All articles by John Hyde – Page 346

  • News

    ABS applicants billed thousands for consultancy

    17 May 2012

    Alternative business structure hopefuls are being invoiced thousands of pounds for consultants to handle the financial minutiae of their applications to the Solicitors Regulation Authority, the Gazette has learned. The SRA says it has hired specialists to supplement its 25-strong team dedicated to vetting ABS applications. ...

  • News

    SRA opts for national minimum wage for trainees

    16 May 2012

    Regulators have voted to partially deregulate the trainee solicitor minimum wage 30 years after it was introduced. The board of the Solicitors Regulation Authority made the decision to change the terms of the salary immediately at its meeting today. The tailored solicitor minimum salary will be ...

  • News

    Trainee minimum wage to go

    16 May 2012

    Regulators have voted to scrap the trainee solicitor minimum wage 30 years after it was first introduced. The board of the Solicitors Regulation Authority made the decision to deregulate the salary immediately at its meeting today. The decision comes after a five-month ...

  • News

    Trainee minimum to stay, SRA board rules

    16 May 2012

    Regulators have voted to retain the trainee solicitor minimum wage 30 years after it was first introduced. The board of the Solicitors Regulation Authority made the decision to ignore calls for deregulation at its meeting today. The decision comes after a five-month consultation with the profession ...

  • News

    SRA sells out aspiring trainees

    16 May 2012

    Forget all the corporate blather about ‘partial deregulation’ - today the Solicitors Regulation Authority board chose to dump the minimum salary for trainee solicitors. It was a gutless, thoughtless and morally reprehensible decision, taken on flimsy grounds and with little or no debate. In passing on ...

  • News

    Trainee minimum to be abolished in two years

    16 May 2012

    Regulators have voted to scrap the trainee solicitor minimum wage 30 years after it was first introduced. The board of the Solicitors Regulation Authority made the decision to deregulate the salary at its meeting today. Full deregulation will be deferred for two years to minimise the ...

  • News

    SRA in new compliance deadline setback

    15 May 2012

    The Solicitors Regulation Authority is set to push back the date for approving compliance officers by two months. The SRA Board will vote tomorrow on extending the grace period for approving the new appointments to 31 December. As recently as last weekend, SRA chief executive Antony ...

  • News

    Prepare for 50% fee cuts, says ‘end of lawyers’ professor

    14 May 2012

    Rapid change in the legal profession threatens everyone from in-house lawyers to large City firms, according to IT consultant Professor Richard Susskind. The former IT adviser to the lord chief justice told the Law Society Management Conference last week that the economic climate will force clients to seek out these ...

  • News

    Twitter twits

    11 May 2012

    Just why don’t lawyers get Twitter? This is a website with more than 300 million registered users worldwide, a figure that is growing all the time. It has extraordinary reach, allowing members to spread their own message or listen into what others are saying. It is, ...

  • News

    Future is fixed billing - Neuberger

    11 May 2012

    Master of the rolls Lord Neuberger has warned that alternative business structures may sound the ‘death knell’ for hourly billing. Speaking at the Association of Costs Lawyers conference today, Neuberger said clients were increasingly put off by hourly billing and attracted by fixed fees. As well ...

  • News

    Serwotka threatens more disruption after ‘brilliant’ court strike

    11 May 2012

    A union leader has threatened a further strike next month after industrial action by court workers across the country. Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union, said yesterday’s one-day strike had received ‘brilliant support’ from members working in the courts service. The ...

  • News

    Solicitors have ‘duty’ to disclose funding options

    10 May 2012

    A leading US litigation funder has claimed lawyers have a ‘legal and ethical duty’ to tell clients about alternative funding options. Selvyn Seidel, co-founder and chairman of Fulbrook Management, told the Gazette that there is still a lack of information about the industry, despite most of ...

  • News

    Chinese firm enters London with co-operation plan

    10 May 2012

    The first top-tier Chinese law firm to enter the London market says it is looking to co-operate - rather than merge - with UK firms. Zhong Lun has built a formidable base in China in less than 20 years, with 150 partners and more than ...

  • News

    Queen’s speech ushers in era of cameras in court

    10 May 2012

    News broadcasters have hailed the permitting of cameras in court for the first time as 'an important step for democracy and open justice'. The lifting of the ban was confirmed as part of the Queen's speech today and allows for judgments to be filmed and broadcast. ...

  • News

    Crime and Courts Bill to create single county court system

    10 May 2012

    The government has confirmed in the Queen’s speech that it will enact proposals for a single county court system in England and Wales. The move was mooted in March amongst a raft of other proposals following the report of a consultation into solving disputes in the ...

  • News

    Solicitors could access fraudster register

    10 May 2012

    Insurers have suggested they may be willing to accede to solicitors’ demands to share information on known fraudsters. Personal injury lawyers have urged insurers to give them access to records of people who have made false claims. The Association of British Insurers is preparing a new ...

  • News

    TLT creates UK-wide practice

    9 May 2012

    National firm TLT has announced plans to launch operations in Scotland and Northern Ireland to create a UK-wide practice. The firm has merged with Scottish practice Anderson Fyfe to create TLT Scotland, with the deal expected to be confirmed on 1 July. ...

  • News

    Spectator to face contempt charge over Lawrence trial article

    9 May 2012

    The Crown Prosecution Service is to prosecute The Spectator magazine over an opinion column published during the Stephen Lawrence murder trial last year. The notice to prosecute is the first since the CPS published guidelines that called for prosecutors to assess whether the public interest outweighed ...

  • News

    Strikes and work to rule will hit courts from Thursday

    8 May 2012

    Hundreds of court staff will refuse overtime until August as the public sector pensions row threatens to create a backlog in the court service. Members of the Public and Commercial Services Union are due to walk out on Thursday for a one-day strike over cuts to ...

  • News

    London courts to scale back for Olympics

    8 May 2012

    Courts near Olympics venues and traffic hotspots will significantly cut their sittings from 27 July to 12 August, HM Courts and Tribunals Service said today. Officials are concerned that jurors and witnesses will be unable to attend hearings during a period when hundreds of thousands ...