Last 3 months headlines – Page 1491
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Valuable guidance on indemnity costs
In a previous update I commented on the case of Noorani v Calver [2009] EWHC 592 (QB). This case illustrated some of the factors which the courts are likely to take into account in assessing whether to award indemnity costs. In Noorani, Mr Justice Coulson considered ...
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Employment
Negligence - Asbestos - Burden of proof Karen Sienkiewicz (administratrix of the estate of Enid Costello, deceased) v Greif (UK) Ltd: Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council v Willmore: SC (Lords Phillips, Rodger, Brown, Mance, Kerr, Dyson, Lady Hale): 9 March ...
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Personal injury
Autistic spectrum disorder - Employers’ liability Janet Vaile v Havering London Borough Council CA (Civ Div): (Lords Justices Longmore, Etherton, Sir David Keene): 11 March 2011 The appellant former teacher ...
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Conveyancing Protocol update
The Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS) is building up a head of steam. The first firms have been accredited. Applications are coming in thick and fast. The concept of raising standards is hardly controversial, but giving practitioners the tools to work within the scheme has been an ...
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Having faith in judicial institutions
Why do we have such faith in judicial institutions that sometimes get things wrong? The question was posed last week by Stephen Breyer, a justice of the US Supreme Court, speaking in London at an event arranged by the Bingham Centre for the Rule ...
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Lawyers should place far-reaching competition rule changes under scrutiny
Very few major policies to emerge from the coalition government do ‘exactly what it says on the tin’, and the consultation on reform of the UK’s competition regime, published last week, is no exception. In this case, ministers have given the consultation a thoroughly ‘pro-business’ ...
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A pivotal year to tackle discrimination against women solicitors
by Joy Van Cooten, chair of the Association of Women Solicitors On Friday 11 March, amid the glitz and glamour of our annual meeting and gala dinner, I became the 88th chair of the Association of Women Solicitors (AWS).
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Failing the means test
I have read about Crown Court legal aid and the current problems surrounding it, but do people not realise that legal aid in the magistrates’ court is a much bigger problem? I agree that the idea of cases progressing faster is usually a good thing. ...
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Unhelpful advice
I detected a strange irony having read the Opinion ‘Bridging the gender divide’ ‘Bridging the gender divide’. The statement ‘the proportion of women that will reach partner level in private practice is half that of men’ is to some extent explained by the letter published ...
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Overcoming hurdles
Robert Cumming raises a good point in saying that labour laws needs to be reformed to ensure equality of pay. There is a huge groundswell of opinion, among women as much as men, that new paternity rights ought to be ‘use it or lose it ...
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A reality check on mediation
Where is the research evidence for mediation?, asks Michael Robinson. Well, in March 2007 the National Audit Office found that, on average, a mediated case takes 110 days to resolve and costs £752, compared with 435 days and £1,682 in cases where mediation is not used. ...
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'Green' legal alliance slashes emissions
A ‘green’ alliance of 44 law firms and the Law Society has succeeded in cutting CO2 emissions by an amount equivalent to the annual output of a magic circle firm, according to a report released today. The Legal Sector Alliance (LSA) said that its member firms ...
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Student loses LPC negligence action
An Oxford graduate has failed in an attempt to sue her law school for £100,000 after she failed to qualify as a solicitor. Russian-born Maria Abramova claimed that the ‘clearly negligent’ teaching on the Legal Practice Course (LPC) run by the Oxford Institute of Legal Practice ...
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Lawyers ‘cash in’ on Bribery Act ‘scaremongering’
Commercial lawyers are cashing in on Bribery Act scaremongering and taking part in ‘institutionalised corruption’ by setting up tax avoidance schemes, members of the House of Lords said last week. In a debate on financial crime legislation, Liberal Democrat peer Lord Thomas of Gresford, a practising ...
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Smaller firms preparing for ABS rivals
Most leaders of small law firms are considering changes to the way they manage their firm and the services they deliver, in preparation for the entry of new providers into the market from October, according to research seen exclusively by the Gazette. A survey of 58 ...
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High Court overturns Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal fines
The High Court last week criticised the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) for the lack of published guidance on the sanctions it can impose, as it overturned fines levied on four partners at a Merseyside firm. Brian Hazelhurst, Christopher Murphy, Stephen David Garrett and Martyn Robert Brown, ...
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Takeover Panel call to make M&A fees public
Advisory fees earned by law firms working on mergers and acquisitions would be made public under proposals outlined this week by the takeover watchdog. Opening a consultation on amendments to its code, the Takeover Panel has proposed that parties on each side of a bid should ...
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Government legal aid response delayed
The government has delayed its responses to the legal aid and civil costs consultations until after Easter, and will ‘review’ the definition of domestic violence, the legal aid minister has said. Jonathan Djanogly had previously said the government would respond before Easter, but speaking at the ...
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Targets for judicial diversity ‘wrong approach'
Setting targets for increasing the number of female judges would be the ‘wrong approach’ to boosting diversity, the minister responsible for legislation and law reform told the House of Lords last week. Facing questions over gender and race diversity in the judiciary, Lord McNally said that ...