Latest news – Page 572
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News
Grayling’s legal aid ignorance
Now the cat is out of the bag. Chris Grayling told Catherine Baksi in her interview with him: ‘I don’t believe that most people who find themselves in our criminal justice system are great connoisseurs of legal skills…’
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Civil legal aid: an attack on those in need
There is a risk that the bad news about the impact of the Transforming Legal Aid proposals on civil legal aid will be buried by criminal practitioners’ (justified) outrage about compulsory competitive tendering. Under the civil proposals, those unable to prove 12 months’ lawful residence ...
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Legal aid: the right to choose
There is an aspect of the current criminal legal aid proposals that ought to be brought to general attention. The proposal to deny the right of choice of lawyer runs contrary to government policy. On 29 March 2012 the prime minister announced that he intended ...
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Spelling bee
It was with interest that I noted Obiter’s recent nod to a syntax error on the website of Dynamo Legal (dynamolegal.com), the so-called ‘superbrand’ headed by Alex Mills of BBC’s The Apprentice ‘fame’. Perhaps the young Mr Mills can be excused for the odd gremlin ...
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Panel firms named as claims against NHS soar
The Department of Health has announced its roster of defendant panel firms that will share a £400m contract for the NHS in England over the next four years. After a tender process lasting several months, successful bidders were informed this morning. ...
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National protest marks end of legal aid consultation
Lawyers across England and Wales will unite for a 'minute of unity' at 09.59 tomorrow to mark the deadline for responses to the Transforming Legal Aid consultation, which they warn will have a devastating effect on the criminal justice system. The Law Society has backed ...
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Bar regulator condemns legal aid plans
The Ministry of Justice’s ‘muddled’ and ‘fundamentally flawed’ legal aid reforms have been savaged by the bar’s representative and regulatory bodies.
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Bar bodies condemn legal aid plans
The Ministry of Justice’s ‘muddled’ and ‘fundamentally flawed’ legal aid reforms have been savaged by the bar’s representative and regulatory bodies.
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Inspectors call for streamlined criminal justice process
Inspectors of police service and prosecutors have called for decisive action to streamline the criminal justice process and end ‘the spectre of unnecessary bureaucracy’. In a joint report published today HM Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) and HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI) identify factors that create ...
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In-deed bows out of ABS venture
The ‘cottage industry’ nature of the conveyancing market makes the failure of conveyancing service In-deed Online ‘unsurprising’, the Gazette has been told. AIM-listed In-deed Online announced last week that it is to sell for £1 a law firm alternative business structure (ABS) that it acquired, along ...
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Removal of client choice is a red line - Society
The government’s ‘unworkable and damaging’ planned legal aid changes could push the justice system ‘beyond breaking point to a devastating collapse’, the Law Society has warned in its response to the Ministry of Justice consultation which ends today. Drawing on two sets of independent analyses - ...
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Co-op Legal Services unveils TV and radio campaign
Co-operative Legal Services kicks off a multi-million-pound advertising campaign today with its first TV and radio advertisements.
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Starmer offers victims ‘right to review’
Victims of crime, including bereaved family members, will have the right to ask prosecutors to look again at a case following a decision not to charge or to discontinue proceedings. The government will today set out plans to allow appeals against decisions taken by the Crown ...
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Bar Council faces probe over cab rank ‘interference’
The Legal Services Board is to formally investigate whether the Bar Council breached rules to interfere in a controversial decision affecting the cab rank rule. The investigation follows information provided earlier this year about the council’s role in representing its members. Chris ...
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Hundreds protest as MoJ swamped by legal aid responses
The Ministry of Justice has received 13,000 responses to its Transforming Legal Aid consultation, it confirmed yesterday, as hundreds of lawyers demonstrated against the proposed cuts outside the ministry’s headquarters in London. The protest, organised by trainees at Tottenham firm Wilson Solicitors, marked the end of ...
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‘No limits’ to regulation review
The Ministry of Justice has said there will be no limits to a far-reaching review of the regulation of legal services. Justice minister Helen Grant (pictured) today called on regulators and providers of legal services to show how the burden of regulation can be reduced. ...
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Takeover fever lifts fast-rising DWF
A spate of acquisitions - including that of defunct Cobbetts - boosted income at business law firm DWF by 84% in the latest financial year, while profit per equity partner rose by a comparatively modest 4%. For the year to 30 April, the firm today ...
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Maclays to axe up to 30 jobs
Anglo-Scottish firm Maclay Murray & Spens has announced a redundancy consultation which will lead to up to 30 job losses. About half of the jobs at risk are fee-earning roles, with the firm's corporate and property practices likely to be most affected. All of MMS’s four ...
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Claims management ‘list of shame’ to go online
Claims management companies that are under investigation will be named online, the Ministry of Justice said today. The list, which goes live next Thursday, will include details of what action is being taken and the reason for it. The MoJ, which runs ...
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Treasury counsel condemn reforms to judicial review
Treasury counsel have joined the wave of concern over the government’s legal aid reforms, warning they will ‘undermine the accountability of public bodies’ and create an ‘underclass’ who will be denied access to the courts. In a letter to the attorney general Dominic Grieve QC, 145 ...