Last 3 months headlines – Page 1564
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Is the pope right to speak out about the Equality Bill?
You have to hand it to the Equality Bill – its detractors come from every walk of life. At one end of the spectrum there’s the white working class British guy who thinks the bill is all about giving his job to women or black people.
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MoJ restricts civil legal aid
The Ministry of Justice has announced it is to press ahead with proposals to restrict civil legal aid for people not resident in the UK, tighten the funding rules for judicial review and limit funding for public interest cases, despite strong opposition from lawyers. The consultation ...
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The Law Society and SRA will rise to the challenge of regulatory change
A favourite quote of mine often used at this time of the year comes from a poem written in 1908 by Minnie Louise Haskins: I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year,"Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown."
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Five national firms to offer advice to 48 local authorities
Five national law firms have been selected to provide legal advice to 48 local authorities in the East Midlands under the EM LawShare consortium umbrella. Anthony Collins, Browne Jacobson, DLA Piper, Freeth Cartwright and Weightmans will offer legal advice on 13 areas of law including ...
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MPs attack ‘lax’ Legal Services Commission
The Public Accounts Committee has today lambasted the Legal Services Commission for its handling of legal aid funds. Committee chairman Edward Leigh MP said financial controls at the LSC were ‘lax’, noting that ‘it does not know enough about the costs and profitability of firms to ...
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Coping with bad publicity
The ongoing debate about complaints and dissatisfied clients raises the issue of bad publicity and how to deal with it. Given that there are a number of websites that collect complaints and achieve Google rankings, is there anything a firm can do?
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Lawyers and Iraq – living with the consequences
There has been no bigger topic during the last week than the consequences of the Iraq war on the image of the legal profession. We have witnessed a succession of lawyers giving evidence to the Chilcot inquiry, and we have been presented with different models, as follows:
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Lord Justice Jackson’s recommendations should be implemented speedily
‘Access to Justice entails that those with meritorious claims (whether or not ultimately successful) are able to bring those claims before the courts for judicial resolution or post-issue settlement, as the case may be. It also entails that those with meritorious defences (whether or not ultimately successful) are able to ...
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Why burnt-out lawyers are bad for business
Tough times call for tough measures, and there is no doubt that firms have had to bite the bullet last year, letting go of large numbers of staff in the hardest hit areas such as property and corporate. The fall-off in work made redundancy programmes inevitable.
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Shoosmiths launches Access Legal consumer brand
National firm Shoosmiths launched a new brand for its consumer legal services today in a bid to put its stamp on the ‘fragmented’ post-Clementi landscape. Access Legal will deliver legal services to the firm’s consumer clients in the areas of conveyancing, employment law, legal disputes, medical negligence, motoring, personal injury ...
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Most consumers think all will writers are solicitors
Some 67% of consumers wrongly believe that all will writers are solicitors, research has shown. A survey of more than 1,000 people revealed that 82% assumed that training and qualifications are required before someone can become a will writer. More than ...
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Data page for January 2010
The data page is financial rates and data compiled for the Law Society Gazette by Moneyfacts Group, the UK's largest supplier of savings and mortgage data. DownloadsDownload the data ...
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Probate: revocation of will by subsequent formation of civil partnership
Revocation of will by subsequent formation of civil partnership: Court and Others v Despallieres [2009] EWHC 3340 (Ch).Section 18B (1) of the Wills Act 1837 contains provisions with regard to the revocation of a prior will by the formation of a civil partnership, which parallel those contained in section 18 ...
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Personal injury
Breach of duty of care – Contributory negligence – Driving – Police officers Michael H v Thames Valley Police: CA (Civ Div) (Lord Justice Pill, Lady Justice Arden, Lady Justice Smith): 14 January 2010 ...
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Human rights
Delay – Detention – Parole – Prisoners’ rights Ian Gray v (1) Secretary of State for Justice (2) Parole Board: QBD (Admin) (Mr Justice Burnett): 11 January 2010 The claimant ...
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Criminal procedure
Bail – Legitimate expectation – Reasonableness – Crown Prosecution Service R (on the application of Burns) (claimant) v Woolwich Crown Court (defendant) & Crown Prosecution Service (interested party): DC (Lord Justice Aikens, Mr Justice Openshaw): 14 January 2010 ...
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Trial bundles: why they are important and how to get them right
A well-prepared trial bundle, available in good time, gives you an advantage in negotiations and the prospect of making a favourable impression on the court. Let us consider paragraph 3 of the practice direction to Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) rule 39 for civil cases and the ...
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Watching brief
Readers may recall that Obiter recently reviewed the BBC’s entertaining 18th century courtroom drama, Garrow’s Law. The pioneering and passionate hero William Garrow made great strides in respect of the rights of defendants, coining the term ‘innocent until proven guilty’, and driving through the principle that defendants should have legal ...
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Over and out
Genghis Khan, the Gobi Desert and yaks are all most of us know about Mongolia. But an intrepid lawyer from Kent and Sussex firm ASB Law, legal executive Laura Over, will soon be an expert on the place. Over and her friend Paul Evans are driving the 10,000 miles from ...