Headlines – Page 1600
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Chancery: proprietary estoppel
The proposition that ‘equitable estoppel is a flexible doctrine... but it is not a joker or wild card to be used whenever the court disapproves of the conduct of a litigant who seems to have the law on his side’ was the starting point for Lord Walker’s judgment in the ...
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Local government
Torts – Trespass – Access – Bridleways – Damages Field Common Ltd v Elmbridge Borough Council: Ch D (Mr Justice Warren): 27 August 2008. The court was required to assess ...
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Human rights
Civil Procedure – Disclosure – Inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment – Interrogation – National security R (on the application of Binyan Mohamed) v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs: DC (Lord Justice, Mr Justice Lloyd Jones): ...
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Family law
Civil procedure – McKenzie friends – Rights of audience – Appropiate circumstances to grant rights of audience Re N (a child) sub nom A v (1) G (2) N (by his rule 9.5 guardian): Re N (a child) sub ...
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Defamation
Libel – Malicious falsehood – Offer of amends Tesco Stores Ltd v (1) Guardian News and Media Ltd (2) Alan Rusbridger: QBD (Mr Justice Eady): 29 July 2008. The ...
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Sentencing
Antisocial behaviour – Kidnapping – Mitigation – Sentence length R v Peter Graham Oswald: CA (Crim Div) (Lord Justice Gage, Mr Justice Treacy, Mr Justice Bean): 22 August 2008. The ...
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States of play: how US firms are doing in London
‘New York firms are much more successful here than London law firms have been in New York.’ This was the controversial view espoused by Kenneth MacRitchie, managing partner of the London office of Shearman & Sterling (and a UK-qualified former Clifford Chance partner) earlier this year.
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Peter Williamson on Lord Ouseley's report
Lord Ouseley's report on BME solicitors has two overriding messages for the regulator. You may have seen media coverage of Lord Ouseley’s recent review of the disproportionately high presence of black and minority ethnic (BME) solicitors in the compliance procedures of the SRA. Some called the ...
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Triple action
Olympic medallists past and present, the ‘I can run faster than you’ marathon runner challenge and young England footballers have all figured in Obiter over recent weeks. But for some, one sport is not enough when you can do three at once (well, sort of).
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Fighting chance
‘Grasshopper, when you can take the pebble from my hand, it is time to set up practice in Beverly Hills.’ We suspect this isn’t the exact advice that London firm Solutions in Law received from its client Sir Brian Sterling, a broadcaster and martial arts champion, but you get the ...
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Enter the dragon
Sixteen members of Staffordshire firm Ansons got soaked for a good cause, paddling a 40-foot dragon boat in the annual challenge at Chasewater Country Park, Lichfield. No, they didn’t capsize, but torrential rain and paddle-splashes provided the next best thing. For the second year running, trainee Clare Smith had the ...
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Sky Walkers
Dedication, as we all know, is what you need if you want to be a record-breaker. And so a team of lawyers from broadcaster Sky determined they would set the world record for the – wait for it – longest three-legged walk in 24 hours. Like you do. ...
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Revisiting the issue of pay
The Public Guardian has failed to address a catastrophic decline in the income of Court of Protection visitors. All practitioners involved in Court of Protection work will warmly welcome new Public Guardian Martin John’s initiative in reviewing serious problems arising from the new lasting power of ...
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Standards sliding on good grammar
I was interested to read the article by Martin Cutts concerning the increasing number of errors, both grammatical and semantic, appearing in letters and other legal documents (see [2008] Gazette, 4 September, 8).
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Registry fraud: we told you so
I read with interest and some despair your item ‘Registry fraud payouts soar’ (see [2008] Gazette, 4 September, 3). Some years ago, when it was proposed that land/charge certificates were to be abandoned with the move to e-conveyancing, I attended a seminar at the York District Land Registry. All the ...
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'Partial account' of constitutional bill
James Dean’s article ‘Call to divide AG’s dual role’ (see [2008] Gazette,, 7 August, 4) unfortunately gave only a very partial account of a substantial piece of work by the Joint Committee on the Draft Constitutional Renewal Bill, which I chaired. In fairness to your readers, I would like to ...
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What price is justice? About £90m...
We are told by the courts service managers that asking the government to meet the shortfall is not an option. Why not? The shortcomings of the courts service have provided a rich seam of material for Gazette correspondents in recent weeks. ‘You think that’s bad, wait ...
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Jobsworths yes, but not racists
Professional regulators must learn the art of light-touch supervision, argues Martin Mears, but it is absurd to excuse them from racism. Apart from the usual axe-grinders and ‘stakeholders’, few are likely to have read Lord Ouseley’s report on why black and minority ethnic (BME) solicitors feature ...
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Virtual court pilot in jeopardy over fees
A pilot scheme that could see defendants sentenced via video-link within hours of being arrested could be derailed as three leading practitioner groups consider withdrawing their support over pay, the Gazette has learned.
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New charity funding boost for pro bono lawyers
A national charity is to be launched next month to distribute a new stream of income for pro bono legal advice services, the Gazette can reveal. The Access to Justice Foundation is a major cross-profession initiative backed by the Law Society, Bar Council, Institute of Legal ...