Last 3 months headlines – Page 1690
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Medico-legal collapse hits solicitors
Hundreds of medical reports for personal injury claims will be delayed following the collapse of one of the country’s largest medical reporting agencies. E-Reporting Group (ERG) fell into administration on 18 November, leaving 9,000 doctors unpaid for completed reports and pending reports due to be sent ...
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Spending cuts highlight HMCS property plight
Chancellor Alistair Darling’s hopes of shaving £5bn from public spending by 2011 may quickly run into difficulties, a Gazette investigation of efficiency plans at HM Court Service (HMCS) suggests. In his Pre-Budget Report (PBR) on Monday, Darling said he expects savings from ‘more ...
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'Bypass solicitor and go straight to the bar'
Consumers will be urged to bypass solicitors and instruct barristers directly in an initiative launched by the Bar Council today. A report entitled ‘Straight there, no detours’, says that 89% of consumers who went directly to a barrister believed they got ‘better value for money’ ...
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Chef loses privacy against battle against firm
Celebrity restaurateur Marco Pierre White has had his High Court claim against City firm Withers struck out by Mr Justice Eady. White (pictured) was seeking damages for an alleged breach of privacy from Withers, his wife’s lawyers during their divorce proceedings. White claimed Withers had instructed ...
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Law Commission to clear 'mess' over adult social care statutes
The first steps in rationalising a ‘confusing jumble of statutes’ governing adult social care were set out this week by the Law Commission. A scoping paper, expected to be approved by the Department of Health, proposes a single modern statute that can be understood by ...
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Fears over UKBA immigration shake-up
Concerns are mounting in the legal profession over new immigration rules described by the United Kingdom Border Agency (UKBA) as the biggest shake-up of border security in 45 years. Tiers 2 and 5 of the points-based system, which go live today, require 20,000 employers to have ...
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Outcry at lawyer ban
Former Lord Justice Sir Henry Brooke and other legal figures have expressed outrage at the UK’s decision to refuse entry to a Nepalese human rights lawyer on a European speaking tour. Human rights lawyer, journalist and author Jitman Basnet has been detained and tortured by Maoist ...
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Rate of firm closures increases
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) says it expects to shut down 56% more law firms this year than it did last. The number of ‘interventions’ could reach 75 by the end of the year, compared with 48 in 2007. Intervention involves the SRA sending an agent ...
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Insurance rethink
Staggered renewal dates for professional indemnity insurance (PII) and a return to the Solicitors Indemnity Fund (SIF) are being considered by the Law Society’s PII crisis group, as the number of firms in the assigned risks pool (ARP) looks set to register a six-fold increase. As ...
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Legal services body director suspended
The director-elect of a pioneering shared legal services organisation has been suspended from his current role as head of legal and democratic services at Northamptonshire County Council. Chris Whittington was appointed director of Legal Services Lincolnshire (LSL) in October and is expected to take up his ...
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Vulnerable face discrimination
Vulnerable offenders suffer ‘systemic and routine discrimination’ at the hands of the police, court and prison services, according to a damning report.
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Solicitors warned over property competitions
Solicitors advising clients who are selling their homes through ‘house competitions’ must act with caution to avoid falling foul of the gambling laws or complicity in fraud or money laundering, the Law Society has warned. The collapse of the housing market has prompted a growing number ...
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Sharia 'could have averted crisis'
The use of Sharia ethics might have helped avert the current financial crisis, the head of a legal think-tank said this week. ‘The continuing turmoil has cast Islamic finance centre stage,’ Malik Dahlan, principal and chief lawyer at Institution Quraysh, told a London seminar. ‘Were ...
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ADR encouraged in planning process
Replacing planning appeals with alternative dispute resolution (ADR) could help save businesses and councils £300m a year, the government claimed this week. The proposals, published by the Communities and Local Government department, call for a ‘more proportionate’ planning system, removing nearly 40% of minor non-residential developments ...
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Technology mergers, charity deals and educational investments
Pop for poppies: South-west firm Wilsons advised charity Help for Heroes, which cares for British soldiers post-conflict, on an agreement with music producer Simon Cowell’s (inset) production company for a share of profits received from the sale of music single Hero. Finalists from ...
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In-house lawyers, the Gazette needs you
Take part in our survey of what in-house lawyers are thinking, and doing, about outsourcing work offshore. To follow this week's feature on outsourcing and offshoring legal work (see Features section), the Gazette needs your input to a survey on what businesses are doing in terms ...
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Data page for November 2008
The data page is financial rates and data compiled for the Law Gazette by Moneyfacts Group, the UK's largest supplier of savings and mortgage data. Downloads Download the Data ...
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Criminal law: Criminal Justice Act 1988 (Offensive Weapons)
On 6 April this year, new legislation to control curved bladed swords came into force. Since that time there has been a great deal of confusion over the intended interpretation of the statute.
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Employment law
Equal pay – Justification – Remuneration – Sex discrimination – Shift workers Blackburn and anor v Chief Constable of West Midlands Police: CA (Civ Div) (Lords Justice Scott Baker, Maurice Kay, Wilson): 6 November 2008 ...
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Family law
Contact orders – Fairness – Orders restricting further applications – Residence orders Re G (a child): CA (Civ Div) (Lords Justice Ward, Rimer): 6 November 2008 The appellant father (F) ...