Last 3 months headlines – Page 1545
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Solicitor fears over further legal aid cuts
Solicitors warned of the consequences of further legal aid cuts this week as the government announced it was to slash £325m from the Ministry of Justice’s 2010/11 budget. Law Society president Robert Heslett said it was essential that the axe should not fall on legal aid ...
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Regional firms risk losing corporate talent to London
A sharp rise in recruitment of corporate solicitors in London could set in motion a talent drain from regional firms, recruiters told the Gazette this week. Recruitment consultants said City firms are rushing to hire corporate lawyers after making excessive cutbacks at the height of the ...
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Solicitors celebrate the demise of HIPs
Solicitors celebrated the end of the home information pack ‘disaster’ last week. The coalition government scrapped HIPs after election manifesto commitments from both the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats to ditch the packs. Sellers will still need an energy performance certificate. The ...
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OFT chief slams 'excessive demands' of defendant lawyers
The delaying tactics and ‘excessive demands’ of defendant lawyers in competition actions are hampering cases and draining the resources of competition authorities, the chairman of the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) alleged last week. Philip Collins told the Law Society competition section’s annual conference that the ...
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Paws for thought
It seems new government ministers are not the only ones to go in for ever-so-slightly cheesy photo opportunities.Obiter received this pic from that wonderfully named Leamington Spa firm Wright Hassall, announcing that it has completed some legal work on behalf of pet food producer client Butcher’s Choice. Clearly the lawyers ...
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Denton Wilde Sapte set for transatlantic merger
City firm Denton Wilde Sapte and US firm Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal are set to merge to create a 1,400-lawyer transatlantic firm. The merged firm would have combined revenues of around £500m and would span 18 countries. The firms’ management boards have ...
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Government to scrap ID cards
Identity cards for British citizens are to be scrapped within 100 days, the Home Office announced today. The National Identity Register, the database containing the biographic and biometric fingerprint data of cardholders, is also to be destroyed.
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Law firms must tell clients how to complain, says LSB
Lawyers must provide clear information to clients about how they can complain about the service they receive, the Legal Services Board said today. Noting ‘a perception of poor complaints handling by [legal] regulators and the individuals and entities that they regulate,’ the LSB said that firms ...
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Smile for the camera because Big Brother is watching you
We are all film stars now, according to a 1999 study that estimated London citizens or workers could expect, in a single day, to be filmed by more than 300 CCTV cameras on around 30 separate CCTV systems.
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Law Society president warns of looming threat to profession’s independence
The Legal Services Board’s proximity to government could threaten the independence of the legal profession, Law Society president Robert Heslett warned last night. In a speech at the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School, Heslett questioned the need for the LSB’s ‘draconian’ power to seize control ...
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Referral fees are a distraction
The publication of the Legal Services Board’s research on referral fees has created a debate that, while an important issue for the profession to discuss, distracts attention from the real issue for firms.
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You are an EU citizen: do something about it
Much ink has been spilled recently about what it felt like to be a UK citizen during the changes leading to the coalition government – we were being ignored/our wishes were being followed; we were voting for change/we did not know what we wanted; etc (in each case, delete ...
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Law firms fail to maximise internet exposure
Law firms are failing to maximise their exposure to online consumers by improving their rankings with search engines, a report has shown. A study of by consultants Greenlight showed that 1.2m searches were performed in February for legal-related keywords, with 450,000 searches for ‘solicitor’. ...
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MoJ to cut £325m
The government is to cut £325m from the Ministry of Justice’s budget, it said today. The cuts will form part of £6.2bn in savings aimed at reducing the UK’s deficit, outlined by the chief secretary to the Treasury David Laws today. The ...
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MoJ unveils new ministers’ portfolios
The Ministry of Justice has announced the roles of its new ministerial team overseen by justice secretary Kenneth Clarke, with the legal aid brief handed to former City lawyer Jonathan Djanogly. Tom McNally, minister of state and deputy leader of the House of Lords, will have ...
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Will scrapping HIPs make a real difference?
One of the first steps taken by David Cameron’s new coalition government was the announcement scrapping home information packs, which will be suspended from midnight tonight...
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IT/IP: Google and brand searches
A landmark decision from the European Court of Justice will have brand owners checking whether, and how, third parties use their brands as internet search terms.
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Civil procedure
Civil evidence – Claims – Closed material – Disclosure Bisher Al Rawi and five others (appellants) v (1) Security Service (2) Secret Intelligence Service (3) Attorney General (4) Foreign and Commonwealth Office (5) Home Office (respondents) and (1) ...
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Legal advice
Funding – European Union – Public procurement – Equal treatment Azam & Co v Legal Services Commission; Ch D (Mr Justice Briggs): 5 May 2010 The claimant firm of ...