Last 3 months headlines – Page 1399

  • News

    Jail time

    2011-07-14T00:00:00Z

    Picture the scene - a young offender is caught throwing a brick though a window during a booze-fuelled street brawl. As a thousand tiny shards of glass descend to the ground, he is struck by a moment of stone-cold lucidity. What have I done? ...

  • News

    Class of '61

    2011-07-14T00:00:00Z

    James Morton’s column, in which he recalled his time as a student at the College of Law in Lancaster Gate, brought back a few memories for David Miller, consultant at Kidd Rapinet in London, who was one of Morton’s contemporaries at the college. Miller writes: ...

  • News

    Beating the beancounters

    2011-07-14T00:00:00Z

    Possibly more used to battling with creditors, Chris Keane, an associate in the insolvency and restructuring department of Squire Sanders Hammonds in Leeds, is organising a ‘white collar boxing’ event on 22 September in aid of Martin House Children’s Hospice. The event will see the ...

  • News

    Family courts expect more litigants in person

    2011-07-14T00:00:00Z

    Family courts will need to be better prepared to deal with litigants in person following the government’s legal aid reforms, MPs warned in a report published today. The report, from the Justice Committee, on the interim recommendations of the Family Justice Review, said an increase in ...

  • News

    Snooze button

    2011-07-14T00:00:00Z

    Manchester firm Ralli has been boasting about its role in developing the ‘Snoozebox’, a ‘portable event hotel’ which was launched at the Silverstone British Grand Prix last weekend. Ralli took care of the legal work for the project, which can squeeze in up to 400 ...

  • News

    Cheats sometimes prosper

    2011-07-14T00:00:00Z

    One of my favourite jokes is about the two men who went for a job interview. Set a test, each scored nine out of 10 and the man who was not selected complained. ‘It’s simple,’ the manager explained. ‘You each ...

  • News

    The Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocacy is robust

    2011-07-14T00:00:00Z

    Good-quality advocacy is essential to protect the public and deliver fair results in the criminal justice system. Last month the Solicitors Regulation Authority, the Bar Standards Board (BSB) and ILEX Professional Standards (IPS), came a step closer to radically overhauling the quality assurance of criminal ...

  • News

    Firms urged to donate unused client funds

    2011-07-14T00:00:00Z

    Law firms are being urged by two of the country’s top legal figures to donate funds being held for untraceable clients or beneficiaries to support advice centres. More than 7,000 law firms will receive letters in the coming days signed by attorney general Dominic Grieve and ...

  • News

    Society given only 15 minutes for legal aid evidence

    2011-07-14T00:00:00Z

    The Law Society, Bar Council and other representative groups were granted only 15 minutes each to give evidence to the cross-party committee scrutinising the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill this week, fuelling concerns that the government is seeking to rush through the changes. ...

  • News

    Arbitration

    2011-07-14T00:00:00Z

    Interim injunction - Power of court - Whether anti-suit injunction should be granted Excalibur Ventures LLC v Texas Keystone Inc and other companies: Queen’s Bench Division, Commercial Court (Mrs Justice Gloster): 28 June 2011 ...

  • News

    ‘City firms don’t need capital’ - CLLS chair

    2011-07-14T00:00:00Z

    The new chair of the City of London Law Society wants to see more lawyers in positions of power and influence, he said this week. Alasdair Douglas, speaking in his first major interview since taking over the role last month, told the Gazette he is determined ...

  • News

    Magic circle firms post solid results

    2011-07-14T00:00:00Z

    Three magic circle firms have posted steady but unremarkable financial results as testing market conditions continue to prevail. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Linklaters and Allen & Overy all released figures for the 2010/11 financial year. At Freshfields, revenue fell marginally on the previous year, with profits per equity partner down by ...

  • News

    Clean bill of health

    2011-07-14T00:00:00Z

    It seems to me that the judgment in Key v Key [2010] EWHC 408 Ch is open to criticism, because the judge did not apparently consider it in any way significant, or even relevant, that the testator’s experienced solicitor (whatever else his shortcomings) believed that the testator had capacity. ...

  • News

    Question of truth

    2011-07-14T00:00:00Z

    I have not read the full survey by the Legal Services Consumer Panel (see [2011] Gazette, 23 June, 3), nor do I know what the actual question was. We do know the answer – the public believe that only 47% of lawyers are trusted to ...

  • News

    Paying the penalty

    2011-07-14T00:00:00Z

    I read the article ‘Lenders vet solicitors on Google and note that lenders are monitoring the time solicitors take to register charges. The delaying factor in almost all cases is the time lenders take to discharge existing charges after receipt of funds from the seller’s ...

  • News

    Libraries matter

    2011-07-14T00:00:00Z

    Martin Barber-Redmore makes some valid points about the possibilities of outsourcing and electronic resources, but misses some fundamental points in his paragraph on traditional legal libraries. Libraries still have a role within law firms, regardless of where they locate themselves or how the office is arranged. ...

  • News

    Cold calling

    2011-07-14T00:00:00Z

    Over recent months, we have received information from clients that they have been contacted by companies via their mobile phone, indicating that they are currently pursuing a claim. The company is offering to settle their claim, typically for £3,750. These existing ...

  • News

    Tenancy deposits

    2011-07-14T00:00:00Z

    Readers of the Gazette will be familiar with tenancy deposits. In a nutshell, parliament sought to establish schemes to protect tenants’ deposits (incorporating alternative dispute resolution for resolving disputes) and punish any landlord who failed to comply with his duty to protect the deposit within ...

  • News

    Security concerns

    2011-07-14T00:00:00Z

    I have been appearing in our local magistrates’ court for over 32 years. I have recently had problems with a rather officious security officer. The other day I went to speak to the prosecutor in the Crown Prosecution room. ...

  • News

    Act on referral fees

    2011-07-14T00:00:00Z

    In recent times three core institutions of society have been rocked by crises. In 2007, the banking system came to the brink of collapse. In 2009, parliament was shaken to its foundations when countless members were shown to have falsified expenses. ...