Last 3 months headlines – Page 1672
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Election fever
Never mind Westminster: election fever is already mounting in Chancery Lane, with Monday’s deadline for council members to put themselves forward as candidate to be the Society’s next deputy vice-president. In theory, any council member can put themselves forward by submitting a 250-word ‘statement and disclosure ...
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Taking the biscuit
In case you don’t know, the difference between a cake and a biscuit is that a biscuit gets moist as it stales, while a cake dries. This is a vital distinction as, of course, it underpins Marks & Spencer’s long-running case against HMRC, claiming a rebate for an awful lot ...
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For whom the Bell tolls
In these risk-averse times, hats off to City firm Wedlake Bell for getting involved in the last great nautical challenge: circumnavigating Antarctica solo by oar power. Adventurer Olly Hicks reckons his 15,000-mile ‘Virgin Global Row’ (spot the other sponsor) will take between 18 and 24 ...
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What’s in a name?
Part of the great pub quiz tradition is thinking up a silly team name. Often in two seconds flat. Usually, it’s safe enough to go for the rude or insulting because no one outside the room will know, and in the room most people are a bit squiffy or being ...
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Memory Lane
The Law Society’s Gazette, February 1939 From the President's address to the Students’ Rooms The law must be ...
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A certain vintage
It is a lunchtime glass of wine, she tells Obiter, that keeps 73-year-old legal secretary Angela Rogers going through the afternoon. She has been with Shropshire firm Wace Morgan since January 1960 – that’s 49 years! – and has seen many changes. ‘I have worked through the invention of ...
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South Africa is producing the best wine it has ever made
In South Africa, the political classes are mobilising for an April election. The frontrunner, Jacob Zuma, is beset by allegations of corruption, which he contests, while critics of his party, the ruling African National Congress, fear a wave of nationalisations in agriculture, mining and industry. Driving out of Cape Town ...
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'No evidence' for the decline in the quality of justice
Your news item headlined ‘Pushing novice advocates into court "harming justice"’ reported a number of comments made by the chairman of the criminal bar, Peter Lodder QC, in evidence to the Justice Committee (see [2009] Gazette, 12 February, 3).
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Covering our backs
Your correspondent Ian McLachlan believes that conveyancing is a ‘disorganised mess’ and he is probably correct (see [2009] Gazette, 19 February, 11). However, it is not a mess made by conveyancers. Clients and solicitors no longer trust each other, so everything has to be documented – even the ownership of ...
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Otiose requirements
I am utterly astonished by the content of Ian McLachlan’s letter. Yes, the public do want their homes to be transferred as quickly and cheaply as possible. For that to be achieved they are mainly dependent on money supply, and the needs and wishes of the ...
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A tale of two statistics
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times – that’s how we read the latest figures on QC awards. Hats off to Baroness Butler-Sloss for putting such a positive spin on the fact that 75% of solicitor applicants were successful – a record high. ...
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OFT estate agent study will assess new business models
The Office of Fair Trading today (25 February) launched a market study into home buying and selling, following two months of consultation on the scope of the project. It will examine the level of competition between estate agents, and look at the relationship between estate agents ...
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A liberty-based approach to rights could strengthen core freedoms
Philosopher John Stuart Mill quipped: ‘He who knows only his side of the case knows little of that.’ Reviewing The Assault on Liberty: what went wrong with rights last week, Roger Smith (of Justice) went further. Amid flattery – and mischievous misrepresentation – he denies ...
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The ECHR’s ‘realistic’ ruling on unlawful detention
Judgments involving Abu Qatada are a bit like buses: you wait ages for one to turn up and then two come along together. Last Wednesday, the home secretary won her appeal to the House of Lords against a ruling that the radical Muslim cleric could not ...
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Not asked to ‘lobby’
Your news item ‘Firms face lobbying scrutiny’ (see [2009] Gazette, 12 February, 6) fails to distinguish between the lobbying that some parliamentarians are involved in and consultancy arrangements that some firms make with lawyer MPs.
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European ruling deals blow to in-house confidentiality
The group representing general counsel at FTSE-100 companies has been refused permission to intervene in a case on the extent of privilege enjoyed by in-house lawyers – on the ground that neither it nor its members have a ‘direct interest in the result’. Issuing preliminary rulings ...
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LSB cautious on bank-led ABSs
Legal Services Board chairman David Edmonds has hinted to MPs that the oversight regulator will be extremely cautious about letting banks enter the legal services market in the aftermath of the current financial crisis.
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Fury over SRA’s plan for a non-voting BME board member
Groups representing black and minority ethnic (BME) solicitors have condemned a proposal to co-opt a BME member on to the Solicitors Regulation Authority board without giving them voting rights. The proposal is a response to Lord Ouseley’s controversial report on the disproportionate number of BME ...
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Solicitors network joins forces with Which?
The new high street network QualitySolicitors.com has allied with consumer body Which? in a commercial venture. People logging on to the QualitySolicitors.com website, to go live in April, will see details of the Which? Legal Service telephone advice line. Meanwhile, clients of Which? needing to ...
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New solicitor QC says that more will take silk
Solicitors will increasingly aspire to become Queen’s Counsel, one of three new solicitor silks has predicted. Judith Gill, international arbitration partner at City firm Allen & Overy, who last week became the second female solicitor silk, said: ‘The more solicitors who are successful the more likely it’ll be that others ...