Headlines – Page 1538
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Disabled claimant wins employment appeal tribunal decision
The Employment Appeal Tribunal has reasserted the right of disabled people to claim that an employer’s failure to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ is an act of disability discrimination.
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Indian competition watchdog enters uncharted territory
A shortage of competition case law and competition lawyers, and a ‘highly politicised’ appointments process, could stall India’s progress towards liberalisation of professional services – despite the establishment of its first competition watchdog, an expert on the Indian legal market has warned. Warsha Kalé, associate director ...
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MPs launch all-party legal aid group
MPs came together last night to launch an all-party parliamentary group on legal aid. The group's aim is to promote parliamentary and public understanding of the role of publicly funded legal services as a pillar of the welfare state and in reducing inequalities in society. ...
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Adherence to the rule of law is vital to the 'survival of the world'
With four months to go before he becomes president of the new UK Supreme Court, Lord Phillips is managing to dispel the impression that he is merely a pale imitation of the man who would have headed the court if it had been completed in time, the much-admired Lord Bingham. ...
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Survey finds consumers sceptical about banks and supermarkets’ legal services
Consumers are ‘sceptical’ about banks and supermarkets providing legal services because they have concerns about the quality of work, according to a major opinion poll. A survey of public attitudes towards solicitors, commissioned by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and released this week, found that 69% ...
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First licensed conveyancer makes partner
Kent firm Stephens & Son has become the first solicitors’ practice to bring a licensed conveyancer into partnership. Alan Johnston (pictured), joint head of the property department, has been with the firm for 28 years. Stephens & Son now has five partners. Managing partner Jacqueline Shicluna ...
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Appeal court denies attempt to block publication of complaint details
The Solicitors Regulation Authority is considering the ramifications of a Court of Appeal decision to allow the magazine Private Eye to publish details of a complaint against former Law Society president Michael Napier. Napier, senior partner at Irwin Mitchell, had been seeking an injunction to stop publication of identifying details ...
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Straw hails virtual court pilot but Chancery Lane demurs
Justice secretary Jack Straw praised the virtual court process yesterday after the first two cases to use the technology were heard this week at Camberwell Green Magistrates’ Court in London. However, the Law Society marked the occasion by giving voice to its ‘grave concerns’ about the initiative. ...
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Revenues tumble at City giant Ashurst
Ashurst became the latest major firm to register the impact of the recession on its finances today, reporting a 7% fall in revenues to £301m for the year to April 30. The top 10 City firm did not release information on total profits or profit per ...
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Another nail in the billable hour’s coffin
A recent article in the Economist outlined a move away from the ‘billable hour’ toward a ‘value-based system’ that has been happening in the global advertising agency sector. A sceptical note was raised by a commentator in the Economist article, pointing out that the benefits of an advertising agency’s work ...
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Michael Napier steps down from Legal Services Board
Michael Napier QC today resigned from the Legal Services Board in the wake of last week’s high-profile Court of Appeal decision to allow magazine Private Eye to publish details of a complaint against him. The Irwin Mitchell senior partner said he would no longer be able to devote the ...
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Warning on the cards for 11,000 law firms
Solicitors in England and Wales are to be issued with warning cards to help prevent them becoming involved in fraudulent activity. The cards highlight four risk areas - property fraud, undertakings, fraudulent financial affairs and money laundering. They will be issued to 11,000 firms by the ...
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Alternative business structures must preserve the rule of law
by Robert Heslett, vice-president of the Law Society The Legal Services Board argues that ‘effective access to justice is at the heart of the concept of a society that rests on a commitment to the rule of law’. That is entirely uncontroversial.
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Government must heed the importance of observing conventions
by Gary Atkinson, senior lecturer at the College of Law Amid all the political comings and goings of recent weeks, something that has been ignored by the media and politicians is the importance of observing those conventions which have such an important place in the constitutional ...
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Data page for May 2009
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. Downloads Download the ...
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Civil Procedure Rules: 10 years of change
If you are a civil litigator able to remember serving a writ on behalf of a plaintiff, as well as the days of pleadings, interrogatories, further and better particulars, affidavits and discovery, then you are, shall we say, of a certain vintage
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Employment
Civil procedure – Age discrimination – Collective agreements – Employee benefits Rolls-Royce plc v Unite (the union): CA (Civ Div) (Lady Justice Arden, Lords Justice Wall, Aikens): 14 May 2009 ...
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Family law: opening up family proceedings to the media
On 27 April 2009 the Family Proceedings (Amendment) (No 2) Rules 2009 SI857 (County Court and High Court) and the Family Proceedings Courts (Miscellaneous Amendments) Rules 2009 SI2009 No 858 (Magistrates Courts) and two Practice Directions, Attendance of Media Representatives at hearings in Family Proceedings dated 20 April 2009...
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Web of contention
Combine the power of the web and a very grumpy judge and you get cracking reads, as we journalists say. Judge Gledhill QC's public dressing down of three solicitor-advocates led to solicitors storming the Gazette’s website – the article was by a huge margin the ...