Last 3 months headlines – Page 1558
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Conservative manifesto promise to ‘rebuild confidence’ in justice system
A Conservative government would carry out a ‘fundamental review’ of legal aid, and introduce measures to ‘rebuild confidence’ in the criminal justice system, it said in its manifesto published today. The manifesto, An invitation to join the government of Britain, promises to look at alternative ...
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PC fee help for small firms and legal aid practices
The Solicitors Regulation Authority is consulting on a proposal to lessen the impact of its practising certificate fee reforms on small firms and legal aid practices for this year’s renewal. The proposal could mean around 3% of the profession would have the fee payable under the ...
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Europe and the law – an embarrassment at election time
I have read that UK citizens are already bored by the general election. Before you have glazed over entirely, let me offer some insights into the corner that concerns me: the junction of law and Europe.
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Solicitors in limbo as Quinn ruling adjourned
The concerns of 2,911 law firms and sole practitioners who took out professional indemnity insurance (PII) policies with Quinn Insurance are set to continue this week after the Irish High Court adjourned a hearing on the fate of the Irish insurer. The court will now decide ...
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Property solicitors will need to adapt to a rapidly changing market
Property has been anything but ‘as safe as houses’ for solicitors who deal with residential conveyancing since the onset of the credit crunch. Their colleagues in the commercial property sector have encountered equally thin pickings. But, slowly and unevenly, both sectors of the property market are ...
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Local government: standards appraisal – what are the options?
In the acclaimed BBC comedy The Office, David Brent had rather a hard time trying to conduct an appraisal with Keith from accounts, who came across as a less-than-helpful appraisee. However, Standards for England (SFE) appeared to have less trouble with its appraisal of the local government standards framework, for ...
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Real property
Disclosure – Misrepresentation - Mortages – Spouses Jayne Hewett v First Plus Financial Group Plc: CA (Civ Div) (Lords Justice Jacob, Leveson, Mr Justice Briggs): 24 March 2010 ...
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Social security
Accidents – Heart – Industrial injuries benefits – Personal injury Secretary of State for Work and Pensions v James Scullion: CA (Civ Div) (Lords Justice Pill, Etherton, Aikens): 23 March 2010 ...
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Criminal procedure
Causation – Foreseeability – Joint enterprise – Jury directions R v (1) Reece Mendez (2) Seaon Thompson: CA (Crim Div) (Lord Justice Toulson, Mrs Justice Cox DBE, Judge Barker QC (Common Serjeant of London)): 22 March 2010 ...
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Memory lane
Law Society’s Gazette, April 1960 Licensing Days – Edward A. Williams writes about his early days as a ...
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A&O is magic, right kids?
Magic circle firm Allen & Overy is certainly doing well at attracting the graduates. The firm has just scooped not one but two graduate recruitment honours, from newspapers the Times and the Guardian. The Times Graduate Employer of Choice Award named A&O as the legal employer offering the best opportunities ...
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Playing the fool
As if anyone could have failed to notice, what with Radio 4’s ‘Shakespeare is French’ spoof and the Guardian’s story about Labour planning to orchestrate a Brown-Cameron punch-up to boost ratings, it was April Fool’s day last week. Though Obiter must point out that anyone who took the Gazette’s story ...
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Is honesty always the best policy? Sometimes
Politicians may be known for many things, but honesty isn’t normally one of them. So Obiter was intrigued by the disarming veracity of panel members at pro bono group LawWorks’ Question Time-style panel debate on legal aid last week. With Robin Knowles QC, LawWorks trustee, filling the David Dimbleby role, ...
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The next government must take a more measured approach to libel reforms
by Steven Heffer, head of media at Collyer Bristow and solicitor to Lawyers for Media Standards Over the past year, there has been an intensive press campaign pushing for radical reform of English libel Law. Barely a day goes by without another article by a concerned ...
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There are no votes in legal aid
‘The future holds few certainties for legal aid practitioners, whichever party forms the next government.’ Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose. That observation, contained in the Gazette of 23 April 1997, eight days before the New Labour dawn, has become a truism. Still, ...
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Which? hunt
Last week Deborah Prince of Which? offered some ‘friendly advice’ (see [2010] Gazette, 1 April, 11). This follows repeated and public criticism from Which? of my firm for legitimately acting for my clients.
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Issues that matter
To respond to all of Andrew Hopper’s and Greg Treverton-Jones’s points about the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s prosecution policy, ‘Ticking all the boxes?’ (see [2010] Gazette, 1 April, 12), would be a major undertaking, but two key issues need addressing.
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Paying peanuts for legal advice
There is a certain irony in the conjunction of the headline on the front page of last week’s Gazette, ‘Consumer call for competence test’ (see [2010] Gazette, 1 April, 1)...
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Politicians in glass houses
It is interesting to see that our brethren north of the border have been involved in a grassroots rebellion against ‘Tesco Law’, (see [2010] Gazette, 1 April, 8).
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Judicial error
Reading the legal update report of Key v Key (see [2010] Gazette, 1 April, 14), I was struck by the judge’s emphasis on the so-called ‘golden rule’, namely that practitioners should arrange for an aged testator, or one who has been seriously ill, to be examined by and reported on ...