All articles by Jonathan Rayner – Page 42
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BME firms told to embrace alternative business structures
BME firms should embrace alternative business structures to stay in business, the new chair of the Black Solicitors Network told the Gazette this week. Nwabueze Nwokolo, who is also the Law Society council member for ethnic minorities, said: ‘Most black lawyers work in small firms, but ...
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Counting the cost of the Big Society
'Big Society is a great idea, but it doesn't come for free,' says Citizen Advice Bureau manager Pi Townsend. The funding squeeze could mean a stark choice, she tells me, between paying utility bills at the CAB's three premises in Tunbridge Wells, or paring services to the bone at a ...
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Scrap training contract, says thinktank
A legal thinktank has today called for the abolition of the training contract as part of proposed radical changes to legal education and training. A 53-page discussion paper from the College of Law’s Legal Services Institute (LSI) urges scrapping training contracts and making the Legal Practice ...
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Skilled worker visa quota massively oversubscribed
So many visa applications have been submitted by highly skilled workers from outside the EU this month that November’s quota of 600 applications was reached three weeks before the end of the month, the UK Border Agency (UKBA) has revealed. In July, the government introduced a ...
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Government rethinks TUPE stance
The coalition government has scrapped plans to reform controversial employment regulations in an apparent U-turn by the Conservatives, it has emerged. Mark Hammerton, employment partner at national firm Eversheds, said Lord Hunt, now energy minister, had suggested before the election that a Conservative government would seek ...
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Consumer shift in estate services
Consumers are increasingly shopping around for estate administration services, which has led to a fall in average administration costs despite a rise in the value of estates, a report has suggested. The survey of 1,514 consumers, commissioned by insurer Sun Life Direct, also found that ...
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Research reveals diversity concerns
The Law Society this week published three research papers highlighting the difficulties faced by women, black and ethnic minority (BME), and lesbian and gay lawyers in the profession.
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Chinese human rights and the one that got away
The Chinese authorities have begun deploying a ‘softer type of violence’ against dissidents. That’s the good news told to me by Professor Fu Hauling, head of the University of Hong Kong’s law faculty. ...
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National Pro Bono Week gets under way
National Pro Bono Week begins today with events marking the donation of hundreds of millions of pounds worth of free legal advice over the last 12 months. Sponsored by the Law Society, Bar Council and Institute of Legal Executives, the NPBW highlights the broad range of ...
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Regulators consult on tougher rules for law degrees
A joint committee of the Solicitors Regulation Authority and Bar Standards Board has released two consultations on the future of the undergraduate law degree. The first Joint Academic Stage Board (JASB) paper asks for views on whether students who have failed a single foundation subject within ...
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Immigration lawyers issue warning over appeals fee
Immigration lawyers have warned that immigrants could be ‘penalised’ as a result of government plans to introduce fees in certain immigration and asylum appeals. Court fees of up to £250 could be charged for immigration and asylum tribunal appeals. No fees are currently charged.
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Huge court closure response, says Djanogly
A Ministry of Justice consultation proposing the closure of 103 magistrates’ courts and 54 county courts has received a huge number of responses, justice minister Jonathan Djanogly told the House of Commons’ Justice Committee this week. The minister said that the MoJ had received ...
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LPC aptitude test risks ‘clones’
Solicitors have warned that proposals to introduce a compulsory aptitude test for law students seeking to enrol on the Legal Practice Course (LPC) could lead to only ‘clones’ being selected to enter the legal profession. The Law Society’s education and training committee is examining whether ...
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SRA: public 'satisfied' with legal services but not always 'informed'
The public has faith in legal services providers and rarely questions their expertise, but most cannot distinguish between a qualified solicitor and an unregulated practitioner, research commissioned by the Solicitors Regulation Authority has suggested. Preliminary results of a focus group study of 40 consumers indicated that ...
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Prenups enforceable if ‘fair’
Prenuptial agreements are binding when ‘fair’ and entered into freely, the Supreme Court ruled today. The ruling has left Nicolas Granatino, the divorced husband of German heiress Katrin Radmacher, with just £1m of his ex-wife’s estimated £100m fortune.
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Consumers ‘crowded out’ of small claims process
Businesses are monopolising small claims courts and crowding out the people the courts were designed to help, a consumer watchdog has warned. A report by national consumer champion Consumer Focus warns that business is ‘clogging up’ the small claims courts and causing delays for individual claimants. ...
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MoJ confirms quango cull
The Ministry of Justice has today confirmed that the Youth Justice Board and two court rules committees are among the legal quangos to be abolished as part of a drive to cut costs and ‘reinvigorate public trust’ in democracy. The bodies to be scrapped include: the ...
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Employment solicitor sets up legal aid support network
An employment solicitor has set up a website dedicated to offering support to legal aid firms that are closing down, merging or moving away from publicly funded work.
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Accountants to apply for probate rights
The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales has begun its second application to the Legal Services Board for a probate services licence, with takeup expected to be high among small accountancy firms. The institute announced its intention to apply for the licence last week. ...
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How fair is Britain?
Recent research claims that the ‘inherently masculine’ UK legal profession still has a long way to go before it achieves an acceptable level of diversity and equality.