Last 3 months headlines – Page 1503
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A-Z of billing
Obiter is only too familiar with the concept of being a little short of cash towards the end of the month, and is therefore pleased to pass on a billing tip from 360 Legal Group’s annual conference. Mike Segall, managing director of Money ...
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Oarsome
This highly opinionated profession is well known for sticking its oar in, but Chris Partington, partner at Slater Heelis in Sale, seems to have taken this literally. Despite never having been in a canoe before this picture was taken, Partington is to complete the three-day, 120-mile ‘Cheshire Ring’ this week, ...
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Justice minister Jonathan Djanogly on pro bono and the Big Society
While prime minister David Cameron’s idea of the ‘Big Society’ has left many people unclear as to what their own role or contribution to it could be, for lawyers the answer looks fairly simple: pro bono work can use lawyers’ skills, knowledge and professional standing to meet unmet need. The ...
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We are abseiling
Obiter recently issued a plea for pics of solicitors in improbable locations. So this image of Helen Jolly, solicitor at West Midlands firm Addison O’Hare, dangling 30ft in the air having just stepped off the top of the Walsall Art Gallery fits the ...
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Bubble rap?
With George Osborne poised to apply a Swan Vesta to the bonfire of the quangos, was it wise of the Legal Ombudsman to be so free with the fizz at its Birmingham launch party last week? After all, champagne was banned at the Conservative Party conference, under way at the ...
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The Bribery Act and how in-house counsel can help combat corruption
In July the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) announced that the Bribery Act will not come into force until April 2011, a full year after it received royal assent. At the same time, it promised to issue guidance to enable commercial organisations to understand the concept of ‘adequate procedures’. This guidance ...
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UK still has a judiciary to be proud of
The formal reprimand issued to His Honour George Bathurst-Norman last week is the most serious of the disciplinary powers available to the lord chief justice in cases of judicial misconduct, short of suspension or removal from office. Those latter powers would not have been appropriate for Bathurst-Norman because he had ...
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Consumer protection is at heart of SRA’s 10 core principles
The legal media are awash with stories about the changes that face the legal profession. These include the arrival of alternative business structures (ABSs) and the possible consequences for firms on the high street; the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s new handbook and Code of Conduct; the SRA’s approach to outcomes-focused regulation ...
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Double take
The picture on page 12 of the 23 September Gazette also adorns the front cover of August’s journal of the Law Society of Scotland. Apparently, September’s vexed-looking figure is no longer concerned about the Cadder effect (so called because of a Scots case to do with a suspect’s access to ...
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Relaxation leads to risk
Stricter controls on financial advisers and stricter controls on banks – all designed to protect the public. At the same time the government is ready to throw legal services open to the wider market. Could it be that it is missing something rather obvious – ...
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LSB must address unsavoury tactics
I noted the items in the Gazette of 7 October relating to referral fees and legal expenses insurance. There are some insurers with whom it is a pleasure to work. However the behaviour of others does give cause for concern. For example: ...
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Higher rights advocates - we need evidence for further regulation
I was delighted to read Legal Services Consumer Panel chair Dr Dianne Hayter’s commitment to the reduction of regulation and her call for the expansion of consumer choice.
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Appointing legal executives to bench will diminish respect for judiciary
I read with dismay that a legal executive has been appointed as a deputy district judge. David McGrady, president of the Institute of Legal Executives, welcomes the appointment. I do not. I have been in practice as a solicitor for 41 years, following my father ...
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The training contract lottery
By Carly Moore-Martin, law graduate ‘How do I find a training contract?’ ‘Well, a good academic record is essential, as is attention to detail and communication skills. Show your commitment to a career in law, and that you have a life outside law. Be personable.’
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Higher education review may put off aspiring law graduates
Who’d want to be approaching adulthood today without a private income? Jobs are scarce; wages are stagnant or falling; affordable housing remains way out of reach; and cheap and secure pension schemes that do not rely on the lottery of investment returns are an endangered species. ...
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Family lawyers await LSC appeal move
Uncertainty mounted over the future of family legal aid contracts this week, as solicitors await a decision by the Legal Services Commission on whether it will appeal a High Court ruling that its tender process was unlawful. Some firms that did win contracts in the tender ...
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Herts firm to sue over conveyancing panel removal
A Hertfordshire firm that was removed from the Santander and Lloyds Banking Group conveyancing panels is seeking support to take legal action against the lenders, the Gazette has learned. Paul Judkins, a partner at Judkins, with offices in Hertford and Cheshunt, is seeking advice from counsel ...
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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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Venue hire, Liverpool FC, banking, and sukuk issue
Venue hire: Sports law firm Couchmans advised Barclays on becoming the official retail bank at London’s O2 Arena. Fair Kop: US firm Shearman & Sterling advised New England Sports Ventures, which ...
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Firms may have folded to avoid high cost of PII premiums
A leading market expert has estimated that up to 175 firms closed their doors ahead of this month’s professional indemnity insurance (PII) renewal deadline rather than face the high cost of premiums, while a handful of firms are believed to be trading illegally because they cannot afford cover.