Last 3 months headlines – Page 1461
-
News
Courtesy call
My partner graduated a year and a half ago from the College of Law with a distinction. As has been exhaustively publicised, the lack of trainee positions has been a major upset to many who graduated then and subsequently. I would like to comment on the lack of courtesy that ...
-
News
Statistics on solicitors with practising certificates are misleading
I read your article, ‘Profession's growth "defies gravity’’’ with interest. Although I agree it seems odd that the profession is apparently continuing to grow during the recession, it is not growing by as much as 7%, as your article suggests.
-
News
'Greedy' solicitor jailed for theft
A Lincolnshire firm has been praised by a judge for the ‘exemplary’ way it investigated a series of thefts by a solicitor, who was jailed last week. Jacquelina Laverick, who was head of the wills and probate department at the 200-year-old firm, stole cash from ...
-
News
'Ambulance chasing' lawyers attacked
A government transport minister has attacked the ‘abhorrent’ practices of ‘ambulance chasing’ personal injury lawyers who deal with road traffic accident (RTA) cases. The Law Society has hit back at the claims. Giving evidence to the transport committee’s inquiry into the cost of motor insurance ...
-
News
Twitter silence 'hurts brand'
Two-thirds of top-50 law firms have a Twitter account, but some may be 'damaging their brand’ by failing to actually tweet anything, a report has suggested. The study by web consultancy Intendance found that 66% of firms had set up at least one account on Twitter. ...
-
News
Warning over 'regulatory ambush'
Lawyers could face a ‘regulatory ambush’ if a radical overhaul of the solicitors’ rulebook goes ahead without a ‘change in culture’ at the profession’s regulator, the Law Society has warned. In a response to the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s Architecture of Change consultation, which closed last week, ...
-
News
Small firms seek to consolidate
Leading consultants are predicting a ‘surge’ in mergers by small firms over the next 12 months. A six-monthly survey carried out by consultant Andrew Otterburn (pictured) on behalf of the Law Consultancy Network, seen exclusively by the Gazette, has revealed a 69% increase in the number ...
-
News
House calls
Justice secretary Ken Clarke and justice minister Jonathan Djanogly appeared in the House of Commons to answer MPs’ questions last week, in an apparently lively session.
-
News
Solicitors support scrapping default retirement age
Scrapping the default retirement age (DRA) could benefit the economy by retaining ‘talented and skilled’ older employees and creating more jobs for more people, the Law Society has said. The government confirmed last week that from 1 October, employees who reach 65 years of age and ...
-
News
Resolve now to beat the January 2012 cashflow crunch
The date 31 January is usually a firm’s tightest cashflow point, with partners’ tax, a quarter’s VAT and quarter’s rent all payable within five weeks of each other in most cases. Exacerbated by the fact that cash in-flows are usually very quiet in December and January, firms often face a ...
-
News
Tribunals Service reports rise in cases
The Tribunals Service received 220,400 new claims in the second quarter of last year, from 1 July to 30 September 2010, representing an 11% increase over the same period in 2009, the latest available statistics have revealed. However, the Service also increased the number of cases ...
-
News
Legal services reforms to ‘influence worldwide markets', says IBA
Full implementation of the Legal Services Act 2007 could ‘substantially influence’ legal markets around the world, according to the new president of the International Bar Association. Akira Kawamura (pictured), partner at Japanese firm Anderson Mori & Tomotsune, last week became the twenty-second IBA president and the ...
-
News
House calls
Justice secretary Ken Clarke and justice minister Jonathan Djanogly appeared in the House of Commons to answer MPs’ questions last week, in an apparently lively session.
-
News
Are the law’s Judaeo-Christian roots withering?
Peter and Hazel Bull are two devout Christians who, until a judge told them otherwise, sought to run their Cornwall hotel on principles they perceived to befit their religion. Judge Andrew Rutherford ruled that, under new equality laws, their policy of not allowing unmarried partners to share double rooms directly ...
-
News
Short sentences for young offenders ‘inefficient’
The chair of the government spending watchdog has criticised the use of short sentences for young offenders as being inefficient. At a Public Accounts Committee evidence session last week, Margaret Hodge said that the Youth Justice Board could ‘save a lot of money and get better ...
-
News
CCBE president pledges to promote access to legal aid
The new president of the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) has pledged to promote access to legal aid across Europe during his year in office.
-
News
Court rules in ‘landmark’ discrimination case
Two devout Christian hotel owners discriminated against two gay civil partners by refusing to let them share a double bed in their hotel, Bristol County Court ruled today. Judge Rutherford held that the owners, who had a policy of not allowing unmarried partners to share double ...
-
News
Reasons for lawyers to love the EU
At a time when political rhetoric on Europe is increasing in volume, not only because of the troubles in the eurozone but also because of the European Union (Referendum Lock) Bill going through parliament, I think it is time to put forward the other side of the argument. A number ...
-
News
Law firms’ poor use of Twitter risks 'damaging their brand’
Two-thirds of top-50 law firms have a Twitter account, but some may be 'damaging their brand’ by failing to tweet anything at all, a report has suggested. The study by web consultancy Intendance found that 66% of firms had set up at least one account ...
-
News
UK legal sector set to benefit from Hong Kong investment
A surge in foreign direct investment in Hong Kong presents key opportunities for the UK legal sector, Law Society president Linda Lee said last week on returning from a mission to the territory. Lee said Hong Kong could serve as a gateway to mainland China for ...