Last 3 months headlines – Page 1546
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News
Legal advice
Funding – Fees – Liens - Complaints R (on the application of Malik Law Chambers Solicitors) (claimant) v Legal Complaints Service (the Law Society) (defendant) and Thandie Tobo (interested party): QBD (Admin) (Mr Justice Saunders): 6 May 2010 ...
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Brawl of fame
When lawyers talk about a court fight, they are usually speaking metaphorically of an intellectual joust with their opponents, not actual fisticuffs. But one plucky barrister last week showed he can deal deftly with both modes of conflict. Piers Wauchope of London set 5 Pump Court stepped in to help ...
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The last farewell
As probate lawyers know only too well, there are an awful lot of folk out there who still haven’t got round to making a will (it is, of course, at the very top of Obiter’s to-do list, and has been for years). This means the estates of some disorganised types ...
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Roll survivors
Some jobs are known to be high risk. Firefighting, for example, or mountain rescue. But did you know that being in the upper echelons of the judiciary can also put one’s life in jeopardy? Addressing an audience at Lincoln’s Inn recently, master of the rolls Lord Neuberger – who must ...
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Music man
Rock star Andy Booth (pictured), who also happens to be head of company commercial and creative industries at Manchester firm Turner Parkinson, has just been appointed director of the company behind Manchester music venue Band on the Wall. Booth, a specialist music lawyer since 1994, acts for the likes of ...
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Colour bar
Early on in his legal career, the master of the rolls learned an important lesson about the rule of law from a judge at Bloomsbury County Court, Obiter heard last week. Lord Neuberger, a former property barrister, was recalling the first time he cross-examined a chartered surveyor, in a case ...
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Double standard
The conduct of elections has come under the microscope in recent weeks. Joshua Rozenberg noted (see [2010] Gazette, 13 May, 8) that section 23 of the Representation of the People Act 1983 says that ‘no parliamentary election shall be declared invalid by reason of any act or omission by the ...
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Moving towards a fairer system
We understand the reluctance of Simon Osborne (see [2010] Gazette, 13 May, 13), as somebody who does only pro bono work and does not hold client funds, to pay the full practising certificate fee.
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Time for action on panel purgatory
As a residential property specialist, I am accustomed to being the ‘poor relation’ in a law firm. As every week goes by, the administrative burden increases; client and estate agents’ demands become ever more ambitious and unrealistic; and downward pressure on fees continues.
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Competence to practice
I read with some interest about the various proposals for solicitors to undergo ‘real time’ peer review to assist in measuring their competence (see [2010] Gazette, 1 April, 1). While the proposals strike me as overly burdensome, the issue of competence is certainly a relevant inquiry.
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What the legal services reforms could mean for City law firms
Nothing defines the City of London quite as much as its propensity to check the bottom line –the importance of which has been underlined by the financial crisis and renewed attention to risk management. The downturn brought dark days for London lawyers. With liquidity at an all-time low, funds were ...
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Will the new government and Clarke uphold promises on legal issues?
Sometimes you can’t do better than Bruce Springsteen: ‘Down here it’s just winners and losers and don’t get caught on the wrong side of that line.’ Jack Straw will appreciate the full force of the Boss’s observations. But there were also winners and losers among the Conservatives. And, beyond the ...
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OFT's credibility is in tatters following the failed BA price-fixing trial
by Julian Joshua a cartel specialist partner at Howrey The ignominious collapse last week of the first contested prosecution by the OFT for the cartel offence (section 188 of the Enterprise Act 2002) in the BA ‘Fuel Surcharge’ trial may seem like a farce, until you ...
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There is no word yet about exploring legal aid financing options
Well, no one saw that coming. Least of all, it seems, Kenneth Clarke himself, who had warned that a hung parliament would be an economic (if not a personal) disaster. As the febrile atmosphere at Westminster abates, one must conclude that the ...
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Saudi electric issues sukuk and Polish exchange listing
Saudi sukuk: Allen & Overy, with affiliate Saudi firm Abdulaziz AlGasim, advised Saudi Electricity Company on issuing a SAR7bn (£1.3bn) sukuk. US firm Latham & Watkins, with Saudi firm Law Office of Mohammed Al-Sheikh, advised joint lead managers HSBC Saudi Arabia and Samba ...
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Lawyer fears over Tories’ FSA U-turn
City lawyers have criticised an apparent U-turn by the Conservatives over their plans to scrap the Financial Services Authority (pictured) and hand its fraud-busting powers to a new agency. According to reports, the Conservative manifesto plan to scrap the FSA has been scuppered by the Liberal ...
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Court of Appeal rules on plea bargain sentencing
White-collar criminals sentenced to a year or less in jail should have their sentences suspended if they cooperate fully with related fraud investigations, the Court of Appeal ruled last week. The lord chief justice Sir Igor Judge (pictured), presiding in R v Dougall, chastised the Serious ...
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Ex-lawyer campaigns for civil liberties in China
A man wrongfully detained in a Chinese mental hospital for six and a half years was released earlier this month following pressure from a commercial lawyer turned civil liberties activist. Former commercial lawyer Alice XT Huang, who visited London as a guest of the Law Society ...
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London legal walk
Led by lord chief justice Igor Judge and master of the rolls Lord Neuberger (pictured with Law Society president Robert Heslett), 4,500 lawyers, judges and students took part in the sixth London legal walk this week. Some £400,000 was raised for legal advice and pro bono agencies.
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Class action protocol drawn up for NHS litigation
Lawyers have agreed an innovative collaboration process to handle a class action against a Liverpool hospital that is designed to save the NHS millions of pounds. Liverpool Women’s Hospital faces around 200 claims in relation to alleged negligent treatment by consultant urogynaecologist George Rowland. ...