All articles by John Hyde – Page 365
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News
Profit a ‘dirty word’ in law, says Dragon’s Den judge
Entrepreneur and investor James Caan has revealed he found a culture where profit was a ‘dirty word’ when he looked to buy a law firm. Former Dragons Den judge Caan, whose private investment company Hamilton Bradshaw bought Midlands firm Knights in June, said he had spoken ...
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Five years on: progress ‘largely static’ towards LSA nirvana
The Legal Services Act has made little difference to standards in the profession, according to a report released today by the Legal Services Board. The baseline report, published five years since the act, found that indicators such as diversity, quality of service and access to legal ...
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Don’t force accident victims to be speculators - APIL
Seriously injured victims should not have to invest in volatile stock markets to ensure they can fund their future care, claimant lawyers said yesterday. The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers is lobbying the government to reduce the discount rate, the percentage deducted from the damages of ...
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No tears for fee-ban victims
My goodness, the SRA is pushing things tight on the referral fee ban. This week saw the consultation published for the nature and scale of the ban and how exactly the regulator chooses to enforce it. The consultation will be done by Christmas, before a series ...
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No loophole for fee-ban dodgers, SRA warns
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has warned it may not grant licences to alternative business structures set up solely to get round the referral fee ban. The organisation today promised to look carefully at ABS applicants’ proposed referral arrangements and block business models not truly operating as ...
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No place for private equity in law firms, say finance chiefs
More than three-quarters of finance directors at leading commercial law firms believe private equity investment is inappropriate. In a survey of directors at 25 of the top 100 firms, 77% were unhappy with law firms attracting capital through private equity investors. An even greater number - ...
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Super regulator goes shopping for legal panel
The Legal Services Board today opened the application process to join its panel of legal advisers. The super regulator says it requires support for public and private law, legislative drafting and litigation support. Most pieces of work are typically valued below £5,000 but more complex and ...
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Fund will assume risks of ABSs, says MoJ
The solicitors’ compensation fund will take on the risks of alternative business structures indefinitely following the shelving of plans for a separate fund, the ...
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Townsend admits light touch for new ABSs
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has made a conscious decision not to place too many conditions on new alternative business structures (ABSs), its leader has revealed. Chief executive Antony Townsend said the terms of the licence had deliberately been kept simple for the 33 entities that have ...
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Study recommends shift in CPD provision
The annual requirement for 16 hours of continuing professional development (CPD) should not be extended and could even be lowered, according to a report commissioned by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. The Nottingham Law School study also says law firms should have to contribute to the ...
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News
Litigant in person ‘not entitled to indulgence’
The Court of Appeal has told a self-represented litigant that his lack of legal understanding does not entitle him to ‘extra indulgence’. The finding will comfort solicitors facing a soaring number of self-represented opponents. Peter Elliott, who claims to be ...
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News
Gladstone Brookes TV ad falls foul of watchdog
The advertising watchdog has ordered a claims management company (CMC) to stop showing a TV advertisement which exaggerated how long a PPI claim would take. Gladstone Brookes, which instructed almost 71,000 clients in the first eight months of 2012, ran the advertisement stating that ‘reclaiming ...
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News
‘No question’ of leaving ECHR - Grieve
Attorney general Dominic Grieve (pictured) has categorically stated the government has no intention of withdrawing from the European convention on human rights. Grieve told the House of Commons yesterday there is ‘no question’ of leaving the convention, despite justice secretary Chris Grayling last week hinting that ...
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News
Quindell snaps up second law firm
One of the biggest new entrants to the legal services market has added to its growing stable with the acquisition of personal injury firm Pinto Potts. AIM-listed Quindell Portfolio announced the takeover this morning to the stock exchange and confirmed it has bought the firm for ...
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News
Berezovsky gets £35m costs bill
Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky (pictured) has been ordered to pay £35m to cover the defence costs of his failed claim against Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich.
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News
PI firm buys debt recovery service
National firm Irwin Mitchell has announced it is to acquire a debt recovery company and to apply to license it as an alternative business structure. Oxfordshire-based PDP Management Services will operate as a subsidiary of Ascent, which is in turn a subsidiary of personal injury ...
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News
Claims manager jailed for insurance fraud
The manager of a claims management company who processed fraudulent insurance claims has been jailed for 21 months. Asif Mallu, 38, organised 10 claims between May and December 2005, making more than £12,000 through solicitors’ referral fees, courtesy car hire and the recovery of vehicles involved. ...
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News
Unhappy consumers ‘intimidated by jargon’
Legal services consumers feel intimidated by jargon when they make complaints to law firms and for that reason are more likely to take their complaint to the Legal Ombudsman, research has found. A survey published today of more than 1,000 people who had complained to the ...
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News
CoA finds for insurers on damages uplift
The Court of Appeal has ruled that a 10% uplift on general damages will not apply to cases begun before 1 April on a conditional fee agreement (CFA). In a ruling made today, the most senior judges in England and Wales overturned an earlier judgment that ...
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Ten things we learned from the Tory conference
1) Chris Grayling is a popular choice for justice secretary: He wouldn’t exactly be your first choice to enjoy a pint with, but Grayling has the sort of dead-eyed, intransigent attitude to law and order that delights the rank and file. His conference speech granted every ...