Last 3 months headlines – Page 1711
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Plan of action
An assessment of Whitehall’s latest attempt to reform planning law, which features a controversial ‘one-stop-shop’ consent regime After several years wrestling with the question of developing a suitable regime to speed up the delivery of major infrastructure, the government has finally brought forward its proposals ...
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Plaques, suicides & dangerous doors
It is often said that there is ‘no law’ in personal injury work. But in the space of nine months the law Lords have delivered four judgments of profound importance. I have previously dealt with their important limitation decision in A v Hoare [2008] UKHL 6. In this article, I ...
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Landlord and tenant
Human rights – Local government – Caravan sites – Gypsies – Possession claims – Travellers William Doherty & Ors (appellant) v Birmingham City Council (respondent) & Secretary of State for Communities & Local Government (intervener): HL (Lords Hope ...
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Arbitration
Conflict of laws – International law – Attachment orders – Expropriation – Freezing injunctions E.T.I. Euro Telecom International NV v (1) Bolivia (2) Empresa Nacional De Telecomunicaciones Entel SA CA: (Civ Div) (Lords Justice Tuckey, Lawrence Collins, Stanley ...
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Wine column: best of British
In the mid-1970s Monty Python ran an Australian wine-tasting sketch with the punchline ‘bring your own bottle’. The studio audience cried with laughter. With names such as Kanga Rouge and Wallaby White just starting to appear on the British High Street, it was little wonder that its then fledgling wine ...
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Setting up shop: building a new family practice
Lawyers need to be more like entrepreneurs – that was the message legal business guru Professor Stephen Mayson gave during his speech at the Law London 2008 event. And there cannot be anything much more entrepreneurial for a solicitor to do than setting up their own firm. ...
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Legal action in the world of education
Solicitors play a major role on both sides when it comes to securing places in schools for children with special needs. For a section of the media, litigation against colleges, schools and universities has in recent years become another frontier of the so-called compensation culture. ...
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Sails force
Yet more solicitors-at-sea action, this time courtesy of Hilary Meredith, 49-year-old salt and partner at Hilary Meredith Solicitors in Cheshire, who recently bagged a place aboard Dame Ellen MacArthur’s yacht at the Skandia Cowes Week earlier this month. Not only did Meredith get a personal tour ...
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Another coal porter
Obiter hears tell of another former Bevin Boy turned solicitor whose studies were interrupted because he was, like Robert Benjamin (see Obiter, 7 August), conscripted to work in Britain’s coal mines during World War Two. John Hostettler, an 83-year-old ...
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Star trekker
A 268-mile trek along the mountainous spine of England was a mere stroll in the park for Abigail Mann, a 37-year-old solicitor at St Albans firm Alan Mann & Co. Nothing daunted her, not even twisting her ankle days before setting off and having to walk the entire route with ...
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Levelling the playing field
Many actions needed to give effect to equality outcomes have not been implemented by the SRA Lord Ouseley’s investigation into why minority ethnic lawyers feature disproportionately in the work of the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has generated much publicity. Peter Herbert, chair of the Society of ...
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Care in the legal community
This year’s Excellence Awards will recognise high-quality client care This year, firms that have demonstrated exceptional innovation and consistent excellence in the delivery of client services will be recognised at the Law Society’s Excellence Awards. The new Legal Complaints Service Award for ...
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A steep learning curve
Solicitors do not have the advocacy experience or training to appoint themselves solicitor-advocates Tim Dutton QC raises valid concerns about solicitors appointing themselves solicitor-advocates (see [2008] Gazette, 31 July, 2). The training solicitors receive in advocacy is quite pitiful and often learned on the hoof. Barristers ...
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Up to standard
In his recent letter, David Pearl suggests that failure to carry out local authority searches is evidence of a lowering of standards (see [2008] Gazette, 31 July, 7).
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Search right
The matter of personal searches has always been controversial, but many firms – both solicitors and licensed conveyancers – rely on searches carried out by an agency and have done for many years. A survey carried out by STL in March 2007, before home information packs became compulsory, indicated that ...
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Double indemnity
I should point out a significant difference between the arrangements for compulsory indemnity insurance for solicitors and those applying to some other professions (see [2008] Gazette, 31 July, 1). The fact that an indemnity insurer has been removed from another profession’s list of preferred providers does not imply that it ...
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Care applications fall sparks safety fears
Applications for child care and supervision orders have plummeted by 25% since councils were forced to bear the full cost of court fees, prompting fears that vulnerable children are being inappropriately placed with relatives instead, the Gazette can reveal. Just 1,611 applications were made by councils ...
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Lawyer kicks off FA insurance battle
A sports lawyer is threatening to sue the Football Association (FA) for failing to insure club footballers against loss of earnings arising from injuries, the Gazette can exclusively reveal. The FA requires all clubs to have at least £5m of public liability insurance. However, it leaves ...