All articles by James Dean – Page 18
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Insurer claims public will pay more if Jackson is implemented
The public will bear the brunt of increased civil litigation costs if Lord Justice Jackson’s report is implemented in full, a leading insurer claimed this week. Speaking at the Law Society Civil Justice Section annual conference, Dominic Clayden, director of technical claims at Aviva, said the ...
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Two solicitors charged over £50m of mortgage frauds
Two solicitors have been charged with multiple offences related to a series of high-value commercial mortgage frauds worth around £50m in total. Mark Knights of Cheshire, 45, who worked at Manchester firm Mace & Jones at the time the frauds took place, appeared last Friday at ...
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Two solicitors charged in connection with £50m fraud
Two solicitors have been charged with multiple offences related to a series of high-value commercial mortgage frauds worth around £50m in total. Mark Knights of Cheshire, 45, who worked at Manchester firm Mace & Jones at the time the frauds took place, appeared today at the ...
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Insurance tracking plans welcomed by personal injury lawyers
Personal injury lawyers have welcomed government plans to help people obtain compensation if they cannot trace their employers’ liability insurance policies. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has launched a consultation on setting up an Employers’ Liability Tracing Office (ELTO), which will manage an electronic ...
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Microsoft to outsource general legal work to India
Software giant Microsoft will begin outsourcing general legal work to India after signing a deal with legal process outsourcing (LPO) company CPA Global. The news comes as CPA outlined plans to expand its Indian workforce from 600 to 1,000 by the end of 2011, and hinted at opening another outsourcing ...
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Miners' solicitors bombard government with FoI requests
The government has been overloaded with freedom of information (FoI) requests made by solicitors acting for former coal miners ahead of the first coordinated negligence action for alleged under-settlement of government compensation claims. In a letter to coalfield communities MPs, seen by the Gazette, junior energy ...
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Government ‘actively assessing’ Jackson report
The government and the opposition have hinted that they would implement some of Lord Justice Jackson’s recommendations on civil litigation costs, following the first parliamentary exchange on the judge’s report since its publication a month ago. Justice secretary Jack Straw said: ‘Lord Justice Jackson’s proposals… are ...
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APIL attacks government over eligibility for bereavement damages
The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) has criticised the government for ignoring Law Commission recommendations to increase general damages in personal injury cases. Responding to a Ministry of Justice consultation on the draft Civil Law Reform Bill, APIL said that ‘injured people will bear the ...
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Linklaters launches fast-track LPC
Magic circle firm Linklaters has launched an accelerated legal practice course designed to cut four and a half months from the typical LPC course length. The accelerated LPC, available to the firm’s trainees from January 2011, will take seven and a half months to complete. Linklaters ...
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Sometimes it pays to work for free
My grandmother once told me a rags-to-riches story about the son of one of her friends, who worked his way from unemployment into a lofty position at a major car manufacturer.
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Trainee solicitors 'exploited' after qualification
Trainee solicitors are being ‘exploited’ by firms offering them a Hobson’s choice between a paralegal role or the dole when they qualify, the Gazette has learned. The Junior Lawyers Division (JLD) said firms’ financial problems meant they were attempting to avoid paying newly qualified lawyers’ salaries ...
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Commercial property triggers recruitment surge for litigators
High-end commercial property litigators will be the most in-demand breed of lawyer in London over the coming year, recruitment consultants Badenoch & Clark predicted this week. Banks that have already refinanced commercial property loans are beginning to call in specialist litigators to try and recover massive ...
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Solicitors face professional indemnity challenge from insurers
Insurers are beginning to challenge solicitors over the terms of their professional indemnity insurance (PII) policies amid early signs that the profession is facing a wave of negligence claims. Some 82% of major insurers predict that the number of claims on solicitors’ PII policies this year ...
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Top US firms plan London push
Top US firms are planning to expand in London in 2010, with trainee, associate and partner positions expected to be up for grabs over the course of the year. White & Case will bring in between 25 and 30 new associates in London this year, London ...
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Recession fears leaves corporate and property lawyers overstretched
Corporate and property lawyers are being overstretched as firms remain fearful of a double-dip recession and refuse to recruit new staff to deal with an upturn in work, the Gazette has learned. At a national meeting of the Junior Lawyers Division (JLD), which represents lawyers from ...
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Firm launches website for 'undersettled’ coal miner compensation claims
A Yorkshire firm has set up a new website to gather claims from former coal miners who believe that solicitors undersettled their original government compensation claims. The site, Minerscompensationclaims.com, was launched in December by nine-partner firm Jordans. The website aims to gather previously settled claims from ...
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Website for blacklisted solicitors plans expansion
A website that blacklists solicitors and law firms is set to expand its capacity, with the number of visitors to the site now exceeding 1,000 a day, its owner claimed this week. Rick Kordowski, who runs solicitorsfromhell.co.uk, told the Gazette that he plans to expand the ...
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BRM Solicitors could repay up to £89,000 to former miners
Chesterfield firm BRM Solicitors could repay up to £89,000 to former miners after being taken to task by the Solicitors Regulation Authority for its handling of government compensation claims. BRM partner Peter James McGowan has appeared before the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal after admitting a number of ...
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Train judges to control costs, says Jackson
Judges and lawyers involved in high-stakes commercial court disputes should be trained in costs budgeting and costs management, Lord Justice Jackson’s review of civil litigation costs has recommended. The report suggested that costs budgeting and costs management be included as part of lawyers’ CPD training, while ...
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SRA poised to relax conflict of interest rules
Law firms will be able to advise rival clients on the same deal after the Solicitors Regulation Authority laid down plans to relax conflict of interest and confidentiality rules in a shortened consultation which will close next month. The proposed rule changes being pushed through by ...