Latest news – Page 637
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News
Record profits for Eversheds as the good times roll again
Eversheds has returned to growth and posted record profits after three years of declining or flat revenues. Profit per equity partner climbed 14% to £632,000 in 2011/12, while income climbed 3% to £366m. Net profit grew 10%. In a statement, the firm said all major ...
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Appeal tribunal slaps down serial employment litigant
A litigant who began 31 sets of employment tribunal proceedings over 28 months has been told he can bring no more cases without the Employment Appeal Tribunal’s express permission.
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Quindell snaps up claims networker to sidestep referral fee ban
One of the biggest new entrants to the legal market has invested in a networking business that brings together claims management companies (CMCs). AIM-listed Quindell Portfolio, which already owns a law firm and has applied to become an alternative business structure, said the move was designed ...
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Senior lawyers attack closed civil hearings
Government plans to hold certain civil court hearings in secret have come under fire from 50 senior lawyers who have said that no case has been made for introducing such an ‘inherently unfair’ procedure. The 50 lawyers, all special advocates with experience of the present system ...
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Courier ‘teething problems’ hit London courts
Courts in London have been disrupted this week because of ‘teething problems’ with the new courier service employed to deliver Crown Prosecution Service files to court. An executive officer of the London Criminal Courts Solicitors Association, Greg Powell, told the Gazette that prosecution files arrived ...
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High Court vindicates RSA on ‘in-house’ repair deals
An insurance company was entitled to set its own rates for vehicle repairs after claimants suffered accidents, a High Court judge has ruled. In his preliminary judgment on the case of Coles v Hetherton released today, Mr Justice Cooke said RSA Insurance was entitled to ...
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Law Society declares support for same-sex marriage
The Law Society will today enter the escalating political row over same-sex marriage by declaring its support for legalisation – while defending the ‘religious freedom’ of churches and other faith groups that refuse to perform ceremonies. The Society’s response to a Government Equalities Office consultation, which ...
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CPS delays rollout of ALS interpreters
The Crown Prosecution Service has delayed its rollout of the Ministry of Justice framework agreement for the provision of interpreters and translators, the Gazette has learned. The CPS was due to sign up fully to the agreement on 1 June. The MoJ ...
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SRA chief wants more trainee positions
Solicitors Regulation Authority board chair Charles Plant (pictured) today calls on the Law Society to launch a campaign encouraging solicitors to employ more trainees, after the regulator abolished the minimum salary requirement. And he insists there is ‘little evidence’ that the 30-year-old mandatory minimum ever met its stated objectives of ...
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Law Society dismisses ‘nonsensical’ third-party redress plans
The Law Society has dismissed as ‘nonsensical’ a suggestion that solicitors should have to provide redress to third parties to whom they owe no professional duty. The Legal Services Consumer Panel’s proposal to create a general right for third parties – those who are not a ...
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Indemnity cover saved
Your correspondent of 24 May omitted to mention that by ‘giving the practice away’, at least the professional indemnity runoff cover (two and a half times the last premium) was saved. Further, although the goodwill of the fish and chip shop was £120,000, it would have ...
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Nominations open for Law Society Excellence Awards
The Gazette has opened nominations for its Legal Personality of the Year accolade, one of a suite of Law Society Excellence Awards designed to recognise the profession’s most outstanding and dynamic practitioners. This is the sixth year of the Society’s Excellence awards, which include: Solicitor ...
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‘Hundreds’ of miscarriage of justice claims over legal advice failings
Hundreds of asylum seekers and refugees convicted of immigration-related offences such as failure to produce a passport may have been the victims of miscarriages of justice, the Gazette can reveal.
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Modern profession
I have just read Susan Singleton’s response to my earlier letter about the trainee minimum wage. Her letter is indicative of the current state of mind of the profession.
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SIFA warns against liberalisation of referrals process
Solicitors referring clients for financial advice will be exposed to indemnity claims if the process is liberalised, the profession has been warned. The Solicitors Regulation Authority is considering relaxing rules which dictate that lawyers can refer clients only to independent financial advisers, as opposed to advisers ...
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Debt fear factor
I am surprised that the Solicitors Regulation Authority thinks that removal of the minimum salary will improve opportunities for those from lower socio-economic backgrounds.
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Shropshire Council sets up legal company
A local authority is to incorporate its own trading company to supply legal and other support services. Shropshire Council last week endorsed a plan for setting up the new company, to be known as ip&e group Limited, standing for ‘Inspiring Partnerships and Enterprise’. ...
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Top GP backs government plans to check whiplash claims
A leading GP has backed government plans to cut the cost of whiplash claims by requiring claimants to see specialists. Dr Peter Swinyard, chairman of the Family Doctors Association, told the Gazette there had been a marked increase in patients complaining of stiff necks following car ...
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Equal opportunities
It is essential that the issue of elitism is tackled head on, but there is no simple solution (‘Top firms told to stop cherry-picking from Oxbridge’). The National Admissions Test for Law was established eight years ago to ‘level the educational playing field’ and tests a ...
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Chancery Lane warns of ‘anomalies’ in referral fee ban
The Law Society has warned of a ‘danger of anomalies’ in the government’s plan for banning referral fees. The Ministry of Justice is finalising the specifics of the ban, which will apply only to personal injury cases. Payment and receipt of the fees will be prohibited ...