Last 3 months headlines – Page 1247
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What's the point of a degree?
I am amazed that there has been so little written on the de facto requirement for a solicitor to have a university degree. Not that I have anything against a degree or a university education – it should be encouraged. The problem now is that studying for a degree is ...
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LSC: payment delays a thing of the past
I was surprised and disappointed to see the Gazette give so much credence to Gareth Roberts’ completely unsubstantiated claims about late payment of bills by the Legal Services Commission. As our press office made clear before the article was published, payment delays are a thing of the past. ...
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Crisis talks
Lawyers are the trickiest clients that reputation management specialists have. Used to advising others, trained to be disputatious and challenging, and invariably the possessors of secure egos, they are often the least receptive to wise counsel. Admitting fault or even acknowledging distress caused by inadequate service ...
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Intolerant attitudes
The view expressed by Simon Williams in his letter has worrying consequences. He effectively said that Lillian Ladele should have lost her job. Does he want a civil service in which no one is allowed to have any religious convictions? Because such a situation is not far off. What kind ...
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Intolerant attitudes
The view expressed by Simon Williams in his letter has worrying consequences. He effectively said that Lillian Ladele should have lost her job. Does he want a civil service in which no one is allowed to have any religious convictions? Because such a situation is not far off. What kind ...
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Uncompromising truth
The entire content of Nicholas Lakeland’s article rang true for me as an employment solicitor who advises on up to 8-10 compromise agreements a week. They are increasingly common and I repeatedly find myself having to explain to clients that I have a duty to ...
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Hillsborough highlights need to make inquiries more effective
by Dr Karl Mackie, chief executive/mediator at the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution, London The shocking revelations of how the investigations were conducted into the Hillsborough disaster – and the delay of 23 years in uncovering the real issues – will only shake an increasingly disturbed ...
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Negative feedback over decision to publish complaints data
The credibility of the Legal Ombudsman’s contention that the publication of complaints data is not about ‘naming and shaming’ was demolished within hours.
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Analysis of budgets can be useful in implementation of rights
Work in a charity like Justice can get a trifle unremitting. But, just often enough to keep your spirits up, an invitation arrives out of the blue to something that looks worthwhile, or is at least set in an irresistible location (the combination of both is particularly cheering). Would I, ...
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Mortgage fraud solicitor jailed
A former criminal defence solicitor has been jailed for two years for her part in a £1.3m mortgage fraud in east London. Elena Quinlivan (pictured), 35, planned to build a rented property empire, using forged identity documents, bank statements and payslips, Southwark Crown Court heard. ...
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Don't get mad, get advice
Provocative posters are being deployed by the Law Society in an advertising campaign urging people to ‘Ask A Solicitor’ when dealing with a crisis. Examples of such incidents include: relationship breakdown (illustrated with a car vandalised by a disgruntled partner); disputed inheritance (an antique sideboard ...
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LegalZoom in QualitySolicitors tie-up
US online legal services shop LegalZoom is to come to Britain later this year in partnership with UK network QualitySolicitors, the Gazette has learned. LegalZoom claims to be the most recognised legal brand in the US and the leading provider of online legal documentation services ...
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SRA courts troubled firms
Law firms facing financial problems have been urged to contact the Solicitors Regulation Authority for support and advice. SRA supervisors are already getting in touch with practices that may need help, as part of the regulator’s new approach under outcomes-focused regulation. ...
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Surge in mis-selling claims
Small businesses are rushing to file mis-selling claims against their banks before April, when the Jackson reforms make conditional fee agreements a less viable option. Campaigning organisation Bully Banks, which has been co-ordinating information and campaigns on allegedly mis-sold interest rate hedging products, has urged ...
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SRA planning surprise diversity swoops
The Solicitors Regulation Authority is to make unannounced visits to 100 ‘randomly selected’ law firms to assess their compliance with mandatory diversity reporting requirements. The plan, announced at a Law Society Firms Diversity Forum meeting in Manchester last week, ‘went down like a lead balloon’, according ...
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Chancery Lane hits out at ‘potentially misleading’ complaints statistics
The Law Society has described as ‘partial and potentially misleading’ new data on complaints against named law firms published by the Legal Ombudsman this week. A table shows the collated names of 770 lawyers or law firms involved in complaints leading to a formal ...
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Firms risk missing PII deadline
Law firms that have yet to secure professional indemnity insurance (PII) face the prospect of missing the 1 October renewal deadline, a leading specialist broker has warned. Simon Lovat, divisional director for UIB, said his firm had more than 1,000 unsecured law practices on its books. ...
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Memory Lane
Law Society’s Gazette, September 1962 Father v Son An unusual encounter took place recently at Cardiff Magistrates’ court when a father and son, both of who are solicitors, appeared, respectively, for the defence and the prosecution. They are Mr Myer Cohen (admitted ...
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Turning on the charm
If brevity be the soul of wit, then the winners of the Association of Women Solicitors (AWS) excellence awards got it right in short order. At the ceremony at the Law Society last week, the acceptance speeches were sometimes just one sentence long and gave ...
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You'll never walk alone
Never content to be bested by their Mancunian colleagues, lawyers in Liverpool have got together to organise the first Liverpool Legal Walk, on Thursday 4 October.