Last 3 months headlines – Page 1604
-
News
Chancery Lane attacks 'deeply flawed' MoJ legal aid proposals
The Law Society has called on the Ministry of Justice to clarify its ‘incoherent’ and ‘deeply flawed’ consultation on criminal legal aid cuts. In a hard-hitting letter to legal aid minister Lord Bach, Law Society president Robert Heslett said the vagueness and uncertainty of the paper ...
-
News
Pakistan must take steps to ensure judicial independence, says IBA
Flawed judicial appointments processes, shortcomings in court infrastructure and a lack of training for legal professionals are hindering the independence of the judiciary in Pakistan, a report by the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute has warned. The report said that the reinstatement of Pakistan’s ...
-
News
Interpreting part 6 of the CPR: service by fax
The Civil Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2008, which came into force on 1 October 2008, brought about a number of significant amendments to the CPR, including changes to the rules governing the service of the claim form on defendants. The interpretation of some of these rules, in particular in relation to ...
-
News
Negligence
Asbestos – Breach of duty of care – Contractors Corus UK Ltd v (1) Cavendish (UK) Ltd (2) Cavendish Laboratories Ltd (3) Woods Building Services Ltd: QBD (Mr Justice Foskett): 7 August 2009 ...
-
News
Personal injury
Contract terms – Disclosure – Miners – Vibration white finger Brian Strydom v Vendside Ltd: QBD (Mr Justice Blair): 18 August 2009 The appellant (S) appealed against a decision dismissing ...
-
News
Purdy and propriety
It was entirely right to include a full review of the recent decision in Purdy v DPP (see [2009] Gazette, 20 August, 10). The Gazette's choice of Ms Purdy's solicitor Saimo Chahal as the author was no doubt reasonable.
-
News
HIP protection
Your recent online story ‘Estate agencies charging 50% more for HIPs’, based on a survey by Which?, raises some important issues. But the results must be viewed in the correct context.
-
News
Can sole practitioners avoid getting a raw deal on PII premiums?
When it comes to professional indemnity insurance, many sole practitioners are getting a raw deal. The effect of the credit crunch on the housing market and levels of repossessions has led to an increasing number of lenders looking for ways to recoup their losses by suing solicitors.
-
News
Tall (or not) story
They are among life’s great imponderables. Does God exist? Does a falling tree make any sound if there is no one there to hear it? Does humour have a place in legal services? This last question has been the subject of some debate in the ...
-
News
When the chips are down
Obiter has got wind of some rather interesting ideas for tackling the changing legal services market from London’s Outer Temple Chambers.
-
News
Tea, biscuit, mediation?
When it comes to ideas for promoting mediation in family cases, it seems the Ministry of Justice is all ears. Mediation can be less drawn-out and traumatic for family members, and of course it also happens to save the MoJ more than a bob or two in legal fees. The ...
-
News
Court defeat
In the best traditions of English tennis, the Law Society’s team came away with the wooden spoon at the biennial European Lawyers Tennis Tournament in Rome. The team, captained by retired solicitor Russell Miller, comprised Peter Morton, partner at London firm K&L Gates, Clive Borthwick, ...
-
News
Memory lane
Law Society’s Gazette, September 1939 [Britain declared war on Germany 70 years ago today. To prevent the Roll ...
-
News
Leading the profession through changes to the legal services market
Just as the profession has changed over the past five years, so has the Law Society.
-
News
Multi-party opt-out litigation saves costs and provides access to justice
by Ben Patrick, a legal officer at the public service union UNISON Neil Rose’s news article on class actions in employment tribunal claims (see [2009] Gazette, 6 August, 2) highlighted an important problem that affects many thousands of claimants in equal pay tribunal claims.
-
News
ABSs are a fait accompli - the bar should accept this
‘Many, many things must be done, but nothing should ever be done for the first time.’ This cynical bureaucratic maxim, uttered by fictional mandarin Sir Humphrey Appleby, was brought to mind by the Bar Standards Board’s latest pronouncement on alternative business structures. The BSB ...
-
News
Dispelling the myths around indemnity insurance
This year the Law Society has been actively engaging with its members about professional indemnity insurance (PII) following the difficulties that some members experienced during last year’s renewal period. As a result of this dialogue, we have become aware of an increasing level of concern about the PII market. The ...
-
News
Securing licences, debt refinancing and selling lager
Brewing up: Magic circle firm Freshfields advised brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev on selling its Tennent’s Lager brand to beverage company C&C Group for £180m. C&C Group was advised by City firm LG. Course ...
-
News
Legal Sector Alliance of City law firms press G20 on climate change
A group of City firms committed to safeguarding the environment has written a communiqué to the leaders of the G20 nations calling on them to ‘walk the talk’ when it comes to climate change legislation, the Gazette can reveal. The Legal Sector Alliance (LSA) of 18 ...
-
News
Firms call for ‘safe harbour’ to strike early investment deals
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has rejected calls to create a ‘safe harbour’ for law firms to strike formal investment deals ahead of full implementation of the Legal Services Act 2007 reforms. The news came as the Gazette learned that a number of commercial law firms have taken the first major ...