Last 3 months headlines – Page 1462

  • News

    Bruising times at the UKBA

    2011-06-14T00:00:00Z

    You have to be something of a bruiser to take on the job of minister for borders and immigration. It’s a tough job, with the right accusing you of going soft on ‘bogus’ asylum seekers and the left condemning you as a heartless fascist (more of ...

  • News

    The right to a lawyer – many times over

    2011-06-13T00:00:00Z

    Like London buses, issues do not come singly but in clusters. The right to a lawyer is one of those that is arriving in many different forms all at once at the moment. Last week, I wrote about a recent ...

  • News

    Solicitors launch new third-party litigation funder

    2011-06-13T00:00:00Z

    Two solicitors launched a new third-party litigation funder Vannin Capital today, set to invest ‘significant sums’ in litigation. The funder, founded by solicitor Nick Rowles-Davies and solicitor and barrister William Evans of Ely Place Chambers, is backed by Isle of Man-based private equity firm Bramden Investments. ...

  • News

    Society to intervene in recoupment appeal

    2011-06-13T00:00:00Z

    The Law Society has been given permission to intervene in the Legal Services Commission’s appeal against a ruling that the LSC’s action to recover payments on account was an abuse of process due to the delay in bringing the claims.

  • News

    £20,000 law firm donation kickstarts head injury fund

    2011-06-13T00:00:00Z

    A fund for families of people with head injuries has been kick-started by a £20,000 grant from a litigation law firm. The long-established Stewarts Law Foundation, a charity fund founded by the firm’s partners, donated the money to the Headway Emergency Fund earlier this month. ...

  • News

    New CLLS chair vows to uphold English law ‘brand’

    2011-06-10T00:00:00Z

    The new head of City of London Law Society (CLLS) has vowed to uphold the English ‘brand’, already so prominent throughout the world. Alasdair Douglas has been confirmed as the new CLLS chair, representing law firms that employ 14,000 solicitors and have an annual turnover of ...

  • News

    Judges should not sit in judgment over advocates

    2011-06-10T00:00:00Z

    I had a turbulent seven-year relationship with my old English teacher. He had a pompous air of superiority, talking to pupils like Mr Bumble addressing the orphans and wistfully dreaming of the university professorship he surely craved but never achieved. Worst of ...

  • News

    Immigration

    2011-06-09T00:00:00Z

    Anonymity - Asylum seekers - Deportation - Detention Shepherd Masimba Kambadzi v Secretary of State for the Home Department: SC (Lord Hope (Deputy President), Lords Rodger, Brown, Kerr, Lady Hale): 25 May 2011 ...

  • News

    Criminal evidence

    2011-06-09T00:00:00Z

    Criminal procedure - Criminal appeals - Fresh evidence - Identification R v George Davis: CA (Crim Div): (Lord Justices Hughes (Vice-President), Henriques, Macur): 24 May 2011 The appellant (D) appealed ...

  • News

    Civil procedure

    2011-06-09T00:00:00Z

    Conflict of laws - Jurisdiction - Stay of proceedings Striborg Ltd v (1) FKI Engineering Ltd (2) FKI Ltd: CA (Civ Div): (Lord Justices Mummery, Rix, Wilson): 25 May 2011 ...

  • News

    Criminal procedure

    2011-06-09T00:00:00Z

    Criminal evidence - Human rights - Scottish devolution issues - Miscarriage of justice Stephanie Baker (Respondent) v (1) Nat Gordon Fraser v HM Advocate: SC (Lords Hope (Deputy President), Rodger, Brown, Kerr, Dyson): 25 May 2011 ...

  • News

    Administrative law

    2011-06-09T00:00:00Z

    Employment - Local government - Social welfare - Children’s services R (on the application of Sharon Shoesmith) v Ofsted and Ors: CA (Civ Div): (Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury MR, Lord Justices Kay, Burnton): 27 May 2011 ...

  • News

    Law firms and retirement

    2011-06-09T00:00:00Z

    Until 6 April, law firms could safely give notice to ‘retire’ employed staff at 65 under the default retirement age (DRA) exemption. Provided they followed the correct statutory retirement process, the retirement would be ‘fair’ with no age-discrimination risk. Indeed, ...

  • News

    Tackling dishonesty among legal partners

    2011-06-09T00:00:00Z

    Dishonesty among partners has recently hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons. While such dishonesty is by no means rife, it is important to acknowledge that it can happen, ­especially as practices are increasingly coming under financial pressure. That ...

  • News

    Proportionate orders for sale

    2011-06-09T00:00:00Z

    In a previous column (see ‘Charging to the front of the queue’), I pointed out that the scope for the court to refuse a creditor a charging order over a debtor’s property was more limited than many debtors would wish. What of the enforcement ...

  • News

    SRA has been engaging with legal profession in preparation for OFR

    2011-06-09T00:00:00Z

    Since the beginning of May, the Solicitors Regulation Authority has been visiting towns and cities across England and Wales to meet solicitors to talk about the SRA Handbook and outcomes-focused regulation (OFR), our new approach to regulation which starts on 6 October. By 16 June, ...

  • News

    Notarial profession of England and Wales ahead of European counterparts

    2011-06-09T00:00:00Z

    I write in connection with the European Court of Justice decision of 24 May relating to notaries. The decision states that Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria and Greece breached the law by attempting to reserve access to their countries’ notarial professions to their own nationals. ...

  • News

    Law theory test

    2011-06-09T00:00:00Z

    I read Jonathan Goldsmith’s recent column with more than a passing interest. The perspective with which I read it was the exact opposite of the German lawyer to whom he alludes, in that I have just moved from private practice into academia. ...

  • News

    Unwilling to listen

    2011-06-09T00:00:00Z

    I read your recent news article highlighting the report from three expert judges who issued a stark warning about current proposals to reform the civil litigation system. It is extraordinary that the government continues to push through its ideas regardless.

  • News

    Alex Salmond is gunning for the Supreme Court

    2011-06-09T00:00:00Z

    The last reported prosecution for ‘murmuring’ – or slandering – judges under Scottish law seems to have been in 1870 and the offence must now be obsolete. So there seems little chance of seeing the first minister of Scotland, Alex Salmond, in the dock for ...