Last 3 months headlines – Page 1567
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Payment by results
Both Natalie Saunders and Neil Wright make the point that it is the client and not the solicitor who should pay for the time wasted by inexpert or incompetent solicitors acting on the other side of a transaction or dispute (letters, 14 January).
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Client conflict
Shamil Purohit ( letters, 7 January) defends referral fees – which are in my view indefensible.
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Right mechanism
I write with regard to Dick Jennings’s comment piece ‘Time is of the essence’ (see [2009] Gazette, 10 December, 10). His central premise is that legal services differ from other services in that cost cannot be predicted and value cannot be measured – a view that I fundamentally disagree with ...
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Friend to the stars
Cue the trumpet fanfare: Obiter is pleased to announce a new King of the Celebrity Pics. Kevin Poulter, assistant solicitor at Wake Smith & Tofields in Sheffield, has blown the competition out of the water with this fantastic selection of himself posing with a smorgasbord of household names. ...
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Playing to an empty house
Obiter recently asked for examples of hammy behaviour in the courtroom. Our thanks to David Holt at Suffolk County Council for this little tale of a pompous barrister being given his comeuppance by a judge in the 1970s, when Holt was an articled ...
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Vein attempt
Lawyers are often portrayed as bloodsuckers, so it is nice to hear of one solicitor who has been doing her best to reverse that perception. Helen-Marie Tobin at London’s PSP Law has been splashed across the local press after making more than 100 blood donations and receiving a prize from ...
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Double talk
Foul-mouthed ventriloquism is not a talent you would expect of one of the land’s most senior judges, but for a fleeting moment last week, one Lord Justice appeared to show masterful technique. Presenting his final report on civil litigation costs – a 557-page tome to accompany the 663 pages of ...
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Memory lane
Notes from the editor at the end of the 1950s, reflecting on the implementation of legal aid. A letter from a Council Member looking back on certain changes throughout his career. ...
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Scottish court ruling raises questions about overturning legislation
Will the courts ever quash an act of parliament? The orthodox answer is, of course, ‘no’ – although there were hints to the contrary in the Jackson case of 2005 when the law lords dismissed a challenge to recent fox-hunting legislation. Earlier this month, though, ...
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More debate is needed about Lord Justice Jackson's proposed reforms
by Patrick Allensenior partner at Hodge Jones & Allen and a claimant PI solicitor. He was president of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers in 2003 and is a member of the Law Society Civil Justice Committee As expected, the main recommendations of the Jackson report ...
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If Jackson gets his way, non-commercial litigation will be a different world
That sound you can hear is claimant personal injury solicitors, claims management companies and after-the-event insurers canning their business plans and polishing their CVs. Jackson has left us with two known unknowns: will the next government implement his recommendations (let us not forget that it was ...
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Lawyers report upturn in takeover bid success
The proportion of takeover talks involving listed companies that end in a successful deal has almost returned to pre-credit crunch levels, research has found, signalling a greater confidence in the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market as lawyers succeed in driving deals through. A failure rate for ...
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Train judges to control costs, says Jackson
Judges and lawyers involved in high-stakes commercial court disputes should be trained in costs budgeting and costs management, Lord Justice Jackson’s review of civil litigation costs has recommended. The report suggested that costs budgeting and costs management be included as part of lawyers’ CPD training, while ...
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Withers faces investigation into contempt claims
City firm Withers faces an investigation into claims that it committed a contempt of parliament by seeking to prevent an MP from talking about one of its clients there. The Commons held an emergency debate on the matter last Thursday, and it was referred to the ...
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Family justice review aims to foster positive relationships’
The government was expected to launch a ‘family justice review’ as the Gazette went to press to consider how family courts can take a more ‘positive’ role in proceedings. The review will coincide with the publication of a ‘family green paper’ offering greater support for separating ...
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Costs regime bad for environment
The UK’s ‘shabby and mean-spirited’ costs regime has halted more than half the cases referred for judicial review by an environmental charity, a report has revealed. The Environmental Law Foundation (ELF), a charity that helps people use the law to protect and improve their surroundings, said ...
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Land Registry urges conveyancers to sign up to web portal
The Land Registry has urged conveyancing solicitors to sign up to access its new web portal in advance of the closure of Land Registry Direct (LRD). On 31 March, LRD, the means by which solicitors access the Land Registry’s e-business services, will be shut down and ...
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LawCare helpline sees surge in solicitor calls
A charity that provides pastoral support to solicitors has recorded its busiest year to date, with a 10% rise in lawyers reporting stress and other problems. LawCare opened 549 case files last year, up 10% on 2008. Calls to the helpline were becoming ‘longer and ...
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Government backs fairer access proposals
The government signed up to wide-ranging proposals to help young people from less privileged backgrounds enter the legal and other professions this week, but rejected plans to give tax incentives or other ‘targeted support’ to law firms to help them achieve this.
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Claimant personal injury lawyers angry over Jackson review
Furious claimant personal injury (PI) lawyers have accused Lord Justice Jackson of bowing to the defendant insurance lobby with his radical proposals to cut the costs of litigation, which they say will also reduce access to justice.