Last 3 months headlines – Page 1493
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Legal Services Board rules out fresh referral fee ban
The Legal Services Board has today effectively ruled out a ban on referral fees, but is likely to impose greater standards of transparency in their use. In a paper outlining plans to improve regulation of referral fee arrangements, the LSB says there is not ‘sufficient evidence’ ...
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Djanogly sticks to October 2011 timetable for ABSs
‘All lawyers’ should be preparing for the introduction of alternative business structures in October 2011, justice minister Jonathan Djanogly said last week, as the coalition government gave the first public confirmation that it will press ahead with the reforms and will stick to the timetable already in place. ...
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Five solicitors shortlisted for Gazette Legal Personality of the Year Award
Five solicitors have been shortlisted for the Gazette’s Legal Personality of the Year Award, with the winner to be announced at the Law Society’s Excellence Awards ceremony in October.
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Five firms ‘put in intensive care’ by banks
Five of the UK’s top-30 law firms have been put into ‘intensive care’ by banks, a top solicitor claimed this week. Mark Jones, chairman of national firm Addleshaw Goddard, told the second Global Managing Partners Summit conference in London that he fears another law firm failure ...
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Bonanza for lawyers - it’s all in the angle
I came across an article on the Telegraph website the other day which is almost certain to outrage hardworking lawyers – but hey, I’ll force it upon you anyway because once we get over the annoyance, there’s a lot to be learnt from it.
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Injury claims carry a ‘social stigma’
The public’s ignorance of the law is one of the major obstacles that is preventing people from gaining access to justice through personal injury claims, and most believe that making a claim would be ‘working the system’, according to a report by National Accident Helpline based on a poll of ...
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Law Society wins family tender challenge
The Law Society has won its High Court challenge to the Legal Services Commission’s family tender process. Lord Justice Moses said the process was ‘irrational’. He said it was ‘contrary to the LSC’s own ends’ not to have given firms the details ...
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Family contracts quashed
Family contracts have effectively been quashed following today’s judgment in the Law Society’s successful judicial review of the family tender process. Giving judgment this evening, the High Court declared the LSC’s failure to give advance notice of the requirement for panel membership as unlawful. It also ...
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PII spend predicted to hit record high
Solicitors are facing the ‘most challenging’ professional indemnity insurance market in years, commentators said this week ahead of Friday’s renewal deadline. The news came as the Law Society launched a SafetyNet scheme designed to help firms that cannot obtain cover. Brokers ...
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Life of crime
Sir Ivan Lawrence QC’s new autobiography, My Life of Crime, could spark a revival in lawyers’ memoirs, which have gone out of fashion of late, writes James Morton.
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Counsel count cost of Halliwells collapse
The protracted demise of Halliwells was set to enter its final chapter on Tuesday as administrators awaited creditor approval for proposals that would see the defunct firm formally wound up. As the Gazette went to press, it remained unclear how much secured creditor Royal Bank of ...
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High thrive
Obiter tips his thermal cap to Chris Rawstron (pictured), consultant and former managing partner at national firm DLA Piper, who scaled Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania this month to raise an impressive £10,000 for Marie Curie. Do you have any pics of solicitors in ...
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Neighbour boundary disputes
The days when solicitors spent hours poring over plans drawn on ancient conveyances are long gone. Articled clerks (as they were then called) spent days tracing land ownership through successive generations. The carefree draftsperson cobbled together a parcels clause, or adopted unquestioningly a re-photocopied plan thereby doubling the width of ...
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Female perspective
Obiter is intrigued by a new book to be launched by Hart Publishing next month entitled Feminist Judgments. The book takes bone fide Court of Appeal and House of Lords judgments and rewrites them with a feminist slant, making a point about how ...
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The plight of the mental health lawyer
You don’t have to be mad to work in a mental health practice, but it helps.
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Oxford report recommends tariffs for lawyers’ fees
Governments should introduce tariffs for lawyers’ fees if they want to deliver wider access to justice, according to an Oxford University study of litigation funding systems across Europe published today. The research into the funding and costs of litigation in 35 countries, published by the Foundation ...
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Go for web services and automation but don’t forget your clients
Forgive me for returning to this subject, but as we move into an era of providing services in new ways there are plenty of examples of how not to do it, from those who have had years of experience and who really ought to know better.
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Firms miss out on consumer calls
Law firms that close for lunch and only open during standard nine-to-five office hours could be missing out on up to 38% of consumer enquiries, it has been claimed. Referral service Contact Law has monitored the 60,000 telephone calls it received from consumers in the first ...
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Law Society launches scheme to deliver PII help
The Law Society’s professional indemnity insurance helpline is braced for a surge in calls from firms looking to secure cover before the 1 October renewal deadline. To assist those firms having difficulty securing renewal terms, the Law Society today launched a SafetyNet scheme. ...
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Legal Ombudsman seeks views on complaints publishing
A discussion paper issued by the Legal Ombudsman today is seeking views on whether it should publish the names of firms when it reports details of consumer complaints. The Ombudsman has been set up by the Office for Legal Complaints and begins taking complaints from consumers ...