Latest news – Page 627
-
News
Justice reforms have increased burden on judiciary, says LCJ
Reforms to the efficiency of the administration of justice have increased the burdens on the judiciary at a time when their pay and pension packages are being cut, according to a report from the lord chief justice, Igor Judge.
-
News
SRA licenses 15th ABS
Seven-partner Gloucestershire high street firm Langley Wellington has become the 15th alternative business structure to be licensed by the Solicitors Regulation Authority since licensing began in March 2012. It joins firms ranging in size from Kent sole practitioner Lawbridge to Co-operative Legal Services, with plans to ...
-
News
New ABSs critical of application process
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has too few resources to handle the licensing of alternative business structures (ABSs) and should ‘triple in size or work 24 hours a day,’ the senior partner of one of the four firms licensed this week told the Gazette. The four new ...
-
News
Accused silk in court on VAT fraud charge
A London silk has appeared in court charged with a £600,000 VAT fraud. Rohan Anthony Pershad QC, who practised from Thirty Nine Essex Street, was summoned to appear at Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court yesterday.
-
News
Quotas and targets will help change mindset
I write in response to Lucinda Moule’s comment entitled ‘Wrong targets’. I agree that there needs to be more opportunities given to children attending comprehensive schools. However, I do not believe creating more selective schools is the answer. This may be the answer for law firms, but not for the ...
-
News
Grammar push
I very much agree with Lucinda Moule’s article. I am from a working class background and my school did not push me in the same way that my brother (who went to a boys’ grammar school) and my mother who went to an ‘old style’ grammar school after passing her ...
-
News
No replacement yet for £10m High Court IT failure
Justice officials have admitted they cannot say when a new computer system will replace a £10m failed attempt to upgrade IT in the High Court. The Electronic Working System, designed to speed up cases in the Royal Courts of Justice, was ditched in March after what ...
-
News
Bar victory over ‘cab rank’ rule
Changes to the ‘cab rank’ rule approved last week will pave the way for new standard contractual terms between solicitors and barristers. Under amendments to the Bar Standards Board’s code of conduct approved by the Legal Services Board, the cab rank rule will apply where work ...
-
News
Panel cull
I have today (24 July) received an email advising me that I have been removed from Santander’s conveyancing panel with immediate effect due to very few instructions. However, on 1 February 2012, I paid £118.80 to Santander as the fee for its annual panel membership review. ...
-
News
Police investigation
I cannot believe the police are right to tell Angela Neale that they will not investigate an apparent conveyancing fraud unless the potential victim (the prospective buyer) complained. The police have a duty to investigate crime whenever it is brought to their attention. The John ...
-
News
LSC to face judicial review over report costs
The Law Society is to challenge by judicial review a Legal Services Commission decision to meet just one-third of the costs of an expert witness report ordered by a county court on behalf of a child. The LSC declined to pay the full costs of the ...
-
News
Firm pays tribute to kind solicitor
The funeral will be held next week of solicitor and father-of-three James Ward, who died last month after being shot in his office. The 58-year-old, who helped to found Wiltshire firm Morris Goddard & Ward more than 20 years ago, was described by colleagues as a ...
-
News
Damages uplift ruling sparks call for clarity
Lawyers have called for extra guidance after claiming a judicial announcement on damages raises more questions than answers. The Court of Appeal last week handed down a judgment that will lead to a 10% increase in general damages in most civil cases from 1 April next ...
-
News
Kent partner drums at Olympics ceremony
Pete Kenyon, 38, a partner at Kent corporate and commercial firm Vertex Law, spent three months rehearsing for his drumming role in the Olympics opening ceremony. He said: ‘We were all a bit jetlagged when it finished.’ So what’s next? ‘Just the closing ceremony,’ he ...
-
News
Immigration red tape deters investors
A stream of ‘excessive and onerous’ restrictions on immigration risks making the UK an unattractive destination for overseas investors, lawyers have warned.
-
News
City lawyers cautious on fast-track scheme
City lawyers have cautiously welcomed government proposals for a fast-track procedure for smaller businesses launching private actions under competition law. The City of London Law Society said a fast-track scheme would make bringing an action cheaper and simpler for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Responding ...
-
News
‘Monstrous’ NGO prosecutions in Fiji
Contempt proceedings have been brought by the government of Fiji against a non-governmental organisation for quoting from a Law Society Charity report on the country. The Citizens Constitutional Forum, which supports community education and advocacy in relation to Fiji's Constitution, democracy, human rights and multiculturalism, ...
-
News
Lawyer trust accounts 'could help fill legal aid gap'
A national scheme to use interest on lawyers’ trust accounts (IOLTA) could help fund access to justice in the wake of the impending legal aid cuts, the director of the Law Centres Federation, Julie Bishop, has suggested. Bishop has resurrected the debate on whether client money, ...
-
News
Law Society at ABA conference
Law Society president Lucy Scott-Moncrieff is to discuss strengthening links between the UK legal profession and the world’s developing and mature economies at a global meeting of 8,000 lawyers. Scott-Moncrieff, attending the American Bar Association (ABA) conference in Chicago between 2-7 August, will also meet with ...