Last 3 months headlines – Page 1473
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Regulator sets out guidance on pre-emptive ABS discussions
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has issued new guidance setting out what is permitted in firms’ negotiations with potential investors ahead of the licensing of alternative business structures (ABSs) in October next year. The guidance stresses that non-lawyer individuals or businesses are currently prohibited from having any ...
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Rise in number of intestacy disputes
The number of people challenging the inheritance left by their relatives or partners has risen by 38% over the past year, according to figures obtained by City firm Wedlake Bell. Data from the High Court shows that the number of cases launched by people, including children, ...
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Legal aid solicitors overpaid by £77m
Legal aid solicitors have been overpaid by almost £77m, according to a report published today by public spending watchdog, the National Audit Office. Qualifying the Legal Services Commission’s accounts for the second year running, the NAO estimated a total of £76.5m had been overpaid to legal ...
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Time for partners to focus on personal finances
The current climate has led many legal partners to rethink their plans for saving for the future. Now more than ever, with the Christmas break right around the corner and tax returns due in January, many partners will be reflecting on their personal financial plans and approaches to any further ...
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Latest news from inter-governmental organisations
It is a strange paradox that as the world becomes more globalised, our attention is drawn more to the local, as if we are incapable of encompassing a span that takes in the whole world. As a result, developments which take place at inter-governmental organisations – in some strange city, ...
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Why workplace monitoring is critical to an inclusive legal profession
by Stephen Ward, communications director and and diversity champion at the Law Society On 25 October, the Law Society published the first annual report on the progress of its Diversity and Inclusion Charter. Some 180 firms and in-house practices are now signatories to the charter, ...
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Legal executives seek independent conveyancing rights
Legal executives could be granted independent rights to provide conveyancing services from next September, if a forthcoming application to the Legal Services Board is successful. But conveyancing solicitors have questioned the economic logic of encouraging new entrants into an already overcrowded market, where transaction rates have ...
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Family courts have lost authority, warns judge
A High Court judge has warned that the family court needs to reassert its authority to tackle the ‘lack of respect’ shown for its orders. Speaking at the Association of Lawyers for Children annual conference at the weekend, Mr Justice Coleridge said that, in placing ...
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Is trial by jury under pressure from judges?
Jury trials have been in the spotlight in the last few weeks, with two significant speeches by senior judges focusing on juries. The lord chief justice called for tough sanctions against jurors who surf the web to find information about defendants and witnesses in the case they are sitting on ...
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Court of Appeal dismisses US-style class action bid
The Court of Appeal has dismissed an attempt to bring a US-style class action against British Airways for participating in an airfreight price-fixing cartel, just nine days after the European Commission (EC) fined the airline more than €100m (£85m) for its role in the cartel and told claimants that they ...
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Law Society calls for greater focus on ethics in training
The Law Society has called for law degrees to include a greater focus on ethics and for a more robust system of ensuring the quality of institutions which provide legal education and training. This follows the joint review of legal services education and training announced ...
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Ralli motors ahead with new iPhone app
Manchester firm Ralli has launched an iPhone app to help people keep on the right side of the motoring laws. The ‘Don’t Drink – Don’t Drive - Keep your Licence’ app, which can be downloaded for free, has been designed to enable drivers to calculate whether ...
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Wigster comparison site signs up Shoosmiths’ consumer arm
The consumer services arm of national firm Shoosmiths has joined 125 firms that have signed up with legal price comparison website Wigster, which launched at the start of this month. Access Legal from Shoosmiths is the biggest firm to sign up to the comparison site ...
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Electoral process
Election rules – Freedom of expression – Proportionality Robert Elwyn James Watkins v Philip James Woolas EWHC 2702 (QB) DC (Mr Justice Teare, Mr Justice Griffith Williams): 5 November 2010 ...
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Real property
Landlord and tenant – Common parts – Caretaker’s flat – Leases Earl Cadogan & Anor v Panagopoulos & Anor [2010] EWCA Civ 1259: CA (Civ Div) (Sir Andrew Morritt (chancellor), Lords Justices Carnwath, Hughes): 11 November 2010 ...
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Suitability of personal protective equipment
I have previously written that ‘suitability’ under the Personal Protective Equipment Regulations 1992 is a question of fact, but in terms of these regulations and their application in the context of health and safety, it must be interpreted in the widest sense. One has to look at the risk of ...
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Whitehall proposals ignore people who could fill civil legal aid void
The most common reaction to last week’s Ministry of Justice green paper on legal aid is shock. That shock is manifested among legal aid practitioners, clients and the groups that speak for clients.
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Right to seek redress under threat
The coming months provide a tremendous opportunity to argue for a system that respects and preserves access to justice for injured persons. The Consumer Justice Alliance is ready to engage with the government and make this argument loud and clear.
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Why Young is wrong on health and safety
Lord Young has resigned from his post as adviser to the prime minister following his ill-conceived statement that ‘the vast majority of people in the country today... have never had it so good ever since this... so-called recession started’. Of course, Lord Young has also ...
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Rule of law in the age of austerity
Toby Brown writes about the Access to Justice campaign concerning awareness of the recoverability of pro bono costs. This is a major advance in support of pro bono litigation. However, he failed to mention the biggest impediment to the initiation of much pro bono litigation, which is the threat of ...