricing means or expect to go under

    2009-04-30T00:00:00Z

    ‘Most lawyers haven’t got a clue about pricing – no other industry in the world can do "cost-plus", and now neither can law firms. We’ve got to start training lawyers to estimate pricing.’