All articles by Jonathan Rayner – Page 18
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ProfileRupert Scrase
Rupert Scrase, the chair-elect of the Sole Practitioners Group, says why he has confidence in the sector.
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News
CJC recommends measures against defamation costs
Measures to protect individuals against major adverse costs when defending defamation claims brought by wealthy corporations were included in a Civil Justice Council (CJC) report published last week. The report was prompted by concerns over changes in how ‘no win, no fee’ conditional fee arrangements will ...
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News
May unveils bilateral treaty to deal with Qatada
The proposed treaty with the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan that home secretary Theresa May announced today as part of her continuing efforts to deport suspected terrorist Abu Qatada excludes the use of evidence obtained through torture and also allows for the press and public to be excluded from a trial ...
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News
Legal director at centre of High Court dispute
The dismissed former director of West Yorkshire Police legal services is at the centre of a dispute that led to the suspension of another force’s temporary chief constable on grounds that the High Court subsequently ruled were ‘perverse and irrational’. Afzal Hussain, dismissed from his legal ...
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News
SRA management ‘lacks diversity’
A critical report on the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s workforce diversity policy has finally seen the light – 18 months after its completion. The regulator circulated the review, carried out in October 2011, along with a response last week, following threats by the Law Society’s equality ...
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News
Government has failed to justify EU opt-out, say peers
The government has failed to make a convincing case for opting out of the European arrest warrant (EAW) and around 130 other EU police and criminal justice measures in the Lisbon Treaty, the House of Lords EU committee says today.
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News
Trust is ‘key to breaking South Africa legal market’
Long-term relationships are all-important when breaking into the South African legal services market, a UK lawyer has advised on the eve of a Law Society-led delegation’s visit to Cape Town. Kerry Underwood, senior partner of Hertfordshire firm Underwoods, who has been lecturing and practising in South ...
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News
Solicitor charged with fraud and money laundering
A solicitor has been charged with conspiracy to defraud UK investors of more than £5m. Solicitor Dale Walker of Kent firm Dale R Walker is one of eight men to have been charged by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) with conspiracy to defraud contrary to common ...
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News
Osborne Clarke ups law school rivalry with BPP switch
South-west firm Osborne Clarke has taken the unusual step of announcing that it is moving the training of its future lawyers from the University of Law (formerly the College of Law) to BPP from autumn 2013. The announcement will add to the considerable rivalry between the ...
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News
Judiciary urges caution on contempt
Proceedings against publishers and jury members should be the very ‘last measure’ taken where contempt of court is alleged, the judiciary has said in its response to a law commission consultation. The response’s authors, Lord Justice Treacy and Mr Justice Tugendhat, said that any measure likely ...
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News
TUPE changes set to increase disputes
The Law Society has dismissed government plans to repeal the 2006 Transfer of Undertakings, Protection of Employment (TUPE) regulations on the transfer of ‘service provision’ from one employer to another, arguing that the change would lead to commercial and legal uncertainty and more tribunal disputes. The ...
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News
DLA Piper’s Unicef pledge
International law firm DLA Piper has announced a £980,000 partnership over three years with the United Nations Childrens Fund (Unicef) to help it expand its global child justice work, and ensure that children coming into contact with the law are better served and protected.
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News
Matchmaking sites go live
Two new online matchmaking services for legal professionals claim to offer tickets to survival. Springboard.net is described as a LinkedIn-style social network for solicitors. Its founders say it allows members to tap into a national network of new business opportunities, control and manage ...
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News
LETR may be ‘outdated’, warns Savage
The much-delayed Legal Education and Training Review (LETR) could be ‘obsolete and outdated’ even before it is published, according to the University of Law’s chief executive Nigel Savage.
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News
Has ending compulsory retirement been good?
‘You are your age and still working?’ the French woman said to me, in French, eyebrows arched. ‘How very strange.’ She had just invited us to spend another week in the cottage in Normandy that we were renting from her. It wasn’t booked for the coming week, and we were ...
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News
Pathway to Law scheme boosted by £1.2m grant
An educational charity has secured a £1.2m grant to help 1,200 sixth formers from less privileged backgrounds pursue a career in the law. The Legal Education Foundation has given £1.2m to the Sutton Trust to fund its Pathways to Law programme, open to low- and middle-income ...
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News
‘Whitehall farce’ border agency to be abolished
The Law Society’s immigration law committee has cautiously welcomed the announcement that the UK Border Agency (UKBA) is to be abolished and brought back within the Home Office under the direct control of ministers. In an unscheduled House of Commons statement yesterday, home secretary Theresa ...
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News
Society intervenes in Nepal 'anti-Maoist' human rights case
The Law Society has intervened in the case of a Nepalese human rights lawyer facing prosecution as an ‘anti-Maoist dollar mongerer’. The Society has called on Nepal’s prime minister Khil Raj Regmi to protect lawyer Mandira Sharma from threats of death and violence. ...
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News
Watchdog may survive ‘bonfire of the quangos’
Government plans to throw a legal watchdog on to its ‘bonfire of the quangos’ have suffered a blow after the House of Commons justice committee opposed the move. The committee said there is not a strong enough case for the abolition of the Administrative Justice ...
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News
Secret hearings in civil courts to be introduced in weeks
Secretive closed material procedure (CMP) hearings are to be extended into the country’s main civil courts following the House of Lords’ narrow rejection of an amendment to the controversial Justice and Security Bill. Peers yesterday voted by 174 to 158 to reject a Labour amendment to ...