Last 3 months headlines – Page 1716
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Scots unveil plans to revamp £1.2bn legal market
The Scottish government has published proposals to overhaul the nation’s £1.2bn legal market that partly mirror the Clementi reforms introduced south of the border. They include the introduction of alternative business structures, allowing other professionals to set up in business with solicitors and permitting external ownership of law firms.
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Internet ‘first’ for solicitor searches
The internet is on the brink of overtaking traditional channels such as personal recommendations as a way of finding a solicitor to carry out a simple transaction, such as conveyancing or making a will, according to research published this week. The survey, carried out for ...
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Lord Hunt consults on regulation
Lord Hunt of Wirral will today call for evidence from the entire legal profession as part of his Law Society-commissioned review of regulation.
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Met row threatens trials
A row between the Metropolitan Police Service and doctors who care for detainees in police stations is threatening to undermine criminal trials and harm the treatment of those in custody, medical practitioners say. New contracts for the Met’s 150 forensic medical examiners (FMEs) come into ...
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Overwhelming demand for family advice leads to helpline expansion
Advice on family law is to become a permanent feature of the Community Legal Advice service as part of an expansion of the helpline’s remit and service hours. The Legal Services Commission this week launched a tender for law firms or not-for-profit organisations to provide ...
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Liability fears over bad advice
Loopholes in partnership law could allow investors to sue individual hedge fund managers - and possibly partners in law firms - for giving bad investment advice, according to a former hedge fund chief operating officer. Jérôme de Lavenère Lussan, managing director of London law firm Lussan, ...
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Starmer wades into TV trials debate
The new director of public prosecutions has reignited the debate over televising criminal trials, saying cameras in court would ‘bring a breath of fresh air’ to proceedings. In an interview for Channel 4 News, Keir Starmer said: ‘The more the public know about the criminal justice ...
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QC process seen as biased
Solicitors believe that the new process for appointing QCs is still biased in favour of barristers, according to an online survey carried out by the Law Society. Of the 170 who responded to the survey, more than 70% felt the award of silk should be ...
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Solicitors need bench support
The Lord Chief Justice (pictured) has urged the profession to support solicitors who want to pursue a judicial career to help more make it to the High Court bench. Of the 110 High Court judges in post as of April 2008, only one was a solicitor. ...
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No action against ‘touting’ libel firms
The Law Society and Solicitors Regulation Authority have said they will not act on an MP’s call in Parliament to investigate the alleged ‘active touting’ for business by libel law firms. Denis MacShane (pictured), Labour MP for Rotherham, made the allegation in December. He told an ...
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LCS 'takes too long' on coal health compensation cases
A snapshot of coal health compensation cases shows almost two-thirds of cases handled by the Legal Complaints Service are taking too long. However the audit, carried out by complaints commissioner Zahida Manzoor, shows ‘significant improvements’ have been made, with 99% of the sample audited ...
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Transfer request
Banks have begun asking top law firms to transfer their client accounts to them from other banks in order to secure lending facilities, as some partners move their private accounts abroad to gain full protection from bank collapses.
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More law centres face closure as funding fears increase
Six more law centres are on the critical list and will struggle to survive 2009 as they try to plug funding gaps, according to the Law Centres Federation. Six law centres closed in 2008, leaving 54 centres to cover England and Wales. A similar number ...
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Clifford Chance signs best friends deal with Indian firm
Magic circle firm Clifford Chance has signed a ‘best friends’ deal with Indian law firm AZB and hinted at a possible future merger just days after an Indian court laid the foundations for liberalisation of the market. The best friends deal was signed with the intention ...
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European Court judgment on DNA retention
The European Court of Human Rights, in a landmark judgment delivered in December 2008, decided that the UK’s policy of retaining DNA samples and profiles of innocent people is indiscriminate and unlawful.
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Legal advice
Conditional fee agreements – Legal costs insurance – Solicitors’ powers Kier Tankard (appellant) v John Fredricks Plastics Ltd (respondent); (1) Fawcett Old Ltd (2) Michael Jane Hair & Beauty (appellants) v Yvonne Hibberd (respondent); Mark Jones (appellant) v Karl ...
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Once more into the breach
In December 2007, when the board of the Solicitors Regulation Authority first debated the referrals rule, there was shock at the level of non-compliance. A year on, and with non-compliance still high, comes the realisation that solicitors who breach the rule often do so wilfully. The saving grace, such as ...
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The bar Public Access scheme is good for solicitors
There is no right way to go shopping. Some people will visit the supermarket before the delicatessen. Others will not. There is no right way to seek financial services. Some will see an independent financial adviser. Others will speak to their accountant or bank. There is no right way to ...
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How the internet has changed the role of media lawyers
Defamation suits aren’t what they used to be. Gone are the days when a defamatory allegation was communicated predominantly in the print media and, though sensational at the time, would generally be relegated to chip-wrapping the next day. As media specialist Amber Melville-Brown at David Price Solicitors & Advocates observes, ...
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Employment tribunals apply the law without fear or favour
I refer to the letter from Martin Mears (see [2008] Gazette, 11 December, 10). It is titled ‘Tribunal judges must be impartial.’ They certainly are. The advertisement that appeared in the Gazette on 4 December was an error on the part of the Judicial Appointments Commission; Mears’ letter simply compounds ...