Last 3 months headlines – Page 1443
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Don't worry about swear fees
I cannot agree with R M Napier . The reality is that swearing documents is now an anachronistic process that should be consigned to the dustbin of legal history. Few documents now need to be sworn and, where they do, it serves little purpose and is very inconvenient for ...
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Misleading picture
The President’s Podium gave a very misleading impression of the position regarding the question of free choice of lawyer under a legal expenses insurance policy. The right of free choice, when it arises, was introduced by the 1987 European Directive and has nothing to do ...
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Local government
Education – Social welfare – Looked-after children R (on the application of O (by his litigation friend Andrew Burton)) (Appellant) v East Riding of Yorkshire County Council (Respondent) & Secretary of State for Education (Intervener) (2011): CA (Civ Div) ...
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Employment
Civil procedure – Industrial action – Interim injunctions National Union Of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers v Serco Ltd (T/A Serco Docklands): Associated Society Of Locomotive Engineers & Firemen v London & Birmingham Railway Ltd (T/A London Midland): CA ...
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Legal funding
Legal advice – Local government – Insurance D Sousa v Waltham Forest London Borough Council: CA (Civ Div) (Lords Justices Ward, Moore-Bick, Etherton): 3 March 2011 The appellant local authority ...
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Family lawyers face up to challenges ahead
Family law is facing an unprecedented year of change, with practitioners under intense pressure to be innovative if they want to maintain the viability of their practices. Some family law departments are already downsizing, or are being closed, as experienced practitioners move firms or set ...
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Time to challenge councils on mental health
‘I don't believe it!’ That was Victor Meldrew’s signature catchphrase. The irascible character played by Richard Wilson in the BBC sitcom One Foot in the Grave was, I concede, a past master at baffled indignation, but he was a mere tyro compared with me when ...
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Damages awarded in first UK Twitter libel action
A Welsh councillor has been ordered to pay damages in what is believed to be the first libel action resulting from comments posted on Twitter. The High Court in Cardiff last week ordered Caerphilly councillor Colin Elsbury to pay £3,000 in damages, after he used the ...
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Transport committee calls for referral arrangements to be published
Motor insurers should publish on their websites the names of law firms with which they have referral fee arrangements, and indicate the level of fees paid, a House of Commons inquiry has recommended. Policyholders should be sent this information with their insurance documents, and when claims ...
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Asbestos compensation judgment has profound implications
Following a groundbreaking move by the Supreme Court, in which the family of Dianne Willmore, who died of mesothelioma after she was exposed to asbestos, were found to be entitled to £240,000 compensation, Peter Bennett, partner at Dolmans, explores the implications of the judgment for victims of asbestos and for ...
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Liberal Democrats call for legal aid impact assessments
Liberal Democrats have called for a properly funded legal aid system to be protected, as the government considers the responses to its controversial reform proposals. At their annual spring conference, the coalition partners backed plans to protect access to justice for the most vulnerable by ensuring ...
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High time to investigate insurer delay
As the Ministry of Justice wades through stakeholders' views on proposed reforms to civil litigation, there is an imperative to investigate the critical, yet largely undocumented issue, of defendant behaviour in the personal injury claims process. So far, the debate about rising costs and delays has focused solely on claimant ...
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Ruling ‘sets precedent for thousands of asbestos cases’
A person exposed to even tiny amounts of asbestos who then contracts mesothelioma can claim compensation from those who caused the exposure, the Supreme Court has ruled. In Sienkiewicz v Greif and Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council v Willmore, all seven judges agreed that unless reasonable steps ...
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Local authority surveillance
In January, the Home Office published its long-awaited review of counter-terrorism and security powers. Amid all the headlines and controversy about control orders for suspected terrorists, it is easy to miss the proposed changes to local authorities’ powers to carry out surveillance under the Regulation of ...
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Wise words
Those (such as Obiter) who follow speeches by the master of the rolls will have noticed that the reputation of judges and lawyers, particularly in times gone by, is a common theme. At a lecture last week in honour of utilitarian philosopher Jeremy Bentham (who had a famously low opinion ...
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Reinventing intellectual property litigation
The Patents County Court has undergone a major makeover, to make it the venue of choice for small-to-medium-sized intellectual property disputes. Intellectual property is generally seen as being a good thing, both for businesses or the individuals that own it, and for society at large. Patents ...
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Counsel of woe
Establishment stalwart Obiter is, of course, deeply reluctant to take the michael out of esteemed government departments. But sometimes it simply cannot be resisted. Last week’s Ministry of Justice announcement of 120 new QC appointments raised an eyebrow at Obiter Towers, and not because there were only a measly two ...
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Long and winding road
Obiter’s Memory Lane slot often features correspondence to the Gazette’s editor. But rarely are we contacted by the original author across the intervening decades: Dear Sir,What a surprise to see a letter ...
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Compact Disken
There must be plenty of lawyers out there who dream of escaping the daily grind to become a singer-songwriter. So all credit to Teresa Disken (pictured), with her ‘Cherokee blood and Irish soul’, who left a commercial law job at City Hall to record Venus and the Director, and promptly ...