Last 3 months headlines – Page 1500
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Football, home fixtures and hotels
Net returns: North-west firm Brabners Chaffe Street advised Liverpool Football Club on appointing Roy Hodgson, formerly of Fulham Football Club and advised by London firm Michael Simkins, as team manager. It also advised Manchester United on acquiring striker Javier Hernández (pictured) from Mexican ...
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Council first for LawWorks pro bono project
Lawyers at Sutton Council are to become the first local authority legal team to volunteer their services to the LawWorks pro bono project. The 14 solicitors and three barristers in Sutton’s legal team are signing up to the charity, which provides free legal help to ...
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SRA pays out over £9m to former clients of Wolstenholmes
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has so far paid out more than £9m to former clients of Cheshire firm Wolstenholmes. The SRA closed down the firm, which had offices in Cheadle and Birmingham, last year, on the grounds of suspected dishonesty and breaches of the solicitors’ accountancy ...
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Lib Dem peer attacks partners over tax avoidance
Some partners at certain magic circle law firms are still not paying their fair share of tax, the Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman claimed this week, after first raising the issue back in June. Lord Oakeshott said in the House of Lords then that, according to ‘a ...
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The Law Society will continue to fight over the legal aid tender
‘There can be no equal justice where the kind of trial a man gets depends on the amount of money he has.’ So said US Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black in 1964. More than 45 years later we are still fighting to ensure access to justice for all. ...
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Manchester CLAS will ‘eclipse’ small practices
The Law Society has warned that Manchester’s new community legal advice service (CLAS) will drive small legal aid firms out of the market, and make conflicts of interest hard to avoid. Following a tender process that overran by nearly two months, the Legal Services Commission and ...
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SRA ‘unlikely’ to relax ABS restrictions
The Solicitors Regulation Authority is unlikely to relax its rules on allowing firms to enter into deals with other businesses in advance of the licensing of alternative business structures, a paper prepared by the regulator has indicated. The paper, which will be discussed by the SRA ...
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Pro bono panel for 2012 Olympics
The Law Society and Bar Council are to establish a joint pro bono panel of advisers for the London 2012 Olympic Games. Although City firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is the official legal adviser to the London Olympics, the games’ organising committee has asked the two representative ...
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We want your thoughts on the Gazette website
How often do you visit the Gazette website? Do you participate in our social media activities? Are you aware that our online platforms contain a wealth of information that complements your weekly print magazine? It appeared to us timely to ask these questions in the ...
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Top law firms reject conflict rules change
Top City law firms have rejected ‘foolhardy’ proposals to change the conflict of interest rules put forward by the profession’s regulator, warning it against making ‘rushed changes’.
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Hundreds of Quinn firms yet to seek PII
More than half of the 1,900 sole practitioners who currently have professional indemnity insurance (PII) with Quinn Insurance have so far failed to apply to the broker attempting to find them alternative cover. The news comes after Danish insurer Alpha Insurance last week said that it ...
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Young set to rule out TV ad ban for personal injury
Lord Young will not seek to ban TV advertising for personal injury work in his review of the ‘compensation culture’, but is expected to call for a strengthening of referral fee regulations. Sources close to Lord Young of Graffham’s review, due to report this month, ...
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Government Legal Service facing deep cuts
The 2,000-strong Government Legal Service is facing job cuts of 20% to 40%, as government savings targets translate directly into headcount reductions, the Gazette has learned. The news comes as the Attorney General’s Office confirmed that government departments will also be seeking to ‘look critically’ at ...
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LinkedIn group: membership tops 2,000
Membership of the Gazette’s LinkedIn group broke through the 2,000 mark this week – a rise of 1,000 so far this year. The social networking group, which is open to all solicitors, features topical discussions on issues affecting the profession, as well as regular updates of ...
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Solicitors under fire from bar over referral fees
The new Criminal Bar Association chair has criticised solicitors for ‘abusing’ the referral fee arrangements for Crown court advocacy, claiming that solicitors are pocketing money for work done by barristers. In his first interview as CBA chair, Christopher Kinch QC told the Gazette: ‘The criminal bar ...
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LSC extends family contracts pending judicial review hearing
The Legal Services Commission has confirmed that all current civil contracts will be extended for one month, after the Law Society won an expedited hearing of its judicial review last week. At a directions hearing last Friday, the High Court granted the Law Society’s application for ...
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Websites and why HIP replacements are overdue
Is your firm’s web site still offering home information packs? A pat on the back if not. But I see a lot of firms’ websites, and I’m still coming across many that have not been updated since the demise of HIPs several months ago.
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Firm claims sex discrimination in legal aid tender
A London firm has claimed sex discrimination in judicial review proceedings challenging the Legal Services Commission’s refusal to award it immigration and community care contracts. Hereward & Foster issued proceedings in the Administrative Court on 7 September and has requested an expedited hearing. ...
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Scholarship to study law in France, Spain or Canada
Trainee and newly qualified solicitors have been given the chance to apply for a grant to study a postgraduate legal course in France, Spain or Canada. The Hubbard scholarship of up to £15,000 is available to trainees or newly qualified solicitors within three years of admission. ...
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What about firms that can’t afford to promote social mobility?
Accustomed as I am to receiving gloomy news about legal aid and vulnerable people being denied access to justice, a press release heralding a rare piece of good news brightened my inbox this week.