Last 3 months headlines – Page 1591
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How does your firm manage online enquiries?
When law firms first started to promote themselves online, their websites were little more than brochures: ‘This is who we are, this is where to find us and you can phone or email us for more information.’ Many firms have at least moved on to a more interactive experience for ...
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Labour manifesto targets legal aid to safeguard ‘frontline services’
Labour will implement more cuts in the legal aid budget if re-elected next month and also plans to increase the use of ‘virtual courts’ in criminal cases. The party has also pledged to press ahead with ID cards and continue to make ‘full use’ of CCTV and DNA technology to ...
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Future of Quinn Insurance cause for concern but don't panic
Your article last week (‘Quinn’s future hangs in the balance’, [2010] 9 April, 1] is likely to have caused significant anxiety within the profession, particularly for those currently insured with Quinn.
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‘Good firms’ should offer online services, say consumers
More than half of consumers expect ‘good law firms’ to offer their services online, research has suggested. A survey of 2,266 people carried out by YouGov and commissioned by Epoq Legal found that 56% of consumers said they expected good firms to offer services online. ...
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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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It’s time to put some balance back into journalism
When did reporters stop reporting the news and become political propagandists instead? We are not just talking about the tabloids here – although much more about them later – but about local newspapers, the regional backbone of the free press of which we were rightly proud.
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Race disparity
I am writing in respect of recent articles on the issue of diversity and race in the legal profession.
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Civil litigation cases risk being ‘buried’, lord chief justice warns
The civil litigation system is at risk of being ‘buried under a mass of paperwork’ because of the way lawyers are compiling their arguments, lord chief justice Lord Judge has warned. Delivering the Judicial Studies Board lecture last week, Judge said modern technology meant lawyers were ...
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Firm found liable to pay more than £28m for giving negligent advice
A warning bell has sounded for law firms that advised on complex financial deals involving local authorities before the economic downturn, after a firm was found liable to pay more than £28m for giving negligent advice.
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South Korea ‘high growth market’ opens up for UK firms
The Law Society is to run a trade mission to the ‘high growth market’ of South Korea this month, after the signing of an agreement to liberalise legal services opened the way for UK firms to seek new opportunities in the country.
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Cap on contingency fees comes into force
Regulations which will impose a 35% cap on contingency fees in employment cases were approved by the House of Commons and came into force this week. Solicitors lambasted the new rules as a ‘dog’s dinner’ which threatens access to justice. The ...
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Criminal defence firms fail to secure legal aid contracts beyond July 2010
Criminal solicitors have warned that a ‘cull’ of firms has begun after Legal Services Commission figures revealed that 5% of firms did not secure new contracts. The recent tender for criminal contracts ended with one in 20 firms failing to secure the right to do publicly ...
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Government abandons libel fee cut bid
The government this week ditched controversial plans to cap success fees paid to ‘no win, no fee’ lawyers in libel cases. Commons leader Harriet Harman said the legislation, which would have reduced the fees charged by lawyers who won defamation cases taken on under conditional ...
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Firms face bar competition after conduct rules relaxed
Changes to the barristers’ code of conduct that enable them to undertake work that was previously only open to solicitors will increase competition but give law firms the opportunity to pick up ‘talent from the bar’, according to consultants. Last week, the Legal Services Board approved ...
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English language test for foreign-qualified lawyers
Foreign-qualified lawyers seeking to practise in England and Wales will have to pass an English language test under new rules approved by the Legal Services Board last week. International applicants will have to pass the language test before being eligible to take the assessments required under ...
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Legal aid cuts will happen ‘under any government’, parties warn
The legal aid budget will face further cuts whoever wins the election, politicians from the three main parties warned last week. Legal aid minister Lord Bach, shadow justice secretary Dominic Grieve QC and Liberal Democrat justice spokesman David Howarth all said new funding streams needed to ...
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Fate of Quinn Insurance hangs in the balance
More than 2,900 law firms and sole practitioners could be left without professional indemnity insurance (PII) on Monday when the Irish High Court decides the fate of Quinn Insurance, the Irish insurance company that was forced into administration last week. Quinn covers around 10% of the solicitors’ PII insurance market. ...