Latest news – Page 592
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Divorce-related legal complaints most common
Family law accounted for the highest number of complaints dealt with by the Legal Ombudsman last year, a report published today reveals. Of the 7,500 complaints resolved last year, 18% were about divorce or cases related to family law. Residential conveyancing generated the second highest percentage ...
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Profits up at Direct Line despite fall in referral fees
Direct Line, one of the UK’s biggest motor insurers, received £21.1m in referral fees from solicitors in 2012, it reported today. In its annual financial statement, the insurer said revenue from referral fees fell by 24% due to a reduction in non-fault claims volumes. The ...
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Hundreds of lawyers attack secret trial plans
More than 700 lawyers have signed an open letter calling on the government to drop its ‘dangerous and unnecessary’ plans to extend closed material procedures (CMPs). The letter, published in today’s Daily Mail, says that the proposals for secret courts set out in the Justice and ...
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Slater & Gordon reveals UK profits
Australian firm Slater & Gordon has promised to expand operations in the UK after posting a £2.4m profit on UK revenues of £23m for its first full six months in this country. The firm, which acquired national personal injury firm Russell Jones & Walker in January last year, said the ...
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Coats gets key role at new Legal Aid Agency
Matthew Coats, chief executive of the Legal Services Commission, has been appointed to a key role at the new agency that will bring legal aid under the wing of the Ministry of Justice, the lord chancellor has announced.
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High Court told of Downing Street deal with insurers
The government and insurers negotiated a deal to cut personal injury legal costs in a series of emails prior to a summit at Downing Street, the High Court heard this morning. In its submission to a judicial review hearing, lawyers acting for the claimant lobby highlighted ...
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IBA should apologise
Last Monday’s story headlined ‘Sri Lanka bars lawyers’, quoting Shane Keenan and Mark Ellis of the International Bar Association, was misleading. Your publication is not to blame for the IBA’s crude attempt to castigate the Sri Lanka government when, in fact, the IBA should apologise for trying to sneak into ...
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Time to stop bashing Grayling
The continual jibes in the Gazette about poor Mr Grayling’s lack of legal qualifications and (ergo) his supposed unconcern for the rule of law are growing wearisome.
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Client interest
In his recent blog, ‘What Mid Staffs and RBS have in common’, Eduardo Reyes asks: ‘Could a greater emphasis on professional ethics have helped prevent failings?’ With the advent of alternative business structures in particular, being a professional now only means that others have a stick with which to beat ...
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SRA denies 2,000 firms in crisis talks
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has denied it has ‘serious concerns’ about the financial stability of 2,000 firms, as new figures show the number of firms declining to the lowest level since it began collecting data. Chris Smyth, former head of legal services for bank Cheltenham ...
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PM ‘mad’ to cut legal aid for EU immigrants
Solicitors have condemned David Cameron’s proposal to deprive EU immigrants of access to legal aid. The prime minister told parliament last week: ‘There are many parts of our current arrangements that don’t pass a simple commonsense test in terms of access to housing, access to the ...
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Wales to decide on legal jurisdiction
Wales first minister Carwyn Jones (pictured) is today set to reveal whether he backs a separate legal jurisdiction for the country. His long-awaited response to last year’s consultation is expected to recommend a separation of powers. A move towards a Welsh jurisdiction has been widely predicted ...
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Volunteers ‘unable to fill legal aid void’
Volunteers will not be able to fill the gap in advice and representation left by April’s legal aid cuts, the chief executive of one of the largest pro bono organisations has warned parliament. With less than 50 days to go until the Legal Aid, Sentencing and ...
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MoJ considers ending lump sum PI damages
Ministers are to consider the case for successful personal injury claimants to receive damages over a period of time rather than in one lump sum. The Ministry of Justice revealed last week that it is considering a change to the current payments regime – as well ...
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MPs: family judges should talk to children
Specialist family judges should talk to children whose care cases they deal with, according to an all-party group of MPs. In a report last week, the Child Protection All Party Parliamentary Group warned that government reforms to the family justice system set out in the ...
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Tax warning over children’s wills
Thousands of parents may need to rewrite their wills to protect their children’s interests because of inheritance law changes introduced in the Finance Bill, the Law Society has warned. The Society’s tax law committee has written to HMRC to voice concerns over what it says are ...
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Ministers tight-lipped on EU opt-out
The home secretary and lord chancellor were tight-lipped this week on details of the government’s plan to opt out of more than 130 EU crime and justice measures. In evidence to a Lords committee, Theresa May said the government had indicated its ‘direction of travel’, signalling its intention to exercise ...
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Two law firms on Cameron’s Indian mission
National firm DLA Piper and southern England firm Dutton Gregory have joined David Cameron’s business delegation to India. They are among 100 businesses on the delegation, which aims to present the UK as the ‘global partner of choice’. One of the key messages the prime ...
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Wales says no to separation – for now
Wales will not have a separate legal jurisdiction for at least a decade, the country’s first minister confirmed today. Carwyn Jones (pictured) said the estimated £1.2bn cost of devolving the entire criminal justice system would put too much pressure on the Welsh budget. ...
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Fears grow for missing Syrian lawyer
Fears are mounting for Syrian human rights lawyer Khalil Matouk, who has been held incommunicado at an unknown location since his arrest last October, an independent human rights organisation has told the Gazette.