All articles by John Hyde – Page 348
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News
Property management business becomes latest ABS
A property management company based in London has become the latest organisation to be granted a licence as an alternative business structure. Crabtree Property Management, established in 1983, says it runs more than 17,000 units in a portfolio spread across London and the south of England. ...
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News
Two-year PII deals gain in popularity as 2013 uncertainty looms
An underwriting agency specialising in two-year insurance deals is targeting £25m of business for this year’s professional indemnity insurance (PII) renewal period. Indemnity Risk Solutions says law firms will be looking for longer-term options in advance of the phasing out next year of the assigned risks ...
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News
SRA ponders policing of referral fee ban
The Solicitors Regulation Authority will set out within weeks how it intends to police the forthcoming ban on referral fees. The SRA has confirmed it will draw up a formal policy position in advance of a 12-week consultation starting this autumn. The ...
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News
Firm pays tribute to kind solicitor
The funeral will be held next week of solicitor and father-of-three James Ward, who died last month after being shot in his office. The 58-year-old, who helped to found Wiltshire firm Morris Goddard & Ward more than 20 years ago, was described by colleagues as a ...
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City lawyers cautious on fast-track scheme
City lawyers have cautiously welcomed government proposals for a fast-track procedure for smaller businesses launching private actions under competition law. The City of London Law Society said a fast-track scheme would make bringing an action cheaper and simpler for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Responding ...
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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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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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News
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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News
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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News
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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News
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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News
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.