All articles by John Hyde – Page 367
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News
Clyde & Co enters Canadian market with merger
City firm Clyde & Co has become the latest UK practice to move into the Canadian marketplace. The firm, which has 24 offices around the world, has confirmed a merger with Canadian insurance firm Nicholl Paskall-Mede (NPM). NPM’s 40-strong team, including 15 ...
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Firms failing on client needs, study reports
Law firms are failing to understand their clients’ needs, creating a significant expectations gap, a study has found. DLA Piper joint chief executive Sir Nigel Knowles said the findings should serve as a ‘call to arms’ to practices to improve in this regard. ...
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British businesses buried by European legal avalanche
Businesses are struggling to keep abreast of the hundreds of new laws published last year by the European Union. Legal information provider Sweet & Maxwell says 806 new laws impacting the UK were created in 2010. The majority of those were made ...
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UK's top law firms see fee income growth
The UK’s top 100 law firms achieved overall fee income growth of 3.9% in the last financial year - but the gap between top and bottom is continuing to grow. Deloitte’s latest Quarterly Legal Sector Survey shows top firms increased productivity by 1.6% up to the ...
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‘Big is not beautiful’ says LSB in report on smaller regulators
An independent report commissioned by the Legal Services Board into the future of the smaller regulators has stressed that they must not be forced into radical changes in response to the Legal Services Act. The report, by former Ministry of Justice official Nick Smedley, predicted there ...
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Government set to press ahead with legal aid cuts and Jackson reforms
The Law Society and legal profession this week vowed to continue campaigning against the government’s legal aid cuts, following publication of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill by justice secretary Kenneth Clarke. The bill, issued as the Gazette went to press, confirmed the ...
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Huge debt burden would have deterred most of today’s lawyers from university
A new survey of qualified lawyers has found that under half would have gone to university today, when aspiring solicitors can expect to wrack up massive debts. Legal recruitment firm Laurence Simons found the majority of 224 respondents would have baulked at the total costs of ...
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Elite blames SRA for decision not to enter indemnity market
A leading insurer has said that the SRA’s failure to implement reform more quickly has deterred it from entering the solicitors’ professional indemnity market. Elite Insurance said it will not join the market this year despite initial suggestions it would be writing premiums. ...
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Beachcroft in merger talks with Davies Arnold Cooper
Beachcroft and Davies Arnold Cooper are discussing a potential merger that would catapult the combined firm into the UK’s top 25 by revenue. The pair said today that together they aim to create one of the largest law firms serving the insurance market, both nationally and ...
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Victims of crime failed by criminal justice system
Members of the public have little confidence in the criminal justice system and feel the rights of the accused outweigh their own, a new survey suggests. National charity Victim Support reveals the extent of discontent with the system among recent victims of crime in its latest ...
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News
Legal aid and sentencing reforms set to be announced later today
The delayed Justice Bill will be unveiled in the House of Commons this afternoon by justice secretary Kenneth Clarke. He is expected to outline deep cuts to the legal aid budget and plans for an overhaul of civil litigation funding – including plans to charge ...
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Legal aid and the negligence of the press
If you’re angry at cuts to legal aid (and you should be), then don’t just direct your ire at David Cameron. For those unlucky enough to sit through this morning’s press conference announcing changes to the justice system, let me give it to you in a ...
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News
Legal aid and the negligence of the press
If you’re angry at cuts to legal aid (and you should be), then don’t just direct your ire at David Cameron. For those unlucky enough to sit through this morning’s press conference announcing changes to the justice system, let me give it to you in a ...
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The Big Society, votes and the law
Maybe it’s the rain, maybe it’s the lack of cricket in the Test match, but I’m in a wretched mood today. But the government, at least, has given me something to get my teeth into with two law-related stories catching my eye. Let’s start with justice ...
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DLA Piper boss’s warning for legal sector
The head of global legal giant DLA Piper warned this week that a ‘paradigm shift’ is about to hit the sector. Sir Nigel Knowles (pictured), joint chief executive of the firm, predicted many firms will flounder in the next 10 years after alternative business structures (ABSs) ...
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DLA sees profits climb amid expansion drive
Global law firm DLA Piper saw its profitability improve sharply in 2010, though income was flat. The firm, which has over 4,200 lawyers in 30 countries, recorded a 5.9% rise in profits to £503m on income up just 1% to £1.27bn. It declined to disclose average ...
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Magistrates resign as courts close
Resignations from the magistracy have increased by 18% since the announcement of court closures, according to government figures. Responding to a written question tabled by Mike Wood, MP for Batley and Spen in West Yorkshire, justice minister Jonathan Djanogly revealed that 487 magistrates had resigned from ...
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Split juries into smaller groups, psychologists argue
Juries should be split into three groups of four to allow every member an equal chance to participate, a new study has suggested. Researchers from the psychology department at the University of Portsmouth found that in large groups, many people feel intimidated to speak out and ...
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£20,000 law firm donation kickstarts head injury fund
A fund for families of people with head injuries has been kick-started by a £20,000 grant from a litigation law firm. The long-established Stewarts Law Foundation, a charity fund founded by the firm’s partners, donated the money to the Headway Emergency Fund earlier this month. ...
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New CLLS chair vows to uphold English law ‘brand’
The new head of City of London Law Society (CLLS) has vowed to uphold the English ‘brand’, already so prominent throughout the world. Alasdair Douglas has been confirmed as the new CLLS chair, representing law firms that employ 14,000 solicitors and have an annual turnover of ...