Last 3 months headlines – Page 1526
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OFT approves 'toothless' will-writing code
A new code of practice for non-lawyer will-writers which has been approved by the Office of Fair Trading is ‘without teeth’, probate solicitors have warned. The OFT approved a new code of practice drawn up by the Institute of Professional Willwriters (IPW) last week. ...
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An eminent jurist is under attack over Israel
Israel has faced international condemnation this week over the alleged killing of 10 or more peace activists who were trying to deliver aid to Gaza by way of a flotilla of ships.
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Solicitors support advocacy quality assurance scheme
The Solicitors Association of Higher Court Advocates (SAHCA) has given its support to the Legal Services Commission’s proposals for a quality assurance scheme for advocates (QAA), but warned it must be ‘demonstrably even-handed, objective and proportionate’. Following consultation with its 1,300 members, SAHCA responded to the ...
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Solicitor settles action against solicitorsfromhell
A north-east solicitor yesterday settled his libel claim against the owner of a website that blacklists solicitors and law firms. Scott Eason, principal at Eason Law, had instructed libel lawyers Carter-Ruck to bring a claim for damages of between £50,000 and £100,000 and obtain a High ...
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Second blow for supporters of referral fee ban
Any prospect of a new ban on referral fees has been dealt a second major blow in the space of a few weeks, as a new report for the Legal Services Board recommended that the fees should be retained last week. The Legal Services Consumer ...
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Shoe me the money
What’s going on here, you may ask? Has Hartley & Worstenholme just had a new carpet fitted and asked all clients and employees to leave their shoes at the door? Not quite. These eager ladies at the West Yorkshire law firm and estate agency are getting ready to put on ...
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Man of the moth
They nibble at your best winter coat, and make an annoying noise when they pop themselves dead on lightbulbs. But it turns out that moths can be good for something – at least civil litigation solicitor Bob Heckford, who recently retired from Plymouth law firm Bond Pearce, seems to think ...
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Striking the right chord
As wise old Obiter always suspected, Manchester solicitor Andy Booth, who plays in ‘European electro goth’ band the Cassandra Complex, is not the only rock-tastic lawyer out there, and we have photographic evidence to prove it (right). Paul ‘The Rock’ Rosser, personal injury partner at Leo Abse & Cohen in ...
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Fancy footwork
With just over a week until the World Cup kicks off, it seems football fever is already taking a vice-like hold over the legal profession. Fancying themselves as solicitor-versions of Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard et al (in football terms only, we stress), lawyers at Manchester firm Ralli have made ...
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Intellectual property
Brand names - Comparative advertising - Infringement - Perfumes (1) L’Oréal SA (2) Lancôme Parfums et Beauté and CIE (3) Laboratoire Garnier and CIE v (1) Bellure NV (2) Malaika Investments Ltd (T/A Honeypot Cosmetic and Perfumery Sales) (3) ...
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Listen and learn
I enjoyed reading Gordon Turner’s reflections on his experience of acting as a juror (see [2010] Gazette, 27 May, 10).
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Spiralling costs
As a residential property specialist, I have become increasingly concerned at the charges made by management companies and freeholders when buying or selling leasehold properties.
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Employment
Civil procedure – Ballots – Compliance – Industrial action British Airways Plc v Unite the Union: CA (Civ Div) (Lord Chief Justice, Master of the Rolls Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury, Lady Justice Smith): 20 May 2010 ...
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Daunting challenges that sole practitioners face may jeopardise their future
by Lawumi Biriyok, a principal at London firm Biriyok Show, and is chair of the Sole Practitioners Group Mortgage lenders have failed to appreciate the embarrassment caused to sole practitioners (SPs) resulting from their unjust and unwarranted decisions to remove conveyancing SPs from their panels.
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What are people posting about your firm?
Curiously, some Gazette readers saw fit to shoot the messenger when we exposed the egregious activities of blacklisting website Solicitorsfromhell, whose owner charges solicitors and firms for the removal of third-party postings. We were accused of somehow being complicit in this distasteful and cynical enterprise. In ...
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A new government offers an opportunity to look afresh at old issues
Earlier in the year, before the election, the Law Society brought its major concerns, anxieties and ideas together in one handy document, Delivering Justice: The Law Society Manifesto. The main theme was that of curbing the increasing power of the state and safeguarding the freedom of the individual.
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Employment law: the Equality Act 2010 – pressing the launch button
Not all good ideas make the grade. Hover cars, that dream of youth, have still to take off and the BBC has cancelled my suggested Tolkien-based detective series, Midsommer Mordor. Pity.
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City firm Denton Wilde Sapte set to decide on transatlantic merger
Partners at City firm Denton Wilde Sapte and US firm Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal are set to decide next Wednesday whether to give the green light to a merger of the firms. The merged firm, SNR Denton, would comprise 1,400 lawyers and boast combined revenues of ...
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Top firms suffer revenue fall – but profits rise
Revenues at top law firms have slipped over the last year, but some firms have seen a significant recovery in partner profits, early results suggest. Of the three major firms that had reported financial results for 2009/10 as the Gazette went to press, all saw falls ...