Last 3 months headlines – Page 1618
-
News
Justice committee warns of family lawyer ‘exodus’
The Legal Services Commission’s reform of family legal aid is causing ‘an exodus of senior practitioners from publicly-funded family law’, the House of Commons’ Justice Committee concluded today. A report on family legal aid said the LSC’s proposals for reform were based on a ‘flawed consultation’ ...
-
News
No way to treat a client – especially if you are the client
Can you imagine this scenario in your firm? Client: Please could you change the way in which you write letters of claim on my behalf? You send them to me for approval and I have to keep changing the ...
-
News
Criminal law: self-defence, diminished responsibility, et alia
The law on self-defence has been ‘clarified’ (section 76(9)) but not amended or consolidated by section 76 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008, which came into force in July last year.
-
News
Personal injury
Discounts – Future loss – Loss of chance – Loss of earnings – Sportspersons Gary Smith & anr v Ben Collett CA (Civ Div) (Lords Justice Carnwath, Hughes, Lady Justice Smith): 17 June 2009 ...
-
News
Media and entertainment
Human rights – Blogs – Confidentiality – Freedom of expression - Police Author of a blog v Times Newspapers Ltd: QBD (Mr Justice Eady): 16 June 2009 The applicant ...
-
News
Boom with a view
If you can spare your mind from the big questions of life like, well, Wimbledon, give this one a thought: can international law oblige states to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and pay compensation for the adverse effects of climate change upon a country or its citizens?
-
News
Nerd watching
Not satisfied with the daily dramas of the law, members of Blackpool firm Blackhursts Budd have for the past 10 years supported their local amateur dramatic company, Poulton Drama. The group has three solicitors, a district judge and two former solicitors among its members. Blackhursts Budd (formed recently by the ...
-
News
Memory lane
The Law Society’s Gazette, 7 July 1999 City warning over information billObtaining information from public bodies could become more difficult and expensive when the Freedom of Information Bill ...
-
News
Offshore firms stay afloat while governments target tax havens
In the normal course of events, law firms would be falling over themselves to have their headquarters name-checked by the leader of the free world. But not offshore giant Maples and Calder. Its offices at Ugland House on the Cayman Islands were singled out by Barack Obama on his campaign ...
-
News
Great leap forward: survival depends on the challenge of change
This is my final President’s Podium, and while I write it with no little sense of sadness, I do so in the certainty that many in the profession are well placed not only to survive the current downturn, but to flourish in its aftermath.
-
News
Counting the costs
I have just finished reading Lord Justice Jackson's impressive report on civil litigation costs (see [2009] Gazette, 21 May, 14).
-
News
Legacies at risk
I read with interest the comments of Peter Steer, from Wilsons Solicitors, in your feature about charities (see [2009] Gazette, 25 June, 10).
-
News
Shrinking Gazette
The Gazette is a superb source of professional news, information and gossip which is a ‘goody’ I eagerly await each week. Last year’s change in format is a great improvement. The news content remains invaluable.
-
News
BVT considerations
I write with reference to the letter from Carolyn Regan (see [2009] Gazette, 18 June, 13). She states that best value tendering will continue to ensure the quality of criminal defence services. Although she does not say so in her letter, I presume she means ...
-
News
We can lead change
Robert Heslett urges the profession to prepare for change (see [2009] Gazette, 18 June, 12), but says little about precisely what it should do. He also highlights a long-standing concern about how new entrants can be imbued with the ethics of the profession. As he is aware, we have been ...
-
News
The LSC must address the scandal of experts pocketing exorbitant fees
It was interesting to read Carolyn Regan on the subject of achieving the best value for taxpayers’ money as far as the Legal Services Commission is concerned (see [2009] Gazette, 18 June, 13). It is depressing that this argument only ever seems to apply to the fees of high-street solicitors ...
-
News
Updated: Solicitor's Handbook is essential in these volatile times
by Andrew Hopper QC and Gregory Treverton-Jones QC authors of The Solicitor’s Handbook 2009 In June 2008 we published the first edition of The Solicitor’s Handbook. It was intended to: replace and improve upon the old Guide to Professional Conduct; collect in one place all of ...
-
News
Seeking fairness on practising fees
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) describes the current practising fee structure as ‘far from logical’ in a discussion paper launched this week. Quite so. Why should a bulk firm with an army of paralegals and very few solicitors pay so little in regulation, when a top-end, lawyer-rich niche practice pays ...