Last 3 months headlines – Page 1255
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Breach of confidence
Summary judgment - Entitlement to summary judgment - Duty of servant Devon and Cornwall Autistic Community Trust (t/a Spectrum) v Pyrah and others: PCC (Mr Recorder Douglas Campbell): 24 September 2012 ...
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Society condemns ‘pure gamble’ quality assurance scheme
The Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates (QASA) will ‘annul the historic rights’ of most solicitors to appear before magistrates’ courts and prompt lawsuits against regulators, the Law Society has warned. In a robust response to the fourth and final consultation on the plans to introduce the ...
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Ten things we learned from the Tory conference
1) Chris Grayling is a popular choice for justice secretary: He wouldn’t exactly be your first choice to enjoy a pint with, but Grayling has the sort of dead-eyed, intransigent attitude to law and order that delights the rank and file. His conference speech granted every ...
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CoA finds for insurers on damages uplift
The Court of Appeal has ruled that a 10% uplift on general damages will not apply to cases begun before 1 April on a conditional fee agreement (CFA). In a ruling made today, the most senior judges in England and Wales overturned an earlier judgment that ...
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Technology in conveyancing - friend or foe?
I read a letter in last week’s Gazette pointing out the problem with the time it takes the Land Registry to deal with electronic discharges and it got me thinking of the other times in my job when technology can become more of a hindrance than a help.
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Win tickets to The Woman in Black
Obiter is so over trick-or-treating after last year’s foray up Chancery Lane harvested only a law firm-branded pen, an empty Ede & Ravenscroft bag and a flea in the ear from the Lincoln’s Inn porter. So this year we will be getting our ghoulish kicks vicariously, by giving away tickets ...
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Grayling’s opportunism
Has it really come to this? Will elections of the future really be decided on how much violence we are prepared to countenance against criminals? Chris Grayling’s keynote speech at the Conservative Party Conference will today propose a change to the law on self-defence against burglars, ...
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Chancery Lane takes stake in OFR support provider
The Law Society has taken an equity stake in a company that provides support to legal firms on complying with outcomes-focused regulation (OFR). Chancery Lane says the agreement with Riliance, which has developed an online support tool for compliance officers for finance and administration, and ...
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Direct age discrimination
The recent Supreme Court decision in Seldon v Clarkson Wright and Jakes [2012] UKSC 16 – which found that direct age discrimination could be justified and clarified the test for justification that would have to be satisfied – continues to reverberate throughout the legal industry and fuel the debate over ...
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Standard bar contracts put back by three months
The introduction of standard contractual terms between barristers and solicitors has been delayed by three months to make sure all firms and chambers are prepared, the Bar Standards Board announced today. The new terms will now take effect from 31 January 2013. They had been previously ...
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Making things happen: lawyers or poets?
A recurring theme of my time at the International Bar Association (IBA) meeting in Dublin last week was the relationship between law and literature. It is appropriate that this should occur in Ireland, with its significant contribution to the English language canon.
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London legal jobs boom defies downturn
Employment in London in legal services is growing faster than any other financial or professional service, new figures have revealed. According to lobby group TheCityUK, the number of legal services employees in the City rose in the first half of 2012 by 3.3% to 118,700. The ...
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Holistic reform of the PI system
In less than six months the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act (LASPO) will come into force. A look back at the process which led to this makes me feel wholeheartedly that successful reform of the personal injury (PI) system has been scuppered by a hurried approach, a ...
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Direct Line hints at legal services plan
Insurance giant Direct Line has confirmed that it is considering setting up a legal services arm when it is spun off from current owner Royal Bank of Scotland. The revelation appears in a prospectus for a share flotation in the group, due to get under ...
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Trade in your rights, urges Osborne
Can there be a better example of doublethink than George Osborne’s continuing insistence that ‘we are all in this together’, and his espousal of a multi-tier system of employment rights? On Monday, the chancellor unveiled a working rights waiver plan that sets an alarming precedent – citizens will effectively be ...
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Justice minister: we’ll stop weekend courts pilot if critics are right
New justice minister Jeremy Wright today said the government would cancel plans for weekend court hearings if the trial proves to be unsuccessful. Wright, in his first public speech since joining the department last month, said it would be ‘crazy’ to pursue the policy nationwide if ...
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Equal civil marriage - death of spouse
A particular problem to be considered in drafting equal civil marriage legislation is the fact that whatever arrangements are made for the UK, same-sex marriages performed here will not be recognised in most countries of the world. In today’s highly mobile society, that potentially creates serious difficulties for same-sex couples. ...
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No more open chequebooks for expert witnesses, conference warned
Expert witnesses appearing for both sides in clinical negligence could become the norm, the former head of the NHS Litigation Authority (NHSLA) predicted yesterday. Steve Walker, who retired as chief executive of the NHSLA in August after 16 years, said solicitors must find ways to bring ...