Last 3 months headlines – Page 1401

  • News

    Estoppel

    2011-12-01T00:00:00Z

    Promissory estoppel - Reliance on representation - Claimant bank entering into facility agreements with group of companies Standard Bank Plc v Bin Issa Al Jaber: Queen's Bench Division, Commercial Court (Mr Justice Burton): 8 November 2011 ...

  • News

    Contract

    2011-12-01T00:00:00Z

    Construction - Indemnity clause Stornoway 2011 Ltd v SIV Portfolio plc: Queen's Bench Division, Commercial Court (Mr Justice Burton): 14 November 2011 The High Court, Queen's Bench Division, in finding ...

  • News

    Jurisdiction

    2011-12-01T00:00:00Z

    Conflict of laws - Challenge to jurisdiction - Parties entering into licence agreement Seven Licensing Company Sarl and another company v FFG-Platinum SA and other companies: Queen's Bench Division, Commercial Court (Mr Justice Gloster): 16 November 2011 ...

  • News

    Ombudsman can also exonerate

    2011-12-01T00:00:00Z

    There has been a lot of discussion about the Legal Ombudsman’s recent announcement on publishing the names of lawyers who have given poor service to their clients. The LeO was keen to emphasise that this applies to only a small proportion of lawyers. Inevitably some ...

  • News

    On guard

    2011-12-01T00:00:00Z

    Obiter once saw a robot prison guard demonstrated in the US. The Dalek-like contraption was deployed in earnest only once, to get CCTV footage of a prison riot. Not surprisingly, it was a one-way mission.

  • News

    Field of dreams

    2011-12-01T00:00:00Z

    It’s well known that even the dullest and dustiest desk-bound male lawyer has the occasional Walter Mitty fantasy. Here’s a perfect Christmas present for him, from the pen of media lawyer Roger Field.

  • News

    Bare necessity

    2011-12-01T00:00:00Z

    Gyles Brandreth is not a man well versed in the art of restraint. So who better to lecture a group of solicitors about the art of communication than the former MP and One Show contributor? Brandreth, invited by DBG Communications, had plenty of tips last week ...

  • News

    All present and correct

    2011-12-01T00:00:00Z

    Santa’s grotto opened for business early at a Walsall firm, when QualitySolicitors CMHT offered its support to Operation Christmas Child. Staff from all three branches wrapped and filled shoe boxes with small gifts they had donated to send to the world’s neediest children. Val Cox, ...

  • News

    Lawyer, heal thyself

    2011-12-01T00:00:00Z

    I see that John Osborne’s 1964 play Inadmissible Evidence has been revived to its usual ecstatic reviews. The Daily Telegraph’s critic said he had little doubt that the character was ‘ripped straight from the dramatist’s own mind and heart and set down on paper’.

  • News

    Insolvency

    2011-12-01T00:00:00Z

    Compulsory winding-up order - Liquidator - Appointment Re Business Dream Ltd: ChD (Judge Behrens sitting as a judge of the High Court): 8 November 2011 BD Ltd (the company) traded ...

  • News

    Legal aid cuts a ‘false economy’, warns Supreme Court justice

    2011-11-30T00:00:00Z

    Supreme Court justice Lady Hale (pictured) has warned that the government’s planned legal aid cuts are a ‘false economy’ that will have a ‘disproportionate impact upon the poorest and most vulnerable in society’. Hale told the annual Law Centres Federation conference last weekend that while ...

  • News

    Health and safety review shifts liability ‘onus’

    2011-11-30T00:00:00Z

    Employers who comply with health and safety rules should not be held legally responsible for all workplace accidents, according to a government-sponsored review. Commissioned by employment minister Chris Grayling, the report recommends an end to strict liability for bosses and shifting the onus onto employee responsibility.

  • News

    DAS takes 'leap forward' in online legal push

    2011-11-29T00:00:00Z

    Legal expenses insurer DAS has taken a step towards offering online legal services after buying web-based Everything Legal. The insurer, which has long held ambitions to become an alternative business structure (ABS), announced the acquisition of the Bristol-based company this week.

  • News

    ‘Alternative’ litigation funder to invest £100m in smaller-scale disputes

    2011-11-28T00:00:00Z

    A new-style litigation funder seeking to invest in high volumes of lower-value commercial cases launches today. Caprica, which styles itself as an ‘alternative litigation funding company’, said it would make third-party funding available to a ‘much-expanded’ range of cases, providing access-to-justice for smaller businesses in ...

  • News

    ‘Few’ solicitors understand e-disclosure, says Jackson

    2011-11-28T00:00:00Z

    Lord Justice Jackson has warned that ‘huge’ sums of money will be wasted if the legal profession gets electronic disclosure wrong. Delivering the seventh lecture on implementing his civil litigation reforms, the judge said effective training is ‘essential’ for solicitors, judges and counsel if the practice direction issued a year ...

  • News

    Lords revolt raises legal aid concessions hopes

    2011-11-25T00:00:00Z

    Hopes are emerging that the government will amend at least some of its legal aid reforms after peers voiced overwhelming criticism at the bill’s second reading. The Daily Mirror reported last week that justice secretary Kenneth Clarke has ditched the proposal to remove legal aid for clinical negligence claims. ...

  • News

    Youth Justice Board reprieved

    2011-11-25T00:00:00Z

    The government has abandoned plans to scrap the Youth Justice Board. Its demise was outlined in the Public Bodies Bill as part of the government’s ‘bonfire of the quangos’, but the plan faced strong opposition in parliament, and had threatened to derail the passage of the ...

  • News

    Would a US-EU trade deal be good for lawyers?

    2011-11-25T00:00:00Z

    I have written before about how the current economic crisis is leading to a radical rethinking of structures that impact on lawyers. Here is another initiative which could lead to significant consequences in years to come.

  • News

    Human rights come home

    2011-11-25T00:00:00Z

    You don’t expect good news to come out of the scandal of elderly people suffering abuse at the hands of their carers. Where’s the good news in the indignity of an elderly woman left stuck on the toilet because everyone was too busy to assist her? And how can good ...

  • News

    Brooke gets double in PI awards

    2011-11-25T00:00:00Z

    Retired judge Sir Henry Brooke (pictured) won a double honour at the Personal Injury Awards last night. Brooke received the Lifetime Achievement Award to mark his 40-year career in law, as well as being named mediator of the year. Phil Shiner, from Public Interest Lawyers, ...