Headlines – Page 1553
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Scotland must try harder after report on trafficking
Scotland lags behind the rest of the UK in the fight against people trafficking. That is, at least, what a Scottish government report published earlier this month says.
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Legal aid - 60th anniversary
Steve Hynes is director of the Legal Action Group As it enters its seventh decade, and despite its flaws, legal aid remains one of the best such systems in the world, providing access to ...
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A roundup of several recent trademark decisions
Decisions on trademarks are handed down by a number of tribunals and come too thick and fast for the non-specialist practitioner to be alive to every one. What follows is a crash course in some of the most significant decisions of the past few months.
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Criminal procedure
Fraud – Disclosure orders – Jurisdiction – Realisable property King v Director of the Serious Fraud Office: HL (Lords Phillips of Worth Matravers, Scott of Foscote, Walker of Gestingthorpe, Brown of Eaton-under-Heywood, Mance): 18 March 2009 ...
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Human rights
Criminal law – Discrimination – Peaceful enjoyment of possessions – Pubs and bars - Smoking R (on the application of Howitt) v Preston Magistrates’ Court: DC (Lord Justice Richards, Mr Justice Tugendhat): 19 March 2009 ...
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Personal inquiry
Civil procedure – Damages – Periodical payments orders Cobham Hire Services Ltd v Benjamin Eeles (by his mother & litigation friend Julie Eeles): CA (Civ Div) (Lords Justice Dyson, Thomas, Lady Justice Smith): 13 March 2009 ...
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What impact is the downturn having on Eastern Europe?
As Londoners struggled under a deluge of Siberian snow in February, the City played host to the Russian finance minister, Alexei Kudrin. Michael Pugh, a capital markets partner at Lovells who has been working in the Commonwealth of Independent States region since 1992, flew back from Moscow to the Guildhall ...
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Uncovering the potential of Brazil’s wine industry
Snaking our way upwards, through the lush, bucolic vegetation that hugs the rolling hills surrounding the coastal city of Port Alegre, it is hard to imagine that there is any sort of wine industry, let alone vineyard, in this thick sub-tropical landscape.
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Access to justice
‘You in the legal profession by any chance chief? I had that John Mortimer in the back of my cab once – lovely fella, he was. Didn’t half talk a lot, mind. Now then, the Law Society. Is it OK if I drop you at the corner, or do you ...
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Back the right horse
Although not normally a betting man, Obiter is tempted to put a monkey on trainee solicitor Simon Latchford’s first ride at Aintree on Saturday. Latchford, 29, has won the right to compete in the John Smith’s People’s Race on Grand National Day (see [2009] Gazette, 5 February, 31). The trainee ...
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Top role for top cat
Employment solicitor Andy Graham of Leeds firm Ison Harrison landed a role in newly released football flick The Damned United. The film charts footballing legend Brian Clough’s ill-fated 44 days as manager of then mighty Leeds United. Leeds fan Graham plays the role of Terry ‘Top Cat’ Cooper, England left ...
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Sugar leaves sour taste
The curse of Obiter has struck. Last week, we praised qualified lawyer Anita Shah (pictured) as she set out to become Sir Alan Sugar’s next apprentice in the BBC reality TV show. Unfortunately, the ‘self-proclaimed perfectionist’ was not perfect enough for Sugar and was fired in the first episode. She ...
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Adopting the terminology of big business demeans our profession
While other professions and enterprises are adopting terminology designed to elevate those who use their services, why is it that we are docilely using terms which demean our clients, our profession and the services we provide?
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Outrageous Abbey
I write in connection with your story last week, ‘Abbey strikes thousands from conveyancing panel’ (see [2009] Gazette, 26 March, 1). Abbey’s action is outrageous.
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Age old problem
The debate concerning age discrimination is set to continue. Might I suggest that newly qualified solicitors who are of mature years stop whingeing and show prospective employers how they can increase profit margins.
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Infrastructure investment provides opportunities for UK law firms
The UK’s legal sector remains pivotal to the broader financial services sector. Not only is English the language of international business, but English law provides the foundation for many legal systems around the world. In these uncertain times, people are questioning the extent to which ...
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Open and shut case?
Of the 150-odd people who packed out Chancery Lane’s reading room last week to discuss plans to admit journalists into family courts, we reckon that about 149 considered it a bad idea.
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Helping maintain the SRA’s freedom and independence
It has been a big week for the development of regulatory policy. Last Wednesday the Legal Services Board published a consultation document, asking how best to define and maintain adequate separation of the representative and regulatory arms of approved regulators.
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Only 14 firms become first-wave LDPs
The legal profession has largely snubbed the first wave of the Legal Services Act’s business structure reforms, with only 14 legal disciplinary practices up and running as the new regime came into force on Tuesday. The takeup remained low despite a one-month extension to the original ...