Last 3 months headlines – Page 1551
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Changes to the law of homicide
In relation to acts or omissions on or after 4 October 2010, critical changes to the law of homicide are made by the Coroners and Justice Act 2009. The issues are dealt with in part 2 chapter 1. The first set of changes deals with diminished ...
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Consumer challenges to bank charges and loan agreements
I have this recurring image of an enormous office populated by eye-shaded clerks sitting at narrow desks, poring through every word, sentence and paragraph of current consumer legislation, looking for some infinitesimal sign of weakness, some feeble link in the chain of rules and regulations.
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New legal ombudsman Adam Sampson gives his first interview
Adam Sampson is the first to acknowledge that his new job as legal ombudsman is potentially a poisoned chalice. One of the main catalysts of the Legal Services Act (LSA), which brought his organisation into being, was (as he puts it) ‘the woeful record on complaints-handling [of] the Legal Complaints ...
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Why we had to issue formal proceedings over the family legal tender
The days of a ‘quiet August’ are a thing of the past. The change of government has ensured that Whitehall has remained a hive of activity over the summer – and here at the Law Society we have been far busier than anticipated. As you will ...
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Lenders must not take control of the conveyancing market
by James Naish, qualified chartered surveyor and solicitor at Naish Estate Agents & Solicitors in York Panel reshuffles present a real threat to small conveyancing firms. We might consider the longer-term implications by reviewing what has happened in residential surveying.
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Confusion over PII quote
In my experience, sole practitioners who have not yet taken steps to renew their professional indemnity insurance could be somewhat misled by your lead news item of 19 August, ‘Insurance boost for sole practitioners’
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LSC needs to explain allocation of work
In defence of its decisions affecting family practitioners, the Legal Services Commission states that it will commission the same level of help as last year. However, in the low-volume categories, it is clear that the LSC has deliberately reduced the numbers of matter starts nationally, to the detriment of the ...
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Trying to make sense of the legal aid tender
Before In the Loop there was Yes Minister, the latter contrasting with the former in airing only the mildest of profanities. One sprang to mind when considering the family legal aid tender. ‘Minister, if you must do this damn silly thing,’ the mandarin Sir Humphrey Appleby advises the hapless Jim ...
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Comparison website offers free legal expenses insurance
A new website that compares solicitors by price, location and customer ratings has begun offering clients a free legal expenses insurance policy for road traffic accident (RTA) claims, it emerged last week. Legalcompare.com, which launched in August after 18 months of testing by consumer panels, is ...
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Lack of awareness on mental health
In his letter of 8 July, Hugh Barrett of the Legal Services Commission referred to 'procurement area', ‘client access’, ‘proper advice provision’ and ‘client demand’. Regrettably, this shows a lack of awareness of the type of work in which mental health lawyers are involved.
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Ralli pursues group action for harassment against London firm
National firm Ralli is seeking to pursue a group action for harassment against London firm ACS Law in relation to the handling of file-sharing cases. Ralli has called for individuals to contact the firm if they have received what it claims are ‘bullying’ letters from ACS ...
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UK lawyer delegation suffer Colombia rights rebuff
A delegation of UK lawyers which visited Colombia last week to investigate the persecution and murder of human rights lawyers had permission to inspect the country’s overcrowded and violent prisons withdrawn. Delegates from the Law Society, Bar Council and Institute of Legal Executives were part of ...
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Criminal record certificates have blighted lives
Enhanced criminal record certificates (see 'Tainted records') were brought in after the Ian Huntley murder cases to protect ‘children and vulnerable adults’. Commendable though this may be, what does not seem to have been envisaged by our politicians was that the lives of numerous innocent people would be blighted. Here ...
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New law firm model could ease PII woes
A law firm has developed an innovative new structure that it believes could help small firms and sole practitioners obtain professional indemnity insurance (PII). Virtual firm Scott-Moncrieff Harbour & Sinclair (Scomo) will join up with a small number of other firms under one ‘umbrella LLP’ that ...
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FSA underlines policyholder right to choose solicitor
The Financial Services Authority has ordered legal expenses insurers to prove to the regulator that they comply with European law that gives policyholders certain rights to choose their own solicitor. The FSA’s insurance sector director Ken Hogg warned insurers that, in light of a European Court ...
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Law Commission calls for greater use of civil penalties
The Law Commission has proposed a cut in the number of criminal offences for regulatory breaches. In a consultation published last week, the commission suggested that using civil penalties for technical breaches of farming, food safety, banking and retail laws would save the criminal justice system ...
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Defra lawyers face savage job cuts
A government department is to make 42 lawyers redundant, the Gazette has learned, as solicitors warn of more job losses to come in public sector legal teams. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is to make 40% of its 87 solicitors and 18 ...
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Lloyds Banking Group axes 2,500 firms from conveyancing panel
About 2,500 firms have been axed from Lloyds Banking Group’s conveyancing panel in its recent cull, the Law Society has estimated. Over the last month the group, which includes Lloyds TSB, Halifax, Bank of Scotland and Birmingham Midshires, has reviewed its panel membership to remove firms ...
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Frustrated Lawyers R Us. Plan ‘B’ mutiny?
‘The sun is out... the sky is blue... there’s not a cloud... to spoil the view... but it’s raining... (doodle doodle doom)... raining in my heart.’
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Danish insurer enters PII market
A Danish insurance company has entered the solicitors professional indemnity insurance (PII) market to provide cover to small and medium-sized law firms, as the 1 October renewals deadline approaches. Copenhagen-based Alpha Insurance A/S will issue PII policies for firms of between one and 25 partners, in ...