Last 3 months headlines – Page 1617

  • News

    LCS frustrated by Raleys delay

    2009-07-09T00:00:00Z

    The Legal Complaints Service has offered to continue investigating complaints against Yorkshire law firm Raleys concerning compensation payments to miners, after previously rejecting the advice of its watchdog and refusing to do so. However, the LCS, which suspended investigations in March, stressed that it ...

  • News

    International property blow

    2009-07-09T00:00:00Z

    A firm with 30 years’ experience of international property law is to shut it doors this week as the recession takes its toll on the sector. The International Law Partnership, which provides specialist advice through offices in London and Leeds, has seen its income plummet ...

  • News

    Doctors ‘put police station detainees at risk’, says BMA

    2009-07-09T00:00:00Z

    Inadequately trained doctors are putting the safety of police station detainees at risk and could undermine criminal trials, the British Medical Association has warned. At its annual conference last week, the BMA said the Metropolitan Police lacked the competence to deliver the clinical governance required for ...

  • News

    Bar at ‘rock bottom’, declares Browne

    2009-07-09T00:00:00Z

    The morale of the publicly funded bar is at ‘rock bottom’ and careers advisers are telling would-be barristers to steer clear of legal aid, according to the bar’s chief. Speaking at a debate on legal aid, Desmond Browne QC said barristers around the country are ‘totally ...

  • News

    Pay gap points to discrimination

    2009-07-09T00:00:00Z

    Women solicitors earn 29% less than their male colleagues, the Gazette can reveal this week. The Law Society’s latest salary survey showed only a slight narrowing of the pay gap between the sexes compared with the previous year’s figure of 32%. ...

  • News

    Join the Gazette on Twitter

    2009-07-09T00:00:00Z

    This week the Gazette launches two new online services on the professional social networking site LinkedIn and news-snippet service Twitter. All the Gazette’s latest news, blogs and In Business content can now be followed on Twitter under the handle @lawsocgazette. Twitter is ...

  • News

    LSC to abandon peer review

    2009-07-09T00:00:00Z

    The Legal Services Commission has announced it is to drop peer review as a method of quality assurance for firms seeking to bid for most publicly funded work. From April 2010 peer review will only be used on a risk-based and random-sampling basis, rather than being ...

  • News

    Cold calling leaves solicitors at risk of conduct breach

    2009-07-09T00:00:00Z

    A growing number of claims management companies are putting solicitors at risk of breaching conduct rules by hiring call centres to cold call potential claimants, the Gazette has learned. The Ministry of Justice has identified a ‘shift’ towards the use of call centres in India and ...

  • News

    Time for the bar to move with the times

    2009-07-09T00:00:00Z

    With legal aid rates squeezed and the ‘threat’ of increased competition from the CPS and solicitor higher court advocates, the bar might reasonably be expected to be looking keenly at survival strategies.

  • News

    Allen & Overy reports fall in profitability

    2009-07-09T00:00:00Z

    Allen & Overy today reported a slight fall in profitability on top of a rise in turnover, as it became the last magic circle firm to release its financial results. Revenues at the firm rose 7% from £1.02bn in 2007/08 to £1.09bn for the year ending ...

  • News

    More denied access to civil legal aid

    2009-07-09T00:00:00Z

    More people are being denied access to civil legal aid despite a huge increase in demand fuelled by the recession, Citizens Advice has warned. A report published today, No time to retire – legal aid at 60, shows fewer people are qualifying for civil legal aid, ...

  • News

    Real property

    2009-07-09T00:00:00Z

    Excavation – Nuisance – Party walls – Surveyors Christine Reeves v Beatrice Blake: CA (Civ Div) (Lords Justice Mummery, Moses, Etherton): 24 June 2009 The appellant (R) appealed against ...

  • News

    Family law

    2009-07-09T00:00:00Z

    Ancillary relief – Consent orders – Foreseeability – Share valuation Martin Robert Walkden v Kim Hazel Walkden: CA (Civ Div) (Lords Justice Thorpe, Wall, Elias): 25 June 2009 The appellant ...

  • News

    Stockholm on my mind

    2009-07-09T00:00:00Z

    The Queen has been reigning since before I was born (I know it doesn’t look like that from my photo), but here in Brussels we chant ‘the president is dead! Long live the president!’ every six months. We have just seen the end of the unmourned Czech presidency of the ...

  • News

    Hacking into voicemails: when is a crime not a crime?

    2009-07-09T00:00:00Z

    There's been a great deal of press coverage about the News of the World and alleged interception of phone messages among the country's celebs and public figures, but a huge amount of it is missing the point.

  • News

    Whistleblowing plans to safeguard public interest issues

    2009-07-09T00:00:00Z

    Government proposals on whistleblowing will ensure that public interest issues are not lost in drawn-out employment tribunal cases, a leading charity said today. Under plans set out by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, information about claims made under whistleblowing legislation which comes to light ...

  • News

    Gazette goes on Facebook

    2009-07-09T00:00:00Z

    Following our recent extension into the professional social network, LinkedIn and the news snippet service Twitter, the Gazette has now also set up a Facebook page to better connect with the younger profession.

  • News

    Registry rule puts conveyancing solicitors ‘at risk’

    2009-07-09T00:00:00Z

    Conveyancing solicitors could be at risk of being in breach of their obligations, due to a policy change being introduced by the Land Registry. From 3 August, the Registry will introduce a new ‘early completion’ policy that is intended to make the registration process more efficient ...

  • News

    Bird & Bird revenues up 30%

    2009-07-09T00:00:00Z

    City firm Bird & Bird today reported a 30% jump in revenues, buoyed by the firm's recent expansion and the strength of the euro. The firm's revenues grew from £144m in 2007/08 to £186m for the year ended 30 April 2009. However, profit per partner fell ...

  • News

    Why the UK is ‘no place for a child’

    2009-07-09T00:00:00Z

    There’s only one country in the EU that detains children indefinitely – and that’s the UK. We lock up around 2,000 kids a year in removal centres while the UK Border Agency processes their parents’ asylum applications.