Last 3 months headlines – Page 1306
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Great dictator
A veritable army of grave-looking gentlemen in grey suits fetched up at the Royal Festival Hall last week for Russell-Cooke’s solemn event ‘Enforcing Regulatory Standards in a Liberalised Market’. Appropriately, the profession’s über-regulator, Legal Services Board chair David Edmonds CBE, topped the bill.
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Straw flogs
Ex-justice secretary Jack Straw has earned more than a few bob since leaving office, as we first reported last week. But lest you got the wrong impression, the Blackburn MP’s extra-parliamentary activities have not been limited to worthy (if perhaps a tad prosaic) appearances in the Lancashire mill towns. Oh ...
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Criminal law solicitors' director: value of justice ‘deteriorating’
The ‘march of managerialism’ and a desire to speed up proceedings have led to a drop in the value put on justice by the government and society, according to the retiring director of the Criminal Law Solicitors Association. Rodney Warren (pictured) has announced that he will ...
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Society ponders non-solicitor representation
Admission of non-solicitors to the Law Society has returned to the agenda following conference speeches by the president and his successor-but-one.
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ALS interpreters contract facing renewed scrutiny
The deal between the Ministry of Justice and the private company contracted to provide court interpreters is to face scrutiny from parliamentary watchdogs, as cases continue to be disrupted by poor performance and non-attendance of interpreters.
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Sky targets new court filming rights
A TV executive campaigning to lift the ban on cameras in criminal courts has said the limited rights announced in last week’s Queen’s speech will not end the battle for access. ‘We’re obviously interested in discussing what extras we can do down the road,’ Simon Bucks, associate editor at Sky ...
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ABS applicants billed thousands for consultancy
Alternative business structure hopefuls are being invoiced thousands of pounds for consultants to handle the financial minutiae of their applications to the Solicitors Regulation Authority, the Gazette has learned. The SRA says it has hired specialists to supplement its 25-strong team dedicated to vetting ABS applications. ...
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Mediations on the up, audit reveals
The number of civil and commercial mediations has grown by one-third and their value by almost a half over the past two years, an authoritative study reveals this week. The Mediation Audit 2012, the dispute resolution body CEDR’s fifth biennial survey of civil and commercial ...
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French stick
Obiter had never understood why a bar president in France is called ‘le batonnier’ or ‘stick-person’. Unless it’s a reference to a slightly bigger version of a baguette called a ‘baton’, but that seems unlikely. And then enlightenment dawned when he met the president of the Paris bar, Christiane Féral-Schuhl ...
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Solicitor, are you?
'Solicitor, are you? I 'ad one of them law commissioners in the back of my cab the other day. You'll never guess what those stupid baskets - pardon my French - are up to now? They’ve only gone and launched a consultation on taxi and private hire services.
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Memory lane
Law Society’s Gazette, May 1982 Letters to the editor (There is a) widely held view that all solicitors, regardless of specialisation or geographical location, are ‘on the gravy train’. This view has been deliberately and successfully peddled for a number of years ...
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Has attack warning come too late?
Professionalism is under threat. So said Lady Justice Hallett in a little-noticed speech at the end of March to the Solicitors Association of Higher Court Advocates (SAHCA). Dame Heather Hallett’s concerns were echoed by Baroness Deech, chair of the Bar Standards Board, in a lecture she gave at Gresham College ...
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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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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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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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Closed material proceedings in civil cases would undermine foundations
by Jan Clements, senior legal adviser, editorial legal services, at Guardian News & Media The announcement in the Queen’s speech that the government intends to push through a bill for secret hearings was met with dismay by human rights organisations and lawyers.
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Can mediation always rise to the occasion?
The numbers of family and commercial mediations are growing - but while an elite group of commercial mediators is earning six figures, newcomers in both fields are finding it hard to gain the experience to break into the market. CEDR’s fifth mediation audit, published this week, shows the top commercial ...
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Taint of torture remains despite overlay of legal process
Let me begin with an outrageous position for any lawyer - let alone one who once specialised in criminal defence. I believe that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM) is guilty of conspiracy to murder 2,977 people in, and over, the US on 11 September 2001. What is much more outrageous is ...
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Government moves to adopt deferred prosecutions
Long-expected plans to enable US-style deferred prosecutions for white-collar crimes take a step forward with the publication of a Ministry of Justice consultation today. Under a deferred prosecution the authorities and a malefactor business can agree a penalty to be imposed if the business does ...