All articles by Jonathan Rayner – Page 26
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Law Society wary of 'secret justice' plan
Civil liberties groups today dismissed as 'spin' government claims that pre-publication changes to the Justice and Security Bill would protect the public without damaging ‘historic freedoms’ of open justice and accountability. In a concession to critics of a green paper last year, the bill scales back ...
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Local government career least popular option for students
Local government law is the least popular career option for law undergraduates, with less than 1% of 805 students questioned saying they would choose to work for a local authority, a survey has revealed.
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'Work to rule' blow to troubled civil courts service
New evidence of a civil courts service reaching breaking point has emerged with staff working to rule and one county court asking law firms not to increase its ‘already vast workload’ by chasing work in arrears. Members of the Public & Commercial Services union in the ...
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City firm must defend whistleblower accusations
A City firm is to face whistleblowing and sexual discrimination claims brought by a sacked east Africa-based equity partner following her successful appeal to the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT). The EAT has told Clyde & Co that it cannot rely upon its previous defence that the overseas-based partner was not ...
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Six months to end 'indiscriminate' prisoner voting ban
Britain has six months to draft new laws to end its blanket ban on prisoners voting in elections or face penalties totalling millions of pounds, it has emerged following a ruling from Europe’s human rights court. The court ruled that Britain’s ‘automatic and indiscriminate’ disqualification of ...
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Tomlinson judge appointed first chief coroner
The judge who presided at the 2011 inquest that returned a verdict of unlawful killing on newspaper seller Ian Tomlinson was today named as the first Chief Coroner of England & Wales. The Ministry of Justice said that Peter Thornton QC will improve the coronial system ...
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SPG conference: 'solicitor' brand still strong, says Fluck
‘Warm and fluffy’ big brands are no match for the powerful ethical traditions of the ‘solicitor’ brand, Law Society deputy vice president Nick Fluck told the conference. Fluck (pictured) said the profession will ‘continue to thrive’ if it works together to design and deliver legal services ...
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SPG conference: OFR ‘proportionate’ for all law firms
SRA chief executive Antony Townsend (pictured) used his speech at the conference to defend outcomes-focused regulation (OFR) and compliance officer requirements as proportionate for all sizes of firms. OFR, a ‘single intelligent compliance regime’ applying to ‘all entities, from sole practitioners to huge multinational firms’ ...
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Hopper at SPG conference: SRA in need of ‘self-audit’ in actions
A solicitor QC who acts for firms under investigation by the Solicitors Regulation Authority has accused SRA investigators of a ‘Kafkaesque’ lack of proportionality in their dealings with small firms and individual solicitors.
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VAT breaks and nepotism on menu as French lawyers seek reform
The newly elected president of France could scrap VAT on legal fees for certain consumers and abolish a ‘nepotistic’ decree passed by the previous administration, the president of the Paris bar has told the Gazette. Christiane Feral-Schuhl, in London to visit the Law Society, also told ...
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Justice and Security Bill faces a rough ride
The Justice & Security Bill is to allow the courts, through the ‘limited use of closed proceedings’, to consider all material relating to a case without needing to disclose information that could risk national security. The government says its purpose is to ‘respond to the challenge ...
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Apprenticeship scheme for legal services
The first legal services apprenticeships are to be made available from next year to employers seeking skilled paralegal and other legal support staff. The London Apprenticeship Company (LAC) announced today that it had teamed up with charity Skills for Justice to place young people into apprenticeships ...
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Civil court system faces ‘meltdown’
The civil and family court system is facing the prospect of chaos as the government prepares to cut face-to-face counter services and problems persist at the Salford civil claims centre, lawyers have warned.
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Employment bill to set existing changes in legislation
The Enterprise & Regulatory Reform Bill announced in the Queen’s speech includes plans to overhaul the employment tribunal system and transform the resolution landscape.
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Solicitors lose probate market share
The profession’s share of the probate market has dipped sharply, with solicitors and companies providing probate services last year receiving just 44% of all probate grants issued, according to figures published today. The 2011 data from the Probate Service, a division of HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS), reveals that ...
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‘Burdensome’ patent court should come to UK, say MPs
A group of MPs has slammed the European Union’s draft agreement on the creation of a centralised court to allow businesses to obtain a low-cost single patent covering 25 European countries. They said that negotiations have been rushed through, but insist that any such court must ...
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JAC commissioner: 'let solicitors become judges'
The newly-appointed solicitor commissioner to the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) has expressed scepticism about targets and quotas for diversity as well as the ‘tipping point’ method of favouring under-represented groups.
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Seldon: ‘I’d fight age bias claim again’
The former equity partner whose age discrimination claim was dismissed by the Supreme Court last week after six years of litigation would ‘do it all again’, he told the Gazette. Leslie Seldon (pictured) said there was ‘no bad blood’ between him and Clarkson Wright & Jakes ...
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SRA reprieve for financial advice law firms
Some 70 firms set to lose their dual authorisation to give combined legal and financial advice later this year may have been granted a reprieve. The Solicitors Regulation Authority had told the affected firms that when they became alternative business structures they would lose their ...
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Barefooted lawyers for human rights
Lawyers campaigning for an international human rights day are to strip off their shoes and socks and go barefooted to their offices and into court. Toes, ankles and soles are to be bared on 12 November, the birthday of Chinese human rights lawyer, Chen Guangcheng. Chen, ...