Last 3 months headlines – Page 1574
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Solicitors call for an end to court recording ban
Criminal defence solicitors have called on the Courts Service to allow them to take dictation devices into court buildings. The Courts Service currently bans the devices from court premises, and they are often removed from solicitors when they enter the buildings, although the rule is not ...
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Social welfare paralysis fear in Manchester
The Law Society has warned of ‘severe disruption’ to the supply of social welfare advice in Manchester if the delayed timetable for a new Community Legal Advice Service (CLAS) slips further. The tender process for the service, jointly commissioned by the Legal Services Commission and Manchester ...
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Law Society launches risk management service
The Law Society has launched a new service which it claims will help firms navigate the increasingly complicated area of risk and compliance and put in place risk management procedures. The Risk and Compliance Service includes in-house consultancy, a newsletter and a Lawyerline ...
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Solicitor jailed for stealing £850,000 from clients
A sole practitioner from north-west London has been jailed for two years after he confessed to stealing more than £850,000 from clients. David May, 69, destroyed a 46-year unblemished reputation in the profession after dipping regularly into a £280,000 estate he was handling, and writing ...
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Partners approve US merger for Denton Wilde Sapte
City firm Denton Wilde Sapte and US firm Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal will merge to form SNR Denton this autumn, after partners approved the tie-up in a vote today. The new transatlantic firm, which will launch on 30 September, will comprise more than 1,400 lawyers spanning ...
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Coalition government to review legal services reforms
The coalition government is reviewing key reforms to legal complaints handling and the introduction of alternative business structures, as part of a wider review of regulatory measures inherited from the previous administration. Plans for a Legal Ombudsman service and ABSs have fallen under the scrutiny of ...
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New rules address ‘appalling’ child care delays
New rules for appointing guardians in care proceedings were introduced in London this week, in a bid to reduce ‘appalling’ delays which family solicitors have warned are ‘worse than ever’. Christina Blacklaws, chairwoman of the Law Society’s family law committee, said solicitors were ‘hopeful’ that ...
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Recession cuts are boosting profits – but at what cost?
As provisional financial results continue to roll in from big commercial law firms, a pattern is beginning to emerge: partners in these firms are, in the main, reaping healthy profits.
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Lawyers pay tribute to ‘old school’ solicitor killed in Cumbria massacre
Members of the profession have paid tribute to Kevin Commons, the Cumbrian solicitor killed by a local man who shot 12 people dead in a killing spree before shooting himself last week. Kevin Joseph Commons, 60, is thought to have been the second victim of gunman ...
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Experimental chambers BarFutures set to close
Experimental virtual chambers BarFutures is to close its doors at the end of June after two years because of a ‘lack of appetite for change within the profession’, the Gazette has learned. The alternative set was designed to meet the challenges posed by the Legal Services ...
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Gary McKinnon case is acid test of coalition government’s integrity
by Azmina Gulamhuseinis a solicitor and editor of the Encyclopaedia of Forms and Precedents Gary McKinnon, a vulnerable 44-year old with Asperger syndrome, stands accused by the US of the ‘biggest military computer hack of all time’.
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A victory for lawyers
The bells are ringing, the trumpets are sounding, the medals are being awarded: a great victory has been achieved. This week, the European Commission finally agreed to establish the equivalent of a European justice ministry, a DG (Directorate General) Justice.
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OFT approves 'toothless' will-writing code
A new code of practice for non-lawyer will-writers which has been approved by the Office of Fair Trading is ‘without teeth’, probate solicitors have warned. The OFT approved a new code of practice drawn up by the Institute of Professional Willwriters (IPW) last week. ...
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An eminent jurist is under attack over Israel
Israel has faced international condemnation this week over the alleged killing of 10 or more peace activists who were trying to deliver aid to Gaza by way of a flotilla of ships.
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Solicitors support advocacy quality assurance scheme
The Solicitors Association of Higher Court Advocates (SAHCA) has given its support to the Legal Services Commission’s proposals for a quality assurance scheme for advocates (QAA), but warned it must be ‘demonstrably even-handed, objective and proportionate’. Following consultation with its 1,300 members, SAHCA responded to the ...
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Solicitor settles action against solicitorsfromhell
A north-east solicitor yesterday settled his libel claim against the owner of a website that blacklists solicitors and law firms. Scott Eason, principal at Eason Law, had instructed libel lawyers Carter-Ruck to bring a claim for damages of between £50,000 and £100,000 and obtain a High ...
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Second blow for supporters of referral fee ban
Any prospect of a new ban on referral fees has been dealt a second major blow in the space of a few weeks, as a new report for the Legal Services Board recommended that the fees should be retained last week. The Legal Services Consumer ...
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Shoe me the money
What’s going on here, you may ask? Has Hartley & Worstenholme just had a new carpet fitted and asked all clients and employees to leave their shoes at the door? Not quite. These eager ladies at the West Yorkshire law firm and estate agency are getting ready to put on ...
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Man of the moth
They nibble at your best winter coat, and make an annoying noise when they pop themselves dead on lightbulbs. But it turns out that moths can be good for something – at least civil litigation solicitor Bob Heckford, who recently retired from Plymouth law firm Bond Pearce, seems to think ...