All articles by John Hyde – Page 359
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News
Italian firm applies to become an ABS
A leading Italian law firm has joined the race to become an alternative business structure as the number of advanced applications approaches 100. Pirola Pennuto Zei & Associati, which has an annual turnover of €100m (£82m), could become one of the first non-UK law firms to ...
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Regulators agree to share data on ABSs
A cross-profession agreement should ensure that alternative business structures have to deal with only one regulator. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed this week by regulators from the legal, accountancy, financial and property sectors will enable more information to be shared, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) ...
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'Safe harbour’ compliance advice for whole profession
The Law Society has announced it will offer ‘safe harbour’ compliance advice to the whole profession. The move follows Chancery Lane’s launch last month of the Compliance Reference Group (CRG) pilot for enquiries on regulation from top-100 firms. The service will now ...
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News
Female partner boost at magic circle
The number of women promoted to partnership at magic circle firms has risen by 50% - but they still make up just a quarter of all the promotions. A total of 95 solicitors were this week elected to partnership at the leading five firms. Of these, 24 were women - ...
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Law firm trainee opportunities 'boosted by salary cut'
Removing the trainee minimum salary will increase training opportunities but at a cost of lower wages, a survey has found.
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News
Singapore move for College of Law
The College of Law (CoL) has formed a strategic collaboration with the Singapore Institute of Legal Education with a view to establishing a permanent presence in the state. The move is expected to be the first of many such projects made possible by the college’s new ownership structure. ...
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News
Insurers propose £150 portal fixed fee as ‘negotiating tactic’
The insurance industry has proposed that fixed fees for low-value claims be set as low as £150, the Gazette can reveal. A leaked email, apparently sent to members of the Association of British Insurers by the ABI’s assistant head of motor and liability James Dalton, calls ...
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News
Solicitors highlight five mySRA failings
Solicitors have pinpointed five key failings of the online practising certificate renewal system. MySRA was used for all PC renewals for the first time this year but suffered a host of technical problems. In a survey of law firms carried out following the renewal deadline, solicitors ...
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News
Clarke to announce whiplash curbs
The government will this week set out tougher measures in a bid to cut the number of whiplash claims. Justice secretary Kenneth Clarke and transport secretary Justine Greening will jointly outline plans to reform the diagnosis procedure. In a statement to be made on Wednesday, the ...
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News
Herbert Smith cuts City jobs
City firm Herbert Smith has confirmed it plans to cut staff numbers at its London headquarters by 51. The redundancies, which represent 3.2% of the total London headcount, were announced to staff today as a consultation period was started. The proposed reductions would come principally from ...
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News
CoA ruling makes parent companies liable for subsidiaries’ health and safety
Parent companies have a responsibility for the health and safety of their subsidiaries’ employees, the Court of Appeal has ruled in a groundbreaking case. The judgment comes after a retired factory worker successfully sued his former employer’s parent company after contracting asbestosis. Cape, which owned ...
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News
Mesothelioma U-turn is a pyrrhic victory
Journalists are sometimes accused of misquoting people (not me, you understand, just in case Lord Justice Leveson is reading). So let me give Jonathan Djanogly an opportunity to be quoted in full, without amendments. Here is the justice minister, speaking in the House of Commons, on ...
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News
Firm offers £1,500 advance for PI victims
A personal injury firm with ambitions to open 50 outlets this year is offering a £1,500 cash advance for accident victims who make a claim. GT Law, which has also applied to be an alternative business structure, will require a medical report and insurer’s admission of ...
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News
SRA costs plan 'a burden' says Society
The Law Society has told regulators that solicitors should not be expected to pay for losses incurred by uninsured firms. The Solicitors Regulation Authority proposed last week that payments would be taken out of the Compensation Fund from later this year. The fund, paid for by ...
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News
‘Raise cap’ on crime victims’ compensation
Personal injury lawyers have called on the government to raise the cap on compensation for victims of crime. A Ministry of Justice consultation, ‘Getting it right for victims and witnesses’, closed this week after three months. The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers responded to the consultation ...
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News
MoJ: ‘up to solicitors’ to police damages
A Ministry of Justice official has said it will be up to solicitors to police a key aspect of the civil litigation reforms. Robert Wright, head of civil litigation and funding at the MoJ, admitted last week there is no way for the government to ensure ...
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News
PI lawyers rule out ‘deal or no deal’
Personal injury lawyers are refusing to play ‘deal or no deal games’ with the government over fixed fees for smaller cases. The government has written to all stakeholders asking them to suggest a limit for the value of claim that solicitors should be able to charge ...
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News
Whiplash claims need objective evidence, say insurers
The body representing the insurance industry has called for compensation for whiplash claims to be withheld until there is ‘objective evidence’ of injury. The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has urged the government to look at radical action to tackle growing numbers of whiplash claims. Speaking ...
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News
Double ABS first for NewLaw Legal
A personal injury firm based in Cardiff has become the first Welsh practice to be licensed as an alternative business structure (ABS). NewLaw Legal, founded in 2004, was confirmed as the fourth ABS by the Solicitors Regulation Authority today. It is also ...
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News
Legal aid bill back in Commons for latest ping pong round
The government suffered three more House of Lords defeats to its plans to cut legal aid last night, setting the scene for a further tussle in the Commons today. The parliamentary ping pong follows 11 defeats initially inflicted by peers on the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of offenders bill, ...