Last 3 months headlines – Page 1567

  • News

    Payment by results

    2010-01-21T00:00:00Z

    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).

  • News

    Client conflict

    2010-01-21T00:00:00Z

    Shamil Purohit ( letters, 7 January) defends referral fees – which are in my view indefensible.

  • News

    Right mechanism

    2010-01-21T00:00:00Z

    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 ...

  • News

    Friend to the stars

    2010-01-21T00:00:00Z

    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. ...

  • News

    Playing to an empty house

    2010-01-21T00:00:00Z

    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 ...

  • News

    Vein attempt

    2010-01-21T00:00:00Z

    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 ...

  • News

    Double talk

    2010-01-21T00:00:00Z

    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 ...

  • News

    Memory lane

    2010-01-21T00:00:00Z

    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. ...

  • News

    Scottish court ruling raises questions about overturning legislation

    2010-01-21T00:00:00Z

    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, ...

  • News

    More debate is needed about Lord Justice Jackson's proposed reforms

    2010-01-21T00:00:00Z

    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 ...

  • News

    If Jackson gets his way, non-commercial litigation will be a different world

    2010-01-21T00:00:00Z

    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 ...

  • News

    Lawyers report upturn in takeover bid success

    2010-01-21T00:00:00Z

    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 ...

  • News

    Train judges to control costs, says Jackson

    2010-01-21T00:00:00Z

    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 ...

  • News

    Withers faces investigation into contempt claims

    2010-01-21T00:00:00Z

    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 ...

  • News

    Family justice review aims to foster positive relationships’

    2010-01-21T00:00:00Z

    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 ...

  • News

    Costs regime bad for environment

    2010-01-21T00:00:00Z

    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 ...

  • News

    Land Registry urges conveyancers to sign up to web portal

    2010-01-21T00:00:00Z

    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 ...

  • News

    LawCare helpline sees surge in solicitor calls

    2010-01-21T00:00:00Z

    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 ...

  • News

    Government backs fairer access proposals

    2010-01-21T00:00:00Z

    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.

  • News

    Claimant personal injury lawyers angry over Jackson review

    2010-01-21T00:00:00Z

    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.