Last 3 months headlines – Page 1607
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A change of tack from the SRA?
The England cricket team today begin their quest for victory in the fifth and final test match of this year’s Ashes series, fronting a new-look lineup and a big gamble in the form of Warwickshire right-hander Jonathan Trott. Earning his first cap for England, Trott joins some other new faces: ...
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Funding cuts proposed for police station work
The Ministry of Justice has announced a consultation on funding cuts for police station and Crown court work aimed at ‘rebalancing’ the £2bn legal aid budget in favour of civil help. The reforms outlined in the consultation paper include reducing the fees paid for police station ...
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Law firms and Wikipedia, part two: learning the ways
It’s only fair and right, after castigating hordes of big law firms over their woeful Wikipedia entries back in May, to let the world know when law firms learn to get Wikipedia right. So step up, CMS Cameron McKenna.
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Nationwide signs up to probate protocol
The Law Society has this week published a new joint protocol with the Nationwide Building Society to assist in the winding up of estates. The protocol is the first such agreement to be reached with a building society, although similar arrangements are already in place with ...
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Nationwide signs up to probate protocol
The Law Society has this week published a new joint protocol with the Nationwide Building Society to assist in the winding up of estates. The protocol is the first such agreement to be reached with a building society, although similar arrangements are already in place with ...
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Sole practitioners axed from Britannia/Co-operative panel
Co-operative Financial Services (CFS), which has recently merged with Britannia Building Society, is to axe 3,600 sole practitioners from its conveyancing panel, it has emerged. The Law Society has urged the CFS not to remove the large number of sole practitioners who had been on Britannia’s ...
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Building society hit by £41m mortgage fraud
Solicitors and other professionals have been implicated in £41m of mortgage fraud which plunged the mutual Chelsea Building Society deep into the red in the first half, it emerged today. In its interim accounts Chelsea said that the mortgage fraud, perpetrated between 2006 and 2008, involved ...
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Employed lawyers: another European case
Another day, another case before the European Court of Justice on the practice of law. This one is interesting because it concerns rules that prohibit lawyers who are employed in other functions from being members of the bar.
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‘Rebalancing’ the legal aid budget
There is, it seems, no letup for criminal practitioners, with the MoJ’s announcement of further fee reductions last week.
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More job cuts at Burges Salmon
South-west firm Burges Salmon is to axe up to four property lawyers and up to 27 support staff in its second redundancy round of the year. The firm said that redundancy pay will be ‘more generous’ than the statutory minimum. In March, Burges Salmon let 18 ...
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Fancy a bit of panel beating? Then look to basic business development
As the legal services market moves through a period of change, the phrase (or curse) 'may you live in interesting times' seems appropriate for solicitors. Panels of solicitors are being chopped and changed as organisations look towards the future of legal services in LDPs and ABSs.
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PII boost for small firms as XL enters market
Sole practitioners and small law firms have received a boost ahead of the professional indemnity insurance (PII) renewals season, with news that insurance giant XL will provide them with cover. As revealed by the Gazette last week, XL, a new entrant to the solicitors’ PII market, ...
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The chaps no longer born to rule
It sounds like Alice in Wonderland, with 750 unelected toffs substituting for the Queen of Hearts. Except it’s not a fairy story and it’s not funny. It’s the continuing saga of the House of Lords and the government’s snail-like progress towards reform.
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Bar Standards Board warning over ABSs
The Bar Standards Board (BSB) has said it would be ‘wrong’ to allow barristers to join alternative business structures (ABSs) without evidence of whether all forms of the new structure are ‘compatible with the regulatory objectives’ of the Legal Services Act 2007, or necessary for the benefit of consumers. ...
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Britannia under fire from Chancery Lane
The Law Society has criticised Britannia Building Society and The Co-operative Financial Services (CFS) for failing to engage with it after the newly merged building society moved to axe 3,600 sole practitioners from its conveyancing panel. After being advised last week of the decision to ...
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Stephen Fry’s portrayal of a solicitor is a good advert for the profession
Channel-hopping the other evening I happened upon a programme on ITV in which Stephen Fry plays an affable country solicitor in the picturesque Norfolk town of Market Shipborough.
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SRA announces new Board appointments
The Law Society has announced the members of the new Solicitors Regulation Authority board who will take up their posts on 1 January 2010. The 13 appointments – seven solicitors and six lay members – have been made by an independent panel, chaired by the former ...
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Land registry sees 75% drop in income
The Land Registry’s annual report has revealed the impact of the faltering housing market on the government body, with its core business down by 75%. The Land Registry’s annual report published today shows that its income from fees for the year 2008/09 fell to £308m, compared ...
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New code of conduct for third-party funders
Self-regulation of third-party litigation funders has moved a step closer after a draft code of conduct was submitted to Lord Justice Jackson (pictured), the Gazette has learned. However, in putting the code to the judge as part of his review of ...
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Estate agencies charging 50% more for HIPs
Home information packs (HIPs) purchased from estate agents can cost 50% more than those bought directly from specialist HIP providers such as law firms and conveyancing practices, new research indicates. On average, HIPs from estate agents cost about £110 more than HIPs from specialist providers, according ...