Last 3 months headlines – Page 1308
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Carry on doctor
With reference to Jerry Pearlman’s letter of 8 March, the lady who first taught me German, on learning that I was a ‘rechtsanwalt’, insisted on calling me ‘Herr Doktor’ because she said that was how all lawyers are addressed in Germany and, as viewers of Inspector Montalbano will know, it ...
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Customer is wrong
I assume that if 120,000 solicitors told chief legal ombudsman Adam Sampson and the Law Society to strike out the use of the words ‘customers’ and, worse still, ‘consumers’ from usage, they will oblige? The use of the words customer and consumer is inaccurate in a professional context and ultimately ...
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A prototype Magwitch?
The philosophy behind Australia as a penal colony was very much ‘out of sight, out of mind’, writes James Morton. If the convicts did escape they were not likely to make it back to England. Probably only one escapee managed it. A petty thief at the age of 18, Charles ...
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Bank of England job - lawyers need not apply
In the next few months, David Cameron and George Osborne will be looking to recruit a new governor of the Bank of England to succeed Sir Mervyn King when he steps down in June 2013. I trust that no banking lawyer is tempted to apply ...
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Waxing lyrical
Our news team gave themselves an earworm the other day by headlining a report about the US with a line from New York, New York. The only cure was to think what songs might be appropriate for other stories on the news agenda. For example, ...
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Having a ball
Tony Roe Solicitors, a divorce and family law specialist based in Theale, Reading, is the latest recruit to Obiter’s Brighter Window campaign. The firm’s logo, a rubberband ball, can be seen bouncing across its frontage, the firm’s head, Tony Roe, tells us. ‘The firm’s windows were ...
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Blanket approach to civil claims costs unfair
I write in response to a number of recent letters about the funding of civil claims. The biggest cause of unfair costs is the blanket approach of the success fee and the premiums for after-the-event (ATE) insurance (often far in excess of the price of any car insurance policy). ...
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On the money
Journalists love stories about civil servants living the life of Riley. So we were looking forward to reading what the National Audit Office had to say about Ministry of Justice officials spending £36.9m last year through their procurement cards, aka Sir Humphrey’s flexible friend. The sum was second only to ...
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Poetic justice
On the subject of songs, Caroline Goorney, collaborative family lawyer and mediator from Gosforth, Newcastle, has brightened Obiter’s day with a ditty: A COLP and a COFA waited all dayto download their forms from the SRA.They yearned to enter ...
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Boycott injustice
Congratulations for publishing the comment by Melanie Strickland on the need for lawyers to consider more basic principles of justice than the law presently allows. The letter from David Enright on the ‘justice equation’ in the same edition alerts us to more immediate needs as well.
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Every public body can produce arguments that it is indispensable
Quangos rarely lobby for their remit to be pruned and the legal sector is no exception. So last week we saw an exasperated Law Society call on the £5m-a-year Legal Services Board to begin downsizing, now that most of the reforms in the Legal Services Act are coming to fruition.
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Formula won
I applaud David Enright’s attempt to define justice with a formula. He could be on to something. Could there be a formula to calculate profitability (P) in a bank’s mortgage lending? Take a hypothetical, completely made-up bank (call it BHSC). Include total funds lent (M); maybe the size of BHSC’s ...
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SRA dubbed ‘institutionally racist’ by Society of Black Lawyers chair
The Solicitors Regulation Authority is to face accusations of being ‘institutionally racist’ and of abusing its powers to the detriment of solicitors from ethnic minorities. In a hard-hitting report to the Legal Services Board, seen by the Gazette, the Society of Black Lawyers accuses the ...
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Fraud fears over RTA portal fee cap
Claimant solicitors have reacted with concern to government proposals to cap at £300 the fee for low-value road traffic claims handled through the RTA portal. The proposal emerged at roundtable discussions on the future of the portal with justice minister Jonathan Djanogly (pictured) last Thursday. ...
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Deputy district judge competition hit by IT glitches
Technical problems may have disadvantaged some candidates in the heavily oversubscribed deputy district judge competition, it has been alleged. The deputy district judge (magistrates’ court) selection exercise last October elicited nearly 1,500 applications for 28 vacancies – 54 candidates for each post.
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Political split on Welsh jurisdiction
Welsh secretary Cheryl Gillan (pictured) has said there is ‘no need’ for a distinct Welsh legal jurisdiction as the country begins a debate on separation from England. The Welsh government began a consultation this week on creating a new legal system. First minister Carwyn Jones is ...
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‘SupplyCo’ could help barristers get work back from solicitor-advocates
A new business model allowing barristers to accept instructions through an agency route could help the bar claw back work from solicitor-advocates, a legal consultant has suggested. John Binks (pictured) of the Bar Consultancy Network, a former manager at the Legal Services Commission, said a ‘SupplyCo’ model would give barristers ...
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Report urges reform of human rights court
Ministers from 47 European states must agree plans to reform the human rights court in Strasbourg before pressure for the UK to withdraw from its jurisdiction becomes ‘irresistible’, a member of the government’s Commission on Human Rights has said. The UK’s chairmanship of the Council of ...
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Firms ‘must diversify to survive’ urges City investor
A City investor in the legal profession has urged firms to diversify if they want to survive. Rob Terry, founder and chief executive of the Quindell Group, which moved to acquire Liverpool personal injury firm Silverbeck Rymer in January, said multi-disciplinary practices are the best ...
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A&O sounds note of caution over Asia-Pacific growth prospects
Asia-Pacific economies will not meet the growth expectations of international business because of the slow pace of regulatory reform in China, a magic circle firm has warned. A survey of large international businesses conducted last year by Allen & Overy predicted that by 2020 six ...