Last 3 months headlines – Page 1714
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Give it away free
As you correctly reported, the internet is about to overtake traditional channels for people to find a solicitor for simple legal work, such as conveyancing and writing a will. However, I would suggest that law firms need to look beyond this to ensure that they maintain, or increase, their market ...
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Complex world
The reference to ‘a simple transaction, such as conveyancing or making a will’ in your article, together with the absence of any quotation marks, is yet another insulting nail in the coffin of our professionalism. If the article’s authors really have the necessary expertise to use such dismissive words in ...
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Crossing continents: transnational cases raise important issues
What have the son of a Liberian dictator, a rabidly anti-Jewish Australian and a Rwandan diplomat all got in common? They are all defendants where courts in one state are seeking, or have recently sought, to decide criminal liability for alleged actions in another. As such, they illustrate the best ...
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Connect with your clients
Our news item last week on the rise of the internet as a medium for choosing a legal adviser has touched a nerve. Traditional methods of choosing a solicitor, such as word of mouth or using the ‘family firm’, still dominate, but the web is ...
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Improving justice in the family courts
Family Justice in View was published by the Ministry of Justice and laid before Parliament on 16 December 2008. It represents the government’s intended policy on creating uniformity in approach to transparency in the family courts, and is based on two consultations undertaken ...
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That’s the way it is
Keeping up with our theme of solicitor musicians, this week we present… The King himself. Mark Fitch (pictured), a litigation partner at Hatch Brenner, in Norwich, is lead singer in an eight-piece Elvis tribute band, the BlueSueders. The Sueders describe ...
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She’s a diamond
Never, ever, underestimate a legal secretary. Last week, Obiter dared to suggest that the 39 years and five months that Ann Moody worked as a secretary for retired solicitor, Tony Mackintosh might be some kind of record. Beat that, we challenged. And, inevitably, you did.
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A bird in the hand
Law Society media supremo Melissa Davis got herself a bargain when she bought a second-hand stuffed owl over the internet for a very reasonable £68. New ones – equally dead, but recently eviscerated – can retail for as much as £600, she told Obiter last ...
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Trolley good show
Even in these tough times, some law firms are still offering new graduates generous starting packages. But none, it seems, can compare to supermarket ALDI. According to the Graduate Market in 2009 survey, published by High Fliers Research, the retailer pays trainee managers £40,000 a year, with an Audi A4 ...
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Down with the kids
While British judicial authorities dither about whether to allow cameras into courts, a US federal judge has shown she’s ‘well up wiv tha yoof’ when it comes to embracing the new media age. Massachusetts District Court Judge Nancy Gertner is allowing a continuous video feed of a crucial hearing to ...
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Judgment day
Obiter’s informal census of solicitor judges has drawn a healthy response, confirming our feeling that the number is now high – especially on the district bench and on tribunals. Keith Martin, of Davies Partnership in St Agnes, Cornwall, says he’s not sure whether ...
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Firm to pay price of trainee sacking
Firms that sack a trainee without the agreement of the Solicitors Regulation Authority could find themselves liable for hefty damages, a landmark employment tribunal decision suggests. Sheffield Employment Tribunal last week ruled that a Manchester firm, Express Solicitors, was in breach of the terms of ...
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Courts system sleepwalking into crisis
A five-year strategy must be agreed between the judiciary, government and HM Courts Service to revive a civil justice system that has been ‘sleep-walking into a crisis’, a heavy-hitting report has warned. Sir Henry Brooke, former vice-president of the Court of ...
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Firms 'lose out' in fighting crime
The burden of complying with new anti-money laundering (AML) regulations is not proportionate to the funds recovered from launderers, according to new research. For every suspicious activity report submitted, an estimated £618 is recovered from criminals, according to the Home Office and Serious Organised Crime Agency. ...
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Legislation mooted on client bank accounts
The British Bankers’ Association and the Law Society may seek legislation to clear up confusion over compensation payable when solicitors’ client accounts are held in collapsed banks. The two bodies are considering asking the government to amend the Banking Bill, currently passing ...
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Sir John Mortimer: 1923-2009
Tributes have been paid to one of the legal profession’s best-known figures, the barrister and writer Sir John Mortimer, who died last week. Desmond Browne QC, chairman of the Bar Council, said: ‘Like his father, the blind advocate whom he immortalised in Voyage Round My Father, John Mortimer brought both ...
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Dock instructions: say no, says Society
Solicitors must firmly resist requests from magistrates and district judges to take instructions from defendants while they are in the dock, the Law Society’s criminal law committee has urged. The warning follows reports of district judges and magistrates refusing to give adjournments for meetings, ...
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Indian 'best friends' criticised
An Indian ‘magic circle’ firm has criticised the formation of ‘best friend’ relationships in the country, saying they do not follow the spirit of rules on foreign lawyers. Rajiv Luthra, managing partner at Luthra & Luthra, told the Gazette that his firm has turned down ...
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Firms looking abroad
Expansion into foreign markets has been pushed to the top of the agenda for commercial law firms looking to grow their business, according to new research. More firms (38% of the total polled) would rather expand into a foreign jurisdiction over the next one to three ...
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Straw defends secret inquest plans
Justice secretary Jack Straw has defended plans to hold secret inquests, citing the need to protect those who provide intelligence for national security. Major change to the coroners system, which Straw described as the least-reformed part of the justice mechanism, is the headline proposal of the Coroners and Justice Bill, ...