All articles by John Hyde – Page 341
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News
Damages uplift ruling sparks call for clarity
Lawyers have called for extra guidance after claiming a judicial announcement on damages raises more questions than answers. The Court of Appeal last week handed down a judgment that will lead to a 10% increase in general damages in most civil cases from 1 April next ...
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News
No replacement yet for £10m High Court IT failure
Justice officials have admitted they cannot say when a new computer system will replace a £10m failed attempt to upgrade IT in the High Court. The Electronic Working System, designed to speed up cases in the Royal Courts of Justice, was ditched in March after what ...
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News
Regulators’ knuckles rapped on complaints handling
The Solicitors Regulation Authority is failing to comply fully with its duty to ensure complaints are properly handled, a review has found. All legal regulators were this week ordered by the Legal Services Board (LSB) to improve the way they handle complaints. In a letter to ...
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News
Twitter joke trial must not end here
There will be lots of talk of pride in Britain today, but perhaps the biggest source comes from the Royal Courts of Justice rather than the Olympic stadium. It was there, at the Court of Appeal, that justice - and sanity - finally prevailed, as Paul Chambers’ conviction of sending ...
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PII outlook ‘positive’ as new entrant targets small firms
A new entrant has joined the solicitor professional indemnity insurance market with a strategy to target small firms. Specialist broker Prime Professions has launched a new product offering access to A-rated insurer Axis Specialty to sole practitioners or firms with up to three partners. The insurer ...
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Victims face trek as violence courts shut
Court closures are forcing victims and witnesses in domestic violence cases to travel more than 50 miles to and from hearings, the ...
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News
General damages to increase by 10%
The Court of Appeal today confirmed that general damages will increase by 10% for all judgments made after 1 April 2013. Senior figures at the judiciary said the judgment was being made several months in advance to provide 'simplicity and clarity'. The ...
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News
Insurance fund deal for mesothelioma victims
Insurers will pay £300m over the next 10 years into a scheme to support newly diagnosed victims of mesothelioma, the government confirmed today. The money will go into a new fund for the 3,000 victims across the UK who are unable to claim compensation because ...
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Panel identifies consumer trust shortfall
Legal services consumers are becoming less confident about protection of their rights as the market liberalises, research has found. The second consumer ‘healthcheck’ released by the Legal Services Consumer Panel today identified declining public trust in lawyers, though it pointed out that this is true of ...
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News
Medical report cost recovery in last-minute Jackson change
Concerns about impact on disabled claimants have forced a last-ditch change to the government’s civil litigation reforms. An equality impact assessment of the Jackson proposals revealed fears that claimants could be prevented from bringing a serious injury claim because of the cost of expert reports. Part ...
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Shoosmiths lets 86 go
National firm Shoosmiths has responded to a difficult financial year by announcing a total of 86 redundancies. The top 40 firm, where turnover dropped by 3% in 2011/12 to £84m, today confirmed 71 voluntary and 15 compulsory redundancies following a two-month consultation. ...
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News
Solicitor shot in Devizes has died
Police have confirmed that Wiltshire solicitor James Ward (pictured) has died following a shooting in his office earlier this month. The 58-year-old, principal solicitor at Morris Goddard & Ward, was shot at his desk in the firm’s Devizes office on 2 July. Wiltshire Police today confirmed ...
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ABS offers barristers at £75 an hour
A new law firm which promises clients fixed fees and immediate face-to-face meetings with barristers has become the latest alternative business structure (ABS). Red Bar Law was formed in September last year and applied to the Solicitors Regulation Authority for ABS status in January. Today the ...
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News
MoJ ‘hell-bent’ on expanding RTA process
The government this week rejected calls to tear up its timetable for boosting the role of the RTA portal for low-value claims - despite a call by its own expert adviser for a pause. In a long-awaited report published on the day before parliament’s summer recess, ...
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News
Rise in NHS negligence claims expected
Claims against the NHS are likely to rise this year as cases are pushed through ahead of funding reforms, according to the new head of the NHS Litigation Authority.
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News
Let Rome burn - we’re off on holiday!
That noise you can hear is MPs stampeding for the exits. Yes, today is the first day of their summer recess/holiday, just 36 days after their last (three-week) break.
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News
Expert report warns government to hold off RTA portal extension
Government plans to extend the RTA portal from next year were today dealt a blow by one of its own advisers.
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News
Society agrees PII deal with Aon as AmTrust enters market
The Law Society has signed up PII broker Aon to provide professional indemnity insurance to members of its Conveyancing Quality Scheme and Lexcel quality marks. The broker has an exclusive arrangement with two of the largest A-rated qualifying insurers, QBE and XL, for one-to-10 partner ...
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News
Friends and family 'favourite source of legal advice'
Most consumers do not turn to a solicitor when first confronting a legal need, according to new research published by the Legal Services Board. The report says satisfaction with solicitors is high, with those using solicitors likely to get a better result than those who sought advice from other providers. ...
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‘Alternative’ firm applies to be ABS
A self-styled ‘alternative’ law firm which acts for companies such as BSkyB and Nike plans to become an alternative business structure. Halebury has a roster of 14 lawyers contracted to the firm but working on a consultancy basis in-house with corporate clients. The firm was founded ...