Last 3 months headlines – Page 1263
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Games masters
As you watch the Olympic opening ceremony tomorrow night, spare a thought for the thousands of backroom heroes who made the 2012 London Games possible. We refer of course to the legal teams and draftspeople behind the wall of enabling (and disabling) legislation put in place for the purpose of ...
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Latest flame
A third Olympic flame torchbearer from the legal profession has come to Obiter’s attention. Matt King, a trainee solicitor in the personal injury team at Stewarts Law was given the stint in Dunstable after being nominated by his grandad. A rugby accident at the age of 17 left King paralysed ...
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Co-op/Lloyds deal will treble the group’s banking presence and offer golden opportunity
BBC business editor Robert Peston hailed the Co-op’s acquisition of 632 bank branches from Lloyds as the ‘deal of the millennium’. It is hard to disagree, and not just because it picked them up cheap.
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Increasing selection in state schools the best way to improve legal diversity
by Lucinda Moule, managing director at legal recruitment agency Laurence Simons Elitism is a huge problem in the legal industry. Research by Laurence Simons in 2010 found that 15% of lawyers still come from public schools that educate only 2% of the population.
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Legal insurance should not confuse clients
If there are two words guaranteed to send any audience to sleep in an instant, they are these: Annual Report. By God, they are dull - I should know, I have written enough of the damn things. You know that very few people are going to read them but you ...
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Good ideas for hard times
Less than two weeks ago and fresh into my presidency the Gazette reported that I would be using LinkedIn as a way for the Law Society to hear about members’ ideas on how to face market challenges in our sector. Since then, I have been ...
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Win a stay in legal London's coolest hotel
Summer holidays are here, and once again Obiter faces the shame of not quite having got round to sitting down in front of the Olivetti to churn out a bestseller. Time to start thinking ahead, clearly - and Obiter believes readers should be doing the same.
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UK ‘miscarriages’ model rejected by South Australia
South Australia is now highly unlikely to adopt a UK-style Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), following a report by the parliament’s legislative review committee. The committee also cautioned against the creation of a CCRC at a national level.
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General damages to increase by 10%
The Court of Appeal today confirmed that general damages will increase by 10% for all judgments made after 1 April 2013. Senior figures at the judiciary said the judgment was being made several months in advance to provide 'simplicity and clarity'. The ...
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PII outlook ‘positive’ as new entrant targets small firms
A new entrant has joined the solicitor professional indemnity insurance market with a strategy to target small firms. Specialist broker Prime Professions has launched a new product offering access to A-rated insurer Axis Specialty to sole practitioners or firms with up to three partners. The insurer ...
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HSBC sets date for conveyancing panel
All firms that are members of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS) will be put on HSBC’s conveyancing panel from 29 August, the Society and lender announced today. The move follows the deal agreed between the Society and HBSC in May, under which ...
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Dinner winner
The winner of the prize draw organised by Hiscox, the home insurance provider officially endorsed by the Law Society, is Alastair Laing from London. He will enjoy a private dinner party prepared by an expert chef to be shared with five of his guests.
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March of time
Government proposals to speed up criminal justice have had a mixed reception. However, wearing the hat of a retired old fogey, as well as of a concerned layman, I wonder if the criminal justice system is really working today.
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QC to be charged with failing to pay £600,000 in VAT
A QC is to face charges over an alleged £600,000 VAT fraud, the Crown Prosecution Service announced today. Rohan Anthony Pershad QC, who practises from London’s Thirty Nine Essex Street, will face one charge of cheating the public revenue. CPS central ...
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Intellectual property
Copyright - Infringement - Disclosure and inspection of documents - Claimants holding licences in copyrighted works Golden Eye (International) Ltd and others v Telefonica UK Ltd: ChD (Mr Justice Arnold): 26 March 2012 ...
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Vicarious liability
Roman Catholic Church - Liability for tortious acts of priest - Claimant alleging sexual abuse and rape by Roman Catholic priest JGE v Trustees of the Portsmouth Roman Catholic Diocesan: CA (Civ) (Lord Justices Ward, Tomlinson, Davis): 12 July ...
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Panel identifies consumer trust shortfall
Legal services consumers are becoming less confident about protection of their rights as the market liberalises, research has found. The second consumer ‘healthcheck’ released by the Legal Services Consumer Panel today identified declining public trust in lawyers, though it pointed out that this is true of ...
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'Commonsense' regulation
I was moved to contribute some observations on regulation following a discussion with a solicitor client pulling their hair out at the delays in the Solicitors Regulation Authority investigation process; and having read Gregory Treverton-Jones QC’s article on the dangers of entity regulation.
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Consolidation - should we all be doing it?
Merger activity within the UK legal profession is significant. Every week the legal press brings new stories of mergers, team defection and acquisition and firms being rescued as the cashflow requirements of the business prove to be overwhelming.