Last 3 months headlines – Page 1419
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High Court delays judgment over Sittingbourne court closure
The High Court has reserved judgment in its judicial review of the Ministry of Justice’s decision to close Sittingbourne Magistrates Court. The court will close for business tomorrow, but the legal challenge to that closure, brought by Kent firm Robin Murray & Co, was heard yesterday ...
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Cost judges voiced fears over Jackson reforms, report reveals
Three costs judges from the Senior Court Costs Office broke ranks to object to radical reform of civil litigation, it has emerged. Masters Campbell, Haworth and Leonard said they were ‘unhappily’ unable to agree with the majority view of the costs judges who supported recommendations made ...
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LSB to further probe value of quality schemes
The Legal Services Board is to seek further evidence to assess the usefulness of quality schemes for indicating whether law firms provide a good service to consumers, it revealed today. The LSB has asked its Legal Services Consumer Panel, the body that advises it on the ...
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Branding with hot irons?
‘Brand’ is a widely used description that covers many things in a lot of marketing areas and means many things to many people. Focusing on your firm’s brand is one way (of many ways) to manage the marketing process within your firm. ...
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US firms show strong rebound from economic woes
Uncertainty may still reign in the UK, but across the pond the legal sector is feeling rather more optimistic, research has suggested. A survey published today indicated that most law firms in the US are seeing revenues rise, partner numbers increase and an end to salary capping. Leaders of the ...
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Law firms ‘must improve practice management’
Business advisors have told law firms to improve their practice management if they want to emerge from the challenges of 2011. Members of the Institute for Turnaround (IFT) warned there are too many firms that are failing to recognise or deal with financial problems early enough. ...
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A view from inside the highest court in the EU
From the outside, it could be a Premier League football ground on a day the team is playing away. There is the same sense of enclosed space behind featureless walls, with a vast paved area in the foreground for surging crowds chanting inanities. ...
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For the love of law?
In the last 12 months the BBC has played an unexpected role, featuring heavily in the development of discrimination law in the UK. Most notably in a recent case which could have wider implications for lawyers too. Devan Maistry was an ...
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European Court opens up access to notary profession
The European Court of Justice has paved the way for UK solicitors to practise as notaries across the European Union. It ruled yesterday that six member states - Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria and Greece - had breached the law by restricting access to the notary ...
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A life less private
What do the former head of the IMF and an English footballer have in common? Well in the last fortnight, issues around what private information is in the public interest, and what is not, have swirled around both men. And ...
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Firms freeze trainee recruitment, survey suggests
More than three-quarters of medium-sized firms have frozen graduate recruitment for the next year – despite an increase in applications. A survey of 82 firms with between 20 and 30 employees found that most firms planned to cut costs over the next 12 months. ...
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Conveyancing Quality Scheme makes progress
The Law Society’s chief executive gave an update on the progress of the Quality Conveyancing Scheme at the property section’s annual conference last week. Since registration for the scheme launched in January, Desmond Hudson said 913 firms have applied for the quality mark. ...
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EU announces measures for recovery of cross-border debts
The European Union has announced a new initiative to recover the estimated £48bn of debt that is written off every year because of the difficulty of bringing lawsuits overseas. Some 60% of cross-border debts cannot be recovered because, as the law stands, enforcement measures such as ...
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Reflections on the launch of the European Law Institute
The European Law Institute is ready for launch. I have written before about the struggle to establish it. The Inaugural Congress will now be held in Paris on 1 June. Its aims are to be: ‘an ...
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NHS ‘failing to learn lessons’ of litigation claims
The medical profession is failing to learn lessons from costly litigation claims, according to a leading clinical negligence lawyer. Writing in the latest issue of Clinical Risk, Irwin Mitchell partner Ian Christian says information from legal actions is not filtering back through the NHS. ...
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Conveyancing firms must change to compete, solicitors warned
Residential conveyancing firms must change their business models to withstand the threat posed by new entrants to the legal market place, delegates at the Law Society’s annual property section conference heard last week. The Society’s chief executive Des Hudson said the introduction of alternative business structures, ...
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Rightmove founder enters conveyancing market
The founder of Rightmove has today launched online residential conveyancing service In-deed, intended to shake-up the conveyancing market. Harry Hill, the founder of Rightmove and former chief executive of estate agency Countrywide, said the service would make the home sale process simpler, more transparent and ...
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QualitySolicitors: watch our exclusive interview with Craig Holt
Brands will dominate the legal market when alternative business structures are introduced this October – and firms that have not joined a network such as QualitySolicitors or do not do work for larger brands will find the market ‘very small indeed’. So argues a bullish Craig ...
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Legal aid award finalists announced
The Legal Aid Practitioners’ Group has announced the finalists for its Lawyer of the Year 2011. They include Razi Shah, solicitor at Windsor firm Appleby Shaw, who successfully appealed against the custodial sentence given to Munir Hussain. Hussain had been convicted ...
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Why lawyers say yes to work experience students
In common with many firms, there are times in the year where we have work shadowers, or interns if you are really posh. Whatever you call them they write in or email begging for a position. The summer is the same if not more busy. ...