Last 3 months headlines – Page 1433
-
News
APIL warns of ‘dumbed down’ lawyers post-ABS
The new president of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) today warned of the emergence of a new breed of 'dumbed-down, legal-lite' lawyer following the introduction of alternative business structures. Addressing APIL's annual conference, David Bott (pictured) predicted that 'potentially massive' new entrants to ...
-
News
New round of district judge appointments
The Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) is to recruit 56 district judges over the next two to three years. This is the first time in more than two years that any district judge (civil) positions have been available. It is unlikely there will be another opportunity to ...
-
News
A career in the law? Let’s be honest…
Perhaps a passion for the musical genres of trance, house and Ibiza is the secret of securing a training contract with a law firm. It certainly worked for Radio One presenter Judge Jules, who is also, as it happens, a London School of Economics ...
-
News
Law Commission proposes new ‘Consumer Act’
Consumers are finding it too hard to win compensation for misleading and aggressive trading practices and the law must be reviewed, the Law Commission said today. Opening a consultation on the matter, the commission said that routes to redress for ripped-off consumers are 'difficult’ and ‘far ...
-
News
Society announces election of deputy vice-president
Solicitor Nick Fluck will become Law Society deputy vice-president in July, and will become president in 2013, Chancery Lane announced today. Fluck, partner at Lincolnshire firm Stapleton & Son and a council member since 2005, will serve one year as deputy vice-president from July, followed by ...
-
News
Stop cancelling one-to-one meetings with staff
Many managers in private practice and in in-house legal departments struggle with issues around staff morale. Morale’s a complex area. Staff can be intelligent and productive people, team players who are trusted by their colleagues and managers, working in a ...
-
News
Big-hitters join Society’s Human Rights Committee
Seven new members have joined the Law Society's Human Rights Committee to help highlight, challenge and condemn human rights abuses across the world. They are: Immigration solicitor Shanti Faiia of City firm Laura Devine. Faiia was previously with the United Nations development programme and the Sri ...
-
News
New SRA Handbook passes its first test
Congratulations to the SRA on the launch of its new Handbook. I was hoping to have some mischief at its expense and tell its staff that they will have to start re-writing it straight away, as a result of an interesting judgement of the Court ...
-
News
Legal Services Board reveals high level of ABS interest
The Legal Services Board has seen a high level of interest from banks and private equity houses in the run-up to the introduction of alternative business structures, its chair David Edmonds told the Gazette in an interview last week. Edmonds, who was reappointed for a further ...
-
News
ASA rejects complaint about QualitySolicitors TV advert
The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) has rejected a complaint made by a Yorkshire firm about a television advert for law firm network QualitySolicitors. Williamsons in Hull had challenged the content of the advert, claiming that it was misleading. The advert showed an ...
-
News
APIL’s new president pledges to campaign for rights of injured
The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) will campaign with other claimant organisations against government plans to make injured people pay for legal fees out of their own compensation, the association’s new president will tell delegates at the APIL annual conference later this week. Bott & ...
-
News
QualitySolicitors in WHSmith tie-up
QualitySolicitors has signed a deal with WHSmith enabling it to place a QS member of staff in 150 branches of the high street books and stationery giant, the Gazette can reveal. The deal will see QS open a ‘legal access point’ staffed by a local QS ...
-
News
Employment lawyers see surge in disputes
Employment solicitors have seen a surge in clients seeking advice on work-related disputes, according to figures seen by the ...
-
News
Dominic Grieve set for Minority Lawyers Conference
Attorney general Dominic Grieve and influential Islamic thinker Tariq Ramadan will join a line-up of high-profile speakers at tomorrow’s Minority Lawyers Conference at the Law Society in London. The biennial conference, organised jointly by the Law Society, Bar Council and Institute of Legal Executives, celebrates ...
-
News
Profession helps law schools to step up pro bono advice
The number of law schools offering pro bono legal advice has risen significantly thanks to a boost in support from solicitors, a report published this week has found. The report by pro bono charity LawWorks showed a 40% increase over the last five years in the ...
-
News
RBS offers legal documentation to small business clients
The Royal Bank of Scotland launched a product that will provide legal documentation and advice to its small business customers this week. The service, Smarta Business Builder, incorporates a range of online accounting, business and legal services, with legal software provided by Epoq. ...
-
News
Who’s in charge – Strasbourg or London?
Who is really in charge - the UK’s unelected judges or its elected politicians, its courts or its parliament? Or is the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights in charge, as many of its critics fear? These were the questions posed ...
-
News
Disclosure of expert medical evidence
If a claimant instructs expert A, but then does not wish to rely upon the content of his report, can he instruct expert B without having to disclose expert A’s report? The assumption that claimant lawyers have historically made is ‘yes’ – privilege applies.
-
News
Open and ready for business? Changes in immigration
A Statement of changes in Immigration Rules, detailing changes due to come into force yesterday, was laid before parliament on 16 March. The statement announced changes to the Tier 1 category of the points-based system (PBS), as expected, and in particular to the Tier 1 ...