Last 3 months headlines – Page 1702
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Pre-nup absence
I take to heart the advice of the District Judge that we could be guilty of negligence in failing to advise our clients about pre-nups. However, there is one problem – they have to come to see us pre-nup! This is just what they do not do.
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Fee speech
I note that there is another government drive to make the court self-funding through court fees. When was this principle debated in Parliament? It is of profound significance. Imagine the same principle being applied to the NHS or state education.
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Claims review stuck in first gear
Is that it? The Ministry of Justice took a year to decide the way forward after its claims process consultation – and this week’s retreat from the original proposals suggests that they were either far too ambitious or betrayed worrying ignorance about how personal injury claims work. ...
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Prescribing a responsible future
New professional guidance for doctors clarifies the crucial role of medical expert witnesses in the justice system Tomorrow the General Medical Council (GMC) will produce new guidance for doctors, entitled ‘Acting as an expert witness’. As well as being a source of guidance for doctors, we ...
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Short sharp shock
‘Subtle, insidious, disturbingly creepy.’ That was the judges’ verdict on the work of employment lawyer Martin Edwards. And not only did they mean it as a compliment, they even let him trouser £1500 for his trouble… They were, of course, the judges of the annual Crime Writers Association short story ...
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Tache-tastic effort
Moustaches will be in vogue this September – lawyers included – if you are connected to the private equity world and want to raise money for charity. The Everyman male cancer campaign launched TacheBack last week by sticking fake moustaches on four of its high-profile participants – but the challenge ...
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Over to the blokes...
Our focus on speedy female solicitors has certainly had legs, dare we say. But it seems unlikely that, when it comes to marathon running, anyone in the profession will better former British record-holder Veronique Marot (unless Paula Radcliffe decides she wants more long hours of tedious, mind-numbing training and so ...
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Woolf in sheep’s clothing
Obiter’s attendance at last week’s Law Society Council meeting was greatly enhanced by the valedictory speech of former president and council member for the City of London, Fiona Woolf. After serving on the body for 21 years, she is now stepping down and ...
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Microsoft sets sights on costs shake-up
Microsoft, the software giant, has told law firms across the globe that they must trim fees and scrap hourly-rate billing if they want to continue working for the company. In a letter from Microsoft HQ in Washington, seen by the Gazette this week, Brad Smith, senior ...
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Legal recruiters swamped as conveyancers feel the pinch
Legal recruiters have been inundated by approaches from conveyancing practitioners looking for work as the credit crunch takes its toll on the housing market. The decline in the property market has led to job losses for lawyers and support staff across the country. Volume conveyancers Barnetts ...
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Solicitor slaps writ on county court
Frustration at the service lawyers receive from some court administrators was further manifested this month when a Surrey solicitor filed a High Court order to force a county court to list a hearing on a landlord-tenant case. Clive Wismayer, of Wismayers Solicitors, Great Bookham, said ...
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ECJ in disability ruling
A law firm could be the first of many thousands of employers to face a disability discrimination claim following a European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling on ‘discrimination by association’, employment lawyers have warned. Legal secretary Sharon Coleman, who has a disabled son, left London firm ...
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Moj backtracks on claims
The government announced a major climb-down this week in its long-awaited response to the claims process consultation. The new process will only apply to road traffic cases worth up to £10,000 where liability is admitted. The consultation had proposed a £25,000 limit that also encompassed disease, ...
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New conduct code for third-party funders
Plans to introduce a code of conduct for third-party litigation funders have moved a major step closer after a high-level summit, the Gazette can reveal. The code, which will be endorsed by the Civil Justice Council (CJC), will set minimum standards of behaviour and outline the ...
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Question of conflict
Leading employment lawyers have questioned the use by legal and professional services group Parabis of its subsidiary law firm to defend its employees in a poaching dispute. Parabis employees Martin Hynes, Sarah Preston and Heather Smith were defended by Plexus Law, one of four law firms ...
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Super regulator names members
Solicitors will make up one-third of the members of the new overarching regulator of legal services, the Ministry of Justice has disclosed. The new Legal Services Board was set up under the 2007 Legal Services Act to simplify regulation and ‘put the consumer first’. ...
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GMC witness prescription
The medical profession’s regulator will publish new rules this week to ensure doctors acting as expert witnesses understand their overriding duty is to the administration of justice. The General Medical Council’s new guidelines appear at a time of crisis in the witness system, following complaints about ...
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£32k copyright dispute
The dispute with two silks over copyright issues related to the Society’s Code of Conduct cost the Law Society more than £30,000, council members were told last week. Chief Executive Des Hudson said the total spend on the litigation – which was settled in April on ...
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Tender pilot for legal aid
Competitive or best value tendering (BVT) for criminal defence legal aid work will be piloted before its full introduction in 2011, the Legal Services Commission (LSC) announced last week. The scheme will be trialled in Avon and Somerset, and Manchester, in 2010. It was expected to ...
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Pre-nuptial agreements
Advising your clients about pre-nups is essential. Forget the McCartneys. The most important recent ancillary relief decision is Crossley v Crossley[2007] EWCA Civ 1491, [2007] All ER(D) 396 (Dec), not so much for showing how courts will deal with cases on similar facts, but for implicitly ...