Last 3 months headlines – Page 1497
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Scrap single PII renewal date, report says
Solicitors should not be forced to renew their professional indemnity insurance (PII) on a single date, and the entire conveyancing process should be investigated, a ‘root and branch’ review of client financial protection has told the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
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Ombudsman to investigate complaints against LSC
The Parliamentary Ombudsman is to investigate complaints of maladministration made against the Legal Services Commission by the Law Society and several law firms over its late claims to recoup payments made on account. In 2008, the LSC demanded that legal aid firms repay money that had ...
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Call for professional code of conduct for all mediators
All mediators should be subject to a code of professional conduct enforced by a disciplinary procedure, but the profession should not be regulated through legislation, the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb) said at its mediation symposium last week. The call comes ahead of a European Mediation ...
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Bribery Act sparks recruitment drive for compliance lawyers
Leading corporates are hungry for experienced regulation lawyers to bulk up their compliance departments before far-reaching anti-corruption laws are implemented, recruiters told the Gazette this week. With the Bribery Act due to come into force in April, major corporates, especially in heavy industry, are increasingly turning ...
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Drafting error fears over Equality Act
A drafting error in the Equality Act 2010 makes enforcing compromise agreements to settle discrimination and equal pay claims impossible, the Law Society warned last week. Chancery Lane has requested an urgent meeting with the Government Equality Officer (GEO) to resolve the issue. In order to ...
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Robertson to deliver human rights lecture
Leading international human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson QC will be the keynote speaker at a lecture in memory of Indonesia's foremost human rights activist Munir Said Thalib. Rafendi Djamin, Indonesia's representative on the ASEAN Inter-governmental Commission on Human Rights, and Munir's widow, Suciwati, will also ...
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Will pro bono work replace legal aid?
Pro bono week begins next Monday with a host of events across the country to celebrate work done by lawyers to help their communities. Last month saw the opening of the new pro bono centre in London, which brings together in one place the pro bono ...
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Law Society criticises jury trial proposals as 'entirely wrong'
Proposals to scrap jury trials for lesser offences were today criticised by the Law Society as ‘entirely wrong’. Chancery Lane said that the ‘constitutional fabric’ of England and Wales would be put at risk if the proposal by the commissioner for victims Louise Casey is implemented. ...
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Outsourcing association for law firms launched
Eight UK companies have formed an association, chaired by a solicitor, to provide outsourcing services for law firms across the country. The Solicitors Outsourcing Association said it aims to assist solicitors in reducing their overheads. The association, chaired by solicitor ...
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Trust in marketing management
The semantic debate over the words 'client' or 'customer' that divides the new legal service providers from solicitors only obscures the issues around the future of legal services. The people and businesses that seek legal help might as easily be described as 'service users' or 'punters'. What’s important is to ...
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Trade union backs asbestos appeal
Trade union Unite will back an appeal to the Supreme Court over the liability of insurers to pay compensation to victims of work-related asbestos exposure, it said yesterday. On 8 October, the Court of Appeal overturned a 2008 High Court ruling on mesothelioma, a cancer of ...
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Two cheers for the European parliament
I have been reading the first volume of Chris Mullin’s political diary A View From the Foothills, covering his period as a junior minister in the Blair government from 1999 to 2005. I can recommend it – very readable and most instructive about those years. He is usually more benign ...
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Personal injury solicitors rebuff ABI claims over ‘excessive’ costs
Personal injury lawyers have hit back at claims that they ‘take motorists for a ride’ by charging high legal fees for settling road traffic accident (RTA) claims. The Association of British Insurers (ABI) said last week that legal fees add £40 a year to the average ...
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With economy on the mend, are we out of the woods?
A year has passed since the end of the recession; with an expected lag between a recessionary and subsequent insolvency peak of 12-18 months, many predicted that 2010 would see a large rise in corporate insolvencies. Instead, comparing Q2 2009 and 2010, we have seen a 19% fall in liquidations ...
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How should oversupply of LPC graduates be tackled?
This week’s news that BPP is to open three new legal practice course (LPC) centres this autumn, in Newcastle, Cambridge and Liverpool, has given fresh impetus to what is an ongoing debate about the oversupply of LPC graduates.
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Law Society calls for reform of murder sentencing
The Law Society has called on the government to look at introducing a three-tier system of sentencing for murder, after research published today revealed a lack of public support for the current mandatory life sentence. The report, by Barry Mitchell of Coventry University and Julian Roberts ...
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‘Nothing is off the cards’ in ABS era, says Co-op
Co-operative Legal Services may offer firms a franchise arrangement for some legal services, its sales and marketing director suggested in an interview with the Gazette today. Jonathan Gulliford said that a franchise or licensing model, whereby firms could operate under the Co-op brand, was one ...
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Watchdog raps costly CPS failures
Failings at the Crown Prosecution Service and police are costing the taxpayer £600,000 a year in abandoned trials and preventing cases from being brought before the courts, a CPS inspection report found this week. One eminent solicitor warned that the report showed a criminal justice ...
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Solicitors sue police and Prison Service
Three solicitors are suing the police and Prison Service after being arrested and detained for storing a dictation device and memory sticks in the wrong lockers during prison visits. The three lawyers were among five solicitors who were held at HMP Brixton in unconnected incidents, following ...
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Senior judge slams court closures
The senior presiding judge for England and Wales has criticised the government’s plans to close 157 courts, in a consultation response intended to reflect the views of many judges and magistrates. Lord Justice Goldring (pictured) said he was ‘particularly concerned’ about the impact of the proposed ...