All articles by John Hyde – Page 335
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News
Merger talks reach record high as firms battle cuts
The number of law firms opting to merge has reached an all-time high as practices respond to the prospect of reduced income. Analysis by accountancy firm Wilkins Kennedy found 234 mergers involving UK law firms in the past year, up from 220 in the previous 12 months. The number of ...
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News
In-house lawyers focusing more on business issues
The role of the in-house lawyer is increasingly moving away from legal work to concentrate on business issues, research has found. A survey of UK heads of legal and general counsel by resourcing consultancy FreshMinds Legal found that, on average, just 38% of the day is now spent on legal ...
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News
Ombudsman tries to extend reach as job cuts loom
The Legal Ombudsman will next week set out plans for a voluntary scheme to cover unregulated parts of the legal sector. A discussion paper will be released just days after proposals to cut 10% of its staff were confirmed. The ombudsman told workers this week that 25 roles are being ...
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OpinionMesothelioma and Monopoly
There's a moment in most games of Monopoly when you have to make the choice. Your opponent needs your Pall Mall to complete their set, and they'll offer you a red, a green and a station in return. The deal looks too good to be true - what the hell ...
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News
Portal extension rules published – with just 14 working days to go
The Ministry of Justice has finally published the rules that will frame the long-awaited extension of the online claims portal – just 14 working days before the new arrangements come in to force. The 65th update to the Civil Procedure Rules extends the low-value personal injury scheme for RTAs to ...
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OpinionChannel 4 is wrong to screen The Murder Trial
The strangest moment I ever faced while reporting a murder trial was some years ago in Braintree. The victim had been killed outside a nightclub and the DJ was giving evidence about the last time he saw the accused: dancing enthusiastically to ‘Oops Upside your Head’ (this really does constitute ...
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News
60 lawyers to go at global giant
A US law firm with a significant presence in London has confirmed it is making 170 redundancies worldwide. Top 20 global firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges told staff in a mass email that 60 lawyers were being cut along with 110 support staff. A spokesman for the firm declined to ...
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News
Direct Line applies to set up law firm through ABS
Britain’s biggest car insurer, Direct Line Group, has applied to the Solicitors Regulation Authority to become an alternative business structure. The insurer wants to create a newly formed and wholly owned law firm, DLG Legal Services, to operate in partnership with existing law firm Parabis. Direct Line Group already provides ...
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News
Insurer calls on government to look again at whiplash awards
A leading figure at Britain’s biggest car insurer has urged the government to consider looking again at compensation awards for whiplash injuries. Tom Woolgrove (pictured), managing director of personal lines at Direct Line, said it was ‘obvious’ car insurance premiums had fallen following reforms of ...
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News
SRA set to agree major increase in fining powers
Proposals for significant increases in the fining powers of the Solicitors Regulation Authority are set to be agreed this week. The SRA regulatory risk committee will meet tomorrow to recommend new fining guidelines of between £500 and £50,000 for most firms and individuals. For firms with domestic turnover of more ...
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News
Next year's PC fees agreed today – full details
Individual solicitors will be shielded from significant fee increases next year but most firms will pay more. The Law Society today agreed that its net funding requirement for 2014 will be £116.8m, an increase from £103.5m the previous year. The funds cover the Society, Solicitors Regulation Authority and external bodies ...
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News
JK Rowling’s solicitor apologises for leak
A London firm has ‘apologised unreservedly’ for accidentally revealing that Harry Potter author JK Rowling (pictured) was writing under a pseudonym. Russells Solicitors, which describes itself as ‘one of the leading firms in the entertainment industry’, has admitted it was the source of the leaked information ...
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News
Claimant solicitors attack insurer’s ‘biased’ whiplash proposals
Claimant solicitors have dismissed a report into whiplash by insurer Axa as ‘highly biased’ and based on inaccurate or outdated statistics. The insurance giant yesterday put pressure on the government to impose new medical and time limits for making low-value RTA claims. The report pointed to countries such as Sweden ...
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Opinion
Axa calls for three-day limit on whiplash claims
Whiplash claims should be made within three days of the alleged accident and include evidence of physical injury if they are to succeed, insurance giant Axa said today. The recommendations are part of a wishlist for the government to adopt on whiplash, copying models already in place in France and ...
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News
Defendant lawyers ‘saddened’ by Law Society PI campaign
The Forum of Insurance Lawyers has said it is ‘profoundly saddened’ by a Law Society advertising campaign urging accident victims to seek legal advice. The campaign portrays a beaten face with the caption ‘don’t get mugged’, telling injured people to speak to a solicitor before accepting a third-party capture offer ...
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OpinionDefendant firms are turkeys protecting Christmas
This may surprise you, but not all my correspondence is adoring fanmail. Indeed, on some occasions people tell me rather forcefully that I’m wrong, and often in the kind of language that gives our email filter system nightmares. The majority of angry responses come from defendant firms who take issue ...
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News
McNally under fire over Lips claim
Justice minister Lord McNally is facing criticism from lawyers over a claim that cases involving litigants in person (LiPs) are ‘normally’ completed more quickly than those where parties have legal representation. The Liberal Democrat peer was responding to a report by a judicial working group calling for new measures to ...
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News
Lobby law loophole for lawyers
Law firms that lobby on behalf of their clients will escape the provisions of the government’s lobbying bill, transparency pressure group Unlock Democracy said today. The group said plans to force firms to declare whom they represent would exempt 80% of the lobbying industry, including law ...
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News
PI firms warned off medical cases
Leading clinical negligence lawyers have warned of the risks arising from growing numbers of personal injury practitioners moving into their sector. Legal consultancy Zebra last week reported a tenfold increase in enquiries about setting up or expanding medical negligence cases since the beginning of the year. The majority of those ...
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News
RTA claims plummet following fees cut
New RTA claims fell dramatically in the first month following the cut in solicitors’ fixed fees. Figures collected by Claims Portal Ltd show 53,895 claims notification forms opened during May. That was a fall of 31% from April and down almost 25% in comparison with the same month in 2012. ...