Last 3 months headlines – Page 1496

  • News

    Small firms optimistic about year ahead, research reveals

    2010-09-23T00:00:00Z

    Small law firms have faced ‘unprecedented pressure’ but are largely optimistic about their prospects in the year ahead, exclusive research conducted by Wesleyan for Lawyers in association with the Gazette has revealed. A survey of 129 firms, mainly small practices with fewer than 10 partners, showed ...

  • News

    Law Commission seeks ideas for projects

    2010-09-23T00:00:00Z

    The Law Commission is consulting on a new programme of law reform and is seeking ideas for new projects, in particular those that support the drive to reduce waste and inefficiency. Projects are likely to focus on issues that are systemic and caused by laws ...

  • News

    The CPS may find it hard to raise its game as budget cuts bite

    2010-09-23T00:00:00Z

    Keir Starmer QC, director of public prosecutions, and his Crown Prosecution Service colleagues hosted a media drinks party last week to demonstrate their enthusiasm for transparency and to show off their new Southwark, London HQ. But subsequent press headlines will have punctured the party mood.

  • News

    Law Society puts legal aid tender case to the High Court

    2010-09-23T00:00:00Z

    The Law Society warned that the Legal Services Commission’s family tender process will restrict access to justice for victims of domestic abuse, forced marriage and children, as its judicial review of the tender process began in the High Court today. Outlining the Law Society’s case ...

  • News

    Publishing diversity data ‘powerful incentive’ for firms

    2010-09-23T00:00:00Z

    Legal Services Board plans to compel law firms to publish data about the diversity of their staff will act as a ‘powerful incentive’ for firms to increase social mobility in the profession, LSB chief executive Chris Kenny has said in a letter to legal regulators. Kenny ...

  • News

    Panel calls for evidence over will-writing regulation

    2010-09-22T00:00:00Z

    The Legal Services Consumer Panel has made a call for evidence from solicitors and others in an investigation launched today into whether will-writing should become a regulated activity. The Legal Services Board has asked the panel to provide evidence of what problems consumers encounter in making ...

  • News

    Excellence award shortlist published

    2010-09-22T00:00:00Z

    The outstanding achievements of legal professionals across England and Wales have been recognised by the judges of the Law Society’s Excellence Awards. High-achieving individual solicitors and teams across the entire legal sector have been shortlisted in categories ranging from Excellence in Community Investment to Excellence in ...

  • News

    How can we assist you?

    2010-09-21T00:00:00Z

    Think about your firm and realistically assess how your services match up to those announced by CPP Group plc?

  • News

    Solicitors anxious over ABS ‘threat’

    2010-09-20T00:00:00Z

    There is a high level of anxiety among solicitors over the impact of legal services reforms, with conveyancers showing the greatest alarm, according to research seen exclusively by the Gazette. A survey of more than 300 solicitors by law firm network Contact Law found ...

  • News

    Financial crisis sees dispute resolution surge

    2010-09-20T00:00:00Z

    The financial crisis has seen a surge in dispute resolution cases, with the UK performing well as a venue for hearing international disputes, according to a report published today. The report Dispute Resolution in London & the UK, compiled by membership body TheCityUK, shows the number ...

  • News

    Citizens v notaries – a draw

    2010-09-20T00:00:00Z

    With all the ink spilt since the publication of the Akzo Nobel judgment last week, and the ink still to be spilt in as-yet-unwritten academic articles, something published at the same time on the website of the European Court of Justice has gone unnoticed.

  • News

    Why law firms are seizing on the Akzo privilege judgment

    2010-09-17T00:00:00Z

    When the European Court of Justice’s ruling in the Akzo case came out on Tuesday, comments from law firms condemning the decision began rolling into the newsdesk within minutes.

  • News

    Innovation ‘anathema to solicitors’, report suggests

    2010-09-17T00:00:00Z

    Innovation appears to be ‘anathema’ to solicitors, who place too much reliance on the value of their reputation and are overly wedded to ‘old school’ marketing techniques, according to a report published today. The ‘white paper’ compiled by business advisory group Selling for Solicitors also found ...

  • News

    Law Society warns Home Office over immigration cap

    2010-09-17T00:00:00Z

    The Law Society has today made a submission to the Home Office warning that its proposed limits on non-EU highly skilled migration could damage the legal sector. The submission follows concerns voiced by Liberal Democrat business secretary Vince Cable this week that immigration limits are damaging ...

  • News

    Firms must inform clients of new complaints body

    2010-09-16T00:00:00Z

    Solicitors will be obliged to inform clients that the Legal Complaints Service has been replaced by the Legal Ombudsman (LeO), following a rule change approved by the Solicitors Regulation Authority at its board meeting today. The SRA said it had been forced to introduce the rule ...

  • News

    Best dressed

    2010-09-16T00:00:00Z

    It could be time to dust off the gladrags this autumn. A group of 60 College of Law students have been busy organising a ‘full length and fabulous’ event to take place at the luxurious Waldorf Hilton Hotel in London on 2 October, in aid of Breakthrough Breast Cancer. As ...

  • News

    For the record

    2010-09-16T00:00:00Z

    For those following the gripping saga of Redruth solicitor J P Leaning and his quest for blanket permission from Ken Clarke to take a handheld recording device into any court – an update. Leaning has informed Obiter that he has still to receive a reply from the minister, who seems ...

  • News

    The spy who sued me

    2010-09-16T00:00:00Z

    In this age of the long lens, BBC executives and MI5 heads cannot be too careful about what documents they leave sticking out of their briefcases. But it turns out that they are not the only ones who need to exercise ultra-caution when it comes to sensitive documents. In its ...

  • News

    Employment

    2010-09-16T00:00:00Z

    Gross misconduct – Law firms – Unfair dismissal Wilson Devonald Ltd v S Suckling: EAT (Judge Serota QC, D Evans CBE, P Gammon MBE): 3 August 2010 The appellant employer ...

  • News

    Rallying cry

    2010-09-16T00:00:00Z

    It’s amazing to what lengths some solicitors will go to escape from the office. Manchester lawyers Chris Adams and Sean Daly, otherwise known as team ‘Freewheeling Palm Trees’, today set off on a 3,000-mile round trip to southern Italy in a 20-year-old Merc. The pair, who are being sponsored by ...