Last 3 months headlines – Page 1585
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LCS braced for deluge of Scottish equal pay cases
A deluge of impending complaints over Scottish equal pay cases handled by the UK’s most prolific equal pay lawyer could swamp the Legal Complaints Service if they are sent across the border to England, the Gazette has learned.The complaints relate to compensation agreements drawn up by a law firm run ...
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Mid-tier corporate firms see profits plummet
Partner profits have plummeted by more than a quarter among a large swath of corporate firms as ‘acute pricing pressure’ and a fall in work take their toll on the bottom line, according to research by accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers published today. The PwC annual law firm benchmarking ...
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Students seduced by City firms may be in for a disappointment
I reckon sixth-formers spend too much time on legal websites and blogs, gazing dreamily at the magic million-pound-plus partner profit figures put out by top commercial law firms.
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Legal Services Board consultation fuels research debate
by Jonathan Goldsmith, secretary general of the Council of Bars and Law Societies of EuropeIn a week in which the Legal Services Board has issued another consultation on alternative business structures, I want to speak about the importance of good-quality research before important policy proposals are made which may radically ...
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Slash costs by not going anywhere (you will need video instead, though)
I spent a fascinating afternoon at the Legal Video Network Summit in London recently...
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Legal Services Board launches consumer panel
The Legal Services Board has unveiled its eight-strong consumer panel to represent the interests of individual and business consumers in England and Wales. The LSB said that the independent panel will help it develop a ‘sharper focus’ on consumers’ interests across the legal services sector, and enhance access to justice.
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Diary of a redundancy – an epilogue
One month into your new job at the legal advice centre and you’re still behaving too much like a lawyer. Or so, knuckles sharply rapped, you’ve been told.
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Call for change to libel laws
English libel law imposes unnecessary and disproportionate restrictions on free speech, sending a ‘chilling’ effect through the publishing and journalism sectors in the UK, according to an inquiry into libel law by two free speech charities. As a result of their findings, published today, Index on ...
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CPS rolls out national telephone charging service
The Crown Prosecution Service and Association of Chief Police Officers today announced the nationwide roll-out of a telephone charging advice service for police. From January, the existing CPS Direct service, which provides advice to police when charging suspects out of hours, will be expanded across ...
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The European Courts – and a certain treaty
Oh, and the Lisbon Treaty… I want to write about the European Courts, but I can’t let a week like the past one go by without comment. We rarely have so much excitement in Brussels. Tony Blair apparently out of the running for the role of new EU President!
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LSB consumer panel to examine referral fees
The Legal Services Board’s new consumer panel will examine referral fees as the very first item on its agenda when it meets for the first time later this month, the Gazette has learned. The news comes after the Law Society’s council last week voted overwhelmingly in ...
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Eversheds reports fall in turnover
National firm Eversheds today reported a 6% fall in half-year turnover but said it is ‘cautiously optimistic’ that its performance will improve. Revenues for the six months to October 31 stood at £178m, down from £188m for the same period in 2007/08. ...
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Fee income falls at Simmons
Fee income at City firm Simmons & Simmons fell by 16% in the first half of the financial year, the firm reported today. The drop, to £120.3m in the six months to 31 October, from £143.5m over the same period in 2008/09, was blamed on the ...
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Rise in number of intellectual property disputes
Intellectual property (IP) disputes in the High Court jumped by a third last year, according to recently released judicial statistics. At 562, the number of IP disputes in 2008 represents a significant increase over the 422 in 2007, and around two and a half times the ...
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Revenues down at Allen & Overy
Half-year revenues at magic circle firm Allen & Overy fell by 7% as the City giant became the first to announce its financial performance results over the past six months. Revenues fell from £548m to £511m during the six months to 31 October. More than half ...
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Make more time for your life: unsubscribe from spam
At a very social day of learning about social media for law firms this week – we mostly sat around and talked about the issues, rather than listen to endless PowerPoint-led talks – I got a sage piece of advice: unsubscribe from any email newsletter you no longer read.
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City firm Denton Wilde Sapte increases turnover
City firm Denton Wilde Sapte grew turnover 3.5% over the half-year, and said that it has met its revenue forecast. Revenue for the first half of the 2009/10 financial year was £87.7m, compared with £84.7m over the first half of the 2008/09 year. ...
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Prosecutors should explain sentences to victims, says attorney general
The attorney general has said prosecutors should explain sentences to victims and has issued revised guidelines on plea and sentencing. Speaking to a conference of Crown Prosecution Service Crown advocates – qualified CPS lawyers in the Crown court - as their superintending minister, Lady Scotland (pictured) ...
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Does a recent decision mean some people will never escape past convictions?
Imagine the scene, you are 18 years old, you have rather unwisely been a bit rowdy after sampling your first shandy and the overworked police officer has arrested you for a breach of the peace. You are not judged to be a serious threat to society and are bound over ...
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Employment – is Or-well with the Equality Bill?
Was it Harriet Harman who wrote that ‘all employees are equal, but some employees are more equal than others’? Whoever it was, they may well have foreseen some of the more interesting provisions of the latest version of the Equality Bill, which, we are assured, is still cranking its way ...