Last 3 months headlines – Page 1561
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Garrow’s draw
This week Obiter can announce the three winners of our competition to win a Garrow’s Law DVD, in which we asked you to complete the sentence, ‘I think history will determine that I have made much more of a difference to the law than William Garrow because…’ Robert Miller, solicitor ...
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Art is a journey – if only from A to B
Continuing the cultural theme of last week, when readers were treated to some excellent works by members of the Law Society’s art group, Obiter brings you the latest offering from professional artists at London firm Collyer Bristow’s very own gallery. And Obiter may be biased, but we think the lawyers ...
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Another chance to win...
Any readers who missed out on last month’s competition to win a copy of the first series of Law & Order: UK, you can now stop sobbing uncontrollably at your desk.
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Mork and Martin
Obiter has one final instalment in our ‘lawyers with celebrities’ thread (unless we get some more good ones, of course. You can’t have too much of a good thing). The latest entry comes from Martin Smith, associate at Berrymans Lace Mawer in Birmingham. ...
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Star flaws
I read with interest Richard Taylor’s article regarding copyright problems over the uniform of the Imperial Stormtroopers featured in the Star Wars films (see [2010] Gazette, 4 February, 14). It would appear the editor knows far more about intellectual property law than Star Wars – the accompanying picture is actually ...
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In a fix on fees
To justify lawyers’ time-based charging, Peter Rogers and Lloyd Junor seek to take comfort from the idea that heart surgeons charge more if they hit complications mid-operation (see [2010] Gazette, 4 December, 13). As I understand it, surgeons quote a fixed fee and stick to it, complications or not.
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Aid at a premium
My colleagues and I were interested to read the story 'Society plans costs-capping challenge’ (see [2009] Gazette, 17 December, 1).
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It’s good to talk
I recently had my first experience of the court’s small claims mediation service, in a difficult building dispute which started life as a small claim but, had it proceeded, would have gone into the fast track.
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A radical change to regulation will benefit both firms and their clients
In a recent Law Society survey, 78% of 1,000 firms said that the regulatory system places too great a burden on them. This did not hugely surprise me – some solicitors would say that any regulatory burden is excessive – but nevertheless it indicates a problem. Evidently, many solicitors who ...
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Hearing children’s cases in private is crucial to justice
by Alistair MacDonald, a barrister at St Philips Chambers, Birmingham. He is a past joint chair of the Association of Lawyers for Children and was a panel member at a debate on the government’s transparency proposals held in December by the Family Justice Council In B ...
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Graduates and junior lawyers are being squeezed as firms try to stay afloat
There’s nothing necessarily equitable, or ethical, about unregulated markets, as the grave economic consequences of free market fundamentalism have demonstrated. So it’s no surprise that junior lawyers are being squeezed as law firms try to stay afloat in the most challenging business environment most solicitors can remember. ...
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Tackling social immobility in the legal profession
Who would disagree with the idea that every person in this country with the talent and ability, regardless of their background, should have the opportunity to achieve their full potential? The fact is that over the last decade Britain has become a fairer place. The glass ...
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SLG teams up with schools and charity to highlight pro bono
The Solicitors in Local Government (SLG) group has teamed up with three schools and a legal advice charity to raise the profile of local authority lawyers in the ‘neglected’ area of pro bono work. The SLG has agreed a partnership arrangement with the Citizenship Foundation to ...
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High Court decision deals blow to claims industry
A recent High Court decision has put ‘another nail in the coffin’ of a lucrative industry for hundreds of law firms bringing consumer credit claims, a leading litigation expert has told the Gazette. David Greene, president of the London Solicitors Litigation Association, said a series ...
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Ghanaian law firm opens in London
A law firm with ambitions to become the ‘Linklaters of Africa’ has become the first Ghanaian firm to open in London. Ghanaian corporate and commercial firm Oxford & Beaumont has set up in the UK to service UK law firms conducting business in Ghana.The four-partner firm, ...
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Des Hudson warns that legal aid policy needs ‘radical rethink’
The Law Society has warned that a ‘radical rethink’ of legal aid policy is needed to prevent a reduction in the quality and scope of legal aid and to ensure access to justice. Law Society chief executive Desmond Hudson (pictured) told delegates at the Westminster Legal ...
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Law Society mulls Zimbabwe protest
The Law Society is considering intervening in the case of a solicitor who was imprisoned by the Zimbabwe authorities for asserting that evidence incriminating his client was obtained under torture. Zimbabwean solicitor Mordecai Mahlangu was arrested when acting for Roy Bennett, a Zimbabwean farmer of European ...
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Legal recruiters see upturn in law firm job market
Legal recruiters have seen a ‘substantial upturn’ in the law firm jobs market in the past three months, and are predicting a still more buoyant year ahead. The positive forecasts came as a new survey predicted a 7% rise in graduate vacancies in the legal sector ...
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LCJ warns of 'undoubted danger’ to administration of justice
The lord chief justice has warned that budgetary pressures on the prosecution and the courts are having a ‘very real impact’ on the administration of justice and said there is ‘an undoubted danger’ that the situation could worsen. In his first annual review, Lord Judge said: ...