All articles by Jonathan Rayner – Page 32
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News
Targets needed for judicial diversity, peers are told
Setting targets and raising the retirement age of judges from 70 to 75 would help achieve greater diversity in the judiciary, groups representing women and black lawyers told the Constitution Committee of the House of Lords today. It would also help if partners and other senior ...
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UK is top dog in Strasbourg
It is sweetly ironic that our Europhobic coalition government is in power at a time when the country holds two of the top positions at that bogeyman of the Tory shires - the Council of Europe (CoE) in Strasbourg, whose role it is to oversee the European Court of Human ...
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‘Long way to go’ on diversity, warn lawyers
The legal profession’s progress towards diversity may be about to falter, lawyers warned at this week’s launch of the Black Solicitors Network’s sixth annual Diversity League Table. They warned that women and black and minority ethnic (BME) lawyers remain under-represented in the higher echelons of the ...
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Chief magistrate praises defence solicitors over riots
The chief magistrate has praised the ‘exemplary skill and professionalism’ of defence solicitors in the summer riot courts, calling them ‘unsung heroes’. Senior district judge Howard Riddle said that without defence solicitors’ efforts the criminal justice system would not have been able to respond as it did to the unprecedented ...
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Alcoholism in profession ‘underestimated’
Widely publicised research findings that 15-24% of lawyers will suffer from alcoholism during their careers may underestimate the problem, the legal health support charity LawCare said this week. Among senior solicitors the figure is nearly one in three, a spokeswoman told the Gazette.
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LCJ ‘not giving up’ on solicitor judges
Law firms should be more supportive of solicitors applying for judicial positions and stop allowing the issue to blight promising careers, the UK’s two senior judges told a House of Lords committee last week. Supreme Court president Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers and Lord Chief Justice ...
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Plea for Society to join forensic service fight
A solicitor renowned for his work freeing the wrongly convicted Guildford Four has asked the Law Society to become a ‘major player’ in the campaign to stop the government’s proposed closure of the Forensic Science Service (FSS).
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Record fall in applications for university law degrees
The biggest fall in university applications in more than 30 years has seen the number of candidates applying to study law drop by a record 5.2%, according to figures released by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service. Last year 13,858 people applied to study law ...
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Victim of crime - part 1
My partner has been praised by the police for helping put a criminal behind bars. She had a go, like the good citizen that she is, and the mean streets of Royal Tunbridge Wells are now just that little bit safer. ...
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FSA told to rethink on legal privilege
The Financial Services Authority has been urged to review its operating procedures after it was found to have acted unlawfully in its use of legally privileged material during an enforcement investigation. The regulator had successfully applied to the High Court for its own nominated administrators, PricewaterhouseCoopers ...
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Solicitors confront online estate fraud
Fraudsters are increasingly targeting the estates of the deceased for valuable internet-hosted assets such as online bank accounts, private client lawyers have warned. Solicitors believe the trend reflects the way probate work has ‘changed beyond all recognition’. For the first time, people are trying to help ...
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Solicitor accused of money laundering
A solicitor who failed to answer bail after being accused of conspiracy to launder money and defraud mortgage lenders and banks of around £12m has been rearrested and charged. Ajayi Seun, 45, was held after his photograph and other details appeared on Crimestoppers’ list of ...
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Senior partners cool on social media
About two-thirds of law firms cannot find the time and resources to build and maintain a strong online presence, even though more than 75% have committed to using social media as a business tool, a survey of 50 law firms has found. RTS Media ...
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Liberty attacks ‘baffling’ review of extradition law
The Extradition Act under which British subject and Asperger’s syndrome sufferer Gary McKinnon faces being sent for trial in the US for computer hacking is not biased against British citizens, a landmark review has concluded. The review, published today by parliament’s human rights joint committee and ...
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Law Society Excellence Awards 2011: winners announced
The outstanding achievements of the legal profession in England and Wales were celebrated by the Law Society at a ceremony in London yesterday evening. Over 600 legal professionals and their guests joined the president of the Law Society John Wotton and BBC Broadcaster Mishal Husain ...
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News
Family immigration proposals 'unethical'
Solicitors have rejected as ‘venal’ and ‘unethical’ proposals from the UK Border Agency (UKBA) to prevent abuses of the family immigration route into Britain. They warn that some of the proposals, part of a package of measures to reduce immigration released for a consultation that closed ...
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Lawyers condemn single contract law
Europe neither needs nor can afford the EU-wide single contract law proposed by the European Commission this week, solicitors have warned. Frank Tschentscher, insolvency and re-structuring partner at German firm Schultze & Braun said: ‘Brussels is suggesting bolting on a new 28th law to the 27 ...
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Criminal justice system failing mentally ill
Some 90% of prisoners in England and Wales suffer from mental health problems and upon release are up to 36 times more likely to kill themselves than the general population, a report has revealed. The report says that opportunities to divert the mentally ill away from ...
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Libel report calls for cap on hourly rates
Lawyers’ hourly rates in libel cases should be capped so that the cost of defending a libel action does not inhibit free speech or give the wealthier of the two parties an unfair advantage, the Libel Reform Campaign urges in a report published today. The report ...
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New SRA handbook online
The final version of the new Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) handbook has now been posted online. The handbook, which includes the updated Code of Conduct, is to underpin the introduction of outcomes-focused regulation (OFR) on 6 October. It was prepared by the SRA in consultation ...