Last 3 months headlines – Page 1185
-
News
Jackson reforms: trials and tribulation
One could be forgiven for thinking the campaign to halt or defer the main planks of the civil justice reforms devised by Sir Rupert Jackson is still in full swing. To be fair to the refusniks, the impression that all was not settled has been given in part by the ...
-
News
We must give victims of sexual exploitation confidence to come forward
by Lord Carlile of Berriew QC High-profile child sexual abuse and exploitation cases have shown us that more needs to be done to give victims the confidence to disclose the harm they have suffered.
-
News
Picture-perfect in-house advice
In-house counsel were last week urged to show the value they add ‘in pictures’ not ‘words’, to be better understood by the rest of their business. This was among the tips Richard Tapp, director of legal services at construction and support services giant Carillion, shared with 110 lawyers who attended ...
-
News
Probate: establishing the testator’s intention
The rule against double portions is intended to give effect to the presumed intention of parents. It applies where a testator leaves a child a portion by will and then makes a lifetime gift of a portion to that child. The court presumes that a parent would not intend to ...
-
News
Quindell adds a software company to its portfolio
Fast-expanding alternative business structure Quindell Portfolio today announced the acquisition of a supplier of a case-management system. Quindell, which over the past year has acquired three law firms, announced the takeover of iSaaS Technology Ltd to the AIM stock exchange this morning. The company markets ...
-
News
Would you earn more in France?
The Law Society’s Research Unit is in the process of publishing multi-part assessments of the legal services market. The reports often confirm what we already know – for instance, that there are two solicitors’ professions, and aren’t the City types doing well, while those poor devils in the small and ...
-
News
Society sticks to joint representation for homebuyers
Joint representation provides the best value for money for clients, the Law Society of England and Wales said today following a vote by its Scottish counterpart in favour of separate representation. Jonathan Smithers, chair of the Law Society’s conveyancing and land law committee said: ‘The regulatory ...
-
News
Bar publishes plan for quicker civil justice
Better case management with all cases docketed and dealt with by a single judge are among the Bar Council’s recommendations to make civil justice quicker and more cost effective. A working party chaired by the immediate past chairman of the bar, Michael Todd QC, published its ...
-
News
Compensation culture is ‘media-created’ myth - Dyson
Master of the rolls Lord Dyson has urged the government, courts and legal profession to educate the public to address some of the media-created myths of the compensation culture. Giving the Holdsworth Club lecture earlier this month, Dyson (pictured) said there had been no developments ...
-
News
Conveyancing fraud
Every good conveyancer should be aware of the risk of vendor conveyancer fraud. Not only has the media featured many alarming cases, but the Solicitors Regulation Authority in March last year released a warning notice about bogus firms and identity theft, stating that you cannot rely on the SRA database ...
-
News
Referral fee ban: no period of grace, says SRA
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has warned firms there will be ‘no transitional period’ after the referral fee ban comes into force next Monday. The regulator today published guidance and support for personal injury firms trying to adapt their business models to get work without paying for ...
-
News
Legal executives apply for independent practice rights
Chartered legal executives will be able to provide services in probate, conveyancing, litigation and immigration if a joint application by the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx) and its regulator ILEX Professional Standards is successful. The two bodies today applied to the Legal Services Board ...
-
News
Interpreter company wins costs order appeal
The company contracted by the Ministry of Justice to provide court interpreters has won an appeal against a decision to award a third-party costs order after a sentencing hearing was adjourned due an interpreter’s non-appearance. In the Court of Appeal yesterday, the president of the Queen’ ...
-
News
Firms are getting cold feet over DBAs
A couple of weeks ago I went along to an excellent debate on damages-based agreements chaired by Michael Napier QC, and hosted by Harbour Litigation Funding and Expedite Resolution. One of the main points that came across was the extent to which the shoddy drafting of ...
-
News
Copyright
Claimant television broadcasting companies in main proceedings commencing proceedings against defendant television production company ITV Broadcasting Ltd and other companies v TVCatchup Ltd: Court of Justice of the European Union (Fourth Chamber): 7 March 2013 The Court of Justice of the European ...
-
News
International private client firms in merger talks
International firms Speechly Bircham and Withers, whose joint headcount includes more than 600 lawyers, are discussing a merger. A joint statement said that the firms are in ‘preliminary discussions’ and both see ‘exciting opportunities for growth in such a merger’. ...
-
News
Grayling looks to boost revenue from litigation
Justice secretary Chris Grayling will consult on plans to raise more money from those who litigate in courts in England and Wales. Grayling today announced he had asked his department to look at reform of the resourcing and administration of HM Courts & Tribunals Service. ...
-
News
Zimbabwe’s Mtetwa released unharmed
Zimbabwean human rights lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa has been freed on bail after more than a week in prison and a decade spent campaigning for the rule of law. She was accused of shouting at police officers and demanding to see a search warrant when police ...
-
News
Justice is never reached, only sought
In a week when a new Pope was elected and scientists at Cern in Switzerland grew more certain that the so-called ‘God particle’ or Higgs boson exists, I fell to thinking about the values of our own profession, and where it stands in the spectrum between the two framework terms ...