All articles by Jonathan Rayner – Page 39
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News
Extend social care to prisoners, report suggests
There is overwhelming support to extend adult social care services to prisoners and the mentally ill, but concerns remain about the resource implications for local authorities, responses to a Law Commission consultation have shown. The Law Commission yesterday published a report analysing the 231 responses it ...
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Ilex fast-track route proves popular
More than 270 law graduates have embarked on the Institute of Legal Executives’ (ILEX) fast-track route to becoming a solicitor since its launch in 2009, the Gazette has learned. Some 66 graduates applied for the scheme during the last quarter. ...
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Clyde & Co fails to thwart partner’s tribunal hearing
A City firm has failed to stop a former partner from bringing sex and pregnancy discrimination claims to the Employment Tribunal by seeking to rely on an arbitration clause in its partnership agreement. Clyde & Co dismissed Krista Bates van Winkelhof in January. She then filed ...
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Businesses fear hike in employment claims
A survey by national firm Irwin Mitchell has revealed the extent to which businesses believe government plans to scrap the default retirement age (DRA) will cause a hike in employment claims against them. Some 57% of businesses said they thought the removal of the DRA would ...
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Employment law changes could ‘affect women’
Changes to employment laws announced in last week's budget are encouraging for small employers but could disproportionately affect women, solicitors have warned. Plans revealed by chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne included a three-year moratorium on new regulations for small companies and start-ups; a consultation to ...
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Solicitor jailed for money laundering and fraud
A solicitor whose lavish lifestyle included driving a Lamborghini worth more than £80,000 was jailed last week for four years and eight months after a joint investigation by the police and Solicitors Regulation Authority. Benjamin Cornelius, 37, was convicted at Cardiff Crown Court of money laundering ...
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Human rights commission prompts diversity concerns
A lawyers’ group voiced concern this week over the makeup of the commission set up by the government to investigate the case for a UK bill of rights. The Ministry of Justice said the commission comprises ‘human rights experts’ whose remit is to help ensure that ...
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Society votes for SRA to regulate ABSs
The Law Society’s council yesterday voted by 54 votes to 16 to approve the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s application to become a licensing authority for alternative business structures. Law Society chief executive Desmond Hudson said ABS will change the way law firms are allowed to operate. ...
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Why are divorcing couples so careless when it comes to Facebook?
I don’t mean to pry – it’s probably none of my business, anyway - but why do we have such an ambivalent attitude towards privacy? Even while going through divorce proceedings, a family lawyer warned this week, we seem impelled to risk the demolition of our ...
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News
Nexus Professional Network launches
A new service that matches lawyers who have qualified with large firms with companies seeking temporary legal work for specific contracts or projects launched this week. Nexus Professional Network, which has been set up by a group of current and former partners at large accountancy ...
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News
Compliance rules may hit sole practitioners
Proposed changes to the way sole practitioner firms are authorised could see many forced to stop practising due to the ‘unique problem’ they will face meeting new compliance requirements, the Sole Practitioners Group (SPG) has warned.
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Magistrates fight planned court closures
The first two judicial review actions seeking to prevent magistrates’ court closures were issued last week, the Gazette has learned. The proceedings seek to challenge the planned closure of Sedgemoor Magistrates’ Court in Somerset and Barry Magistrates’ Court in the Vale of Glamorgan. ...
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Call to sue councils that are 'failing the vulnerable'
The case of a mentally ill man who attempted suicide after being discharged from hospital to a park bench has prompted mental health solicitors to call on lawyers to sue local authorities that fail to provide adequate healthcare for some of society’s most vulnerable members.
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News
Time to challenge councils on mental health
‘I don't believe it!’ That was Victor Meldrew’s signature catchphrase. The irascible character played by Richard Wilson in the BBC sitcom One Foot in the Grave was, I concede, a past master at baffled indignation, but he was a mere tyro compared with me when ...
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News
Russia pressured on Sergei Magnitsky death
Prime minister David Cameron has thrown his weight behind a campaign to expose the truth behind the death of a lawyer investigating an alleged £142m fraud against a UK company in Russia. Sergei Magnitsky (pictured) was working for UK investment firm Hermitage Capital when, after alleging ...
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Women lawyers believe they are paid less than male peers
Most women lawyers believe their male colleagues earn more than they do, research has suggested. A survey of 200 UK lawyers by jobs board twosteps showed that 61% of women lawyers thought they earned less than men, while 100% of those earning £95,000 or more ...
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Civil legal aid cuts will increase tribunal workload
Cuts to civil legal aid will leave people unable to pursue their rights and increase the workload of the tribunal system, the senior president of tribunals has warned. In his 2011 annual report, Robert Carnwath highlighted the likely effect of the proposed cuts on the ...
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News
Government to amend 'crucial error' in retirement age plans
The government has promised to amend a ‘crucial error’ in its transitional provisions for abolishing the default retirement age, following Law Society warnings that the current drafting could put employers at risk of unfair dismissal claims.
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News
Overseas employees tribunal ruling could affect international firms
A Court of Appeal ruling on the right of overseas employees to bring tribunal claims in the UK could have implications for international law firms, an employment lawyer suggested this week. The court ruled that a group of British Airways air stewardesses who are based in ...
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News
College of Law launches part-time BPTC programme
The College of Law in Birmingham is to offer a part-time Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC) beginning September 2011. BPTC course leader Paul Shoulders said: ‘The new part-time course, subject to validation by the Bar Standards Board, will open up the potential rewards of a career ...