All articles by James Dean – Page 9
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EC in class action plan
The European Commission (EC) will launch a Europe-wide consultation on collective actions next month, as it attempts once again to harmonise laws and improve access to compensation for individuals and small businesses. Announcing the forthcoming consultation in a speech at the University of Valladolid in Spain ...
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Insurers accused of ‘abusing’ RTA scheme
Insurers are ‘abusing’ the scheme designed to speed up low-value road traffic accident (RTA) personal injury cases, solicitors said this week. The claims cast doubt on Lord Young’s assertion in his recent report on the ‘compensation culture’ that the RTA process ‘provides a model of how ...
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US technology companies fuel tribunal claims
US computer technology companies are fuelling a rise in cases heard by the Company Names Tribunal, research has suggested. Since its formation in October 2008, 24% of claims in the tribunal have been filed by American IT conglomerates, according to research by legal publisher Sweet & ...
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Lawyers issue warning over Young’s proposals
The government must not hinder access to justice for personal injury victims as it takes forward Lord Young’s report on the so-called ‘compensation culture,’ lawyers’ groups have warned. In his report released on Friday, Young (pictured) acknowledged that ‘the problem of the compensation culture prevalent ...
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Lawyers suffer from ‘information overload’
‘Information overload’ is causing UK lawyers to under-bill for the work they do, a new survey has suggested. Research at work is now taking so long that 45% of UK legal professionals sometimes do not bill for the time they spend on it, according to the ...
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Lord Young has contradicted himself over the ‘compensation culture’
Politicians often evade questions – it’s part and parcel of the job – but it’s rarer for them to contradict their own work. At a press conference on Young’s report at 10 Downing Street last week, Lord Young managed to both contradict and evade.
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SRA appoints former Linklaters partner as chief City adviser
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has appointed a former magic circle lawyer to advise it on the regulation of City law firms. The SRA also announced today that six firms of various sizes will take part in its pilot of outcomes-focused regulation. Nick Eastwell, a former partner ...
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Young report seeks to curb ‘compensation culture’
The volume and content of personal injury advertising should be controlled, but there will be no outright ban, Lord Young (pictured) has recommended in his report on the ‘compensation culture’ published today. In Common Sense, Common Safety, Young also proposes that the road traffic accident (RTA) ...
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Stock market jitters hit equity capital markets teams
A year of failed and suspended stock market listings has hit the fortunes of equity capital markets (ECM) teams across the City, senior corporate finance lawyers said this week. A far higher than average number of unfinished initial public offerings (IPOs) has dampened fee income, damaged ...
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Firms may have folded to avoid high cost of PII premiums
A leading market expert has estimated that up to 175 firms closed their doors ahead of this month’s professional indemnity insurance (PII) renewal deadline rather than face the high cost of premiums, while a handful of firms are believed to be trading illegally because they cannot afford cover.
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TUC brands asbestos ruling 'obscene'
Victims of a deadly disease caused by work-related asbestos exposure could miss out on compensation following a Court of Appeal ruling last week, campaign groups fear. The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) and trade union Unite branded the victory for insurance companies as ‘obscene’. The ...
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US delays ABS decisions
A decision in the US on whether or not to allow UK alternative business structures to operate across the Atlantic is unlikely to be made until well after 2012, the new American Bar Association (ABA) president Stephen Zack told the Gazette in an interview this week. ...
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College of Law supports Browne’s plans on higher education
The government must follow Lord Browne’s recommendation to remove the fee cap on higher education, the College of Law said today. Such a move is necessary to increase competition between higher education establishments, and remove the ‘dividing line’ between public and private tertiary education, the College ...
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Sadiq Khan named as shadow lord chancellor
Former human rights solicitor Sadiq Khan was today named shadow lord chancellor, as new Labour leader Ed Miliband assembled his first shadow cabinet. Khan, who was a partner at London human rights firm Christian Khan before standing as Labour candidate for Tooting in the 2005 general ...
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SRA closes Burges Salmon investigation
South-west firm Burges Salmon will not face the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal following allegations that it gave inappropriate legal advice to farmers, a long-running investigation by the Solicitors Regulation Authority has decided. The SRA, which for two years considered allegations about advice given by Burges Salmon to ...
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Is Lord Young being too harsh on personal injury lawyers?
No personal injury lawyer enjoys being called an ‘ambulance chaser’, even if, on occasion, they slip a business card into the bloodied hand of a car crash victim. Such a scene (fictional, I should add) was played out in a TV advertisement I saw last week ...
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Lawyers hit by corruption and international bribery
Almost a third of lawyers worldwide have lost business to law firms or individual lawyers engaged in international bribery and corruption, a major study has found. More than one in five said they had been approached to take part in a possible corrupt transaction, according to ...
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Lord Young attacks personal injury ‘lottery’
The peer leading the government’s review of the ‘compensation culture’ said this week that he is ‘ashamed’ of some personal injury lawyers in respect of how they advertise their services. Addressing the Conservative Party conference, Lord Young of Graffham (pictured) claimed that some personal injury advertising ...
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Firms leave ARP following tough SRA action
Nearly 50 law firms in the assigned risks pool (ARP) have closed or will soon close as a result of enforcement action by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, the regulator said today. The SRA said that 37 ARP firms have closed and 10 are in the process ...
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Mayer Brown outsources secretarial practice
The London corporate group of US firm Mayer Brown has outsourced its entire secretarial practice, the firm announced today. Corporate administrative outsourcer TMF Group, which runs 87 corporate administration companies in 67 countries, has acquired the practice. Peter Dickinson, head of the ...