Latest news – Page 654
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News
Set judicial diversity target unless significant improvement in five years, Lords say
The government should set diversity targets for judicial appointments unless in five years’ time there is a ‘significant increase’ in the numbers of women and black and Asian minority ethnic lawyers sitting on the bench, the House of Lords constitution committee urges today. The report ...
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ABS trailblazers revealed
The Solicitors Regulation Authority today announced the identities of the first three alternative business structures. The Co-operative Legal Services, John Welch & Stammers and Lawbridge Solicitors are the first to have their applications approved. They can now provide reserved legal activities while owned and managed by ...
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Lawyers welcome planning policy reform
The government’s announcement of simplified planning rules has received a warm welcome from lawyers in the sector. The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), published yesterday, replaces more than 1,000 pages of national policy with around 50 pages of guidance, aimed at ‘allowing people and communities back into planning’. ...
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Two more legal aid defeats as LASPO completes Lords
The government suffered two further defeats over its planned legal aid reforms last night after peers voted in favour of amendments to retain funding for children and young people. At the third reading stage of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders bill, the House ...
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Supreme Court opens the way to thousands of employee asbestos claims
Campaigners were today celebrating a UK Supreme Court ruling that insurance policies cover asbestos-related disease even after employees have left their job. Insurance companies had sought to limit their obligations to indemnify employers against liabilities towards staff who contracted mesothelioma. In effect, ...
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MPs back simplified legal regulation
MPs would back moves to simplify the way legal services are regulated, according to research from the Solicitors Regulation Authority. The SRA polled MPs for their views on the regulation of legal services, the experience of their constituents in purchasing legal services, and the quality and ...
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Consultation opens on jurisdiction for Wales
A public debate begins today on whether Wales should be a separate legal jurisdiction. The Welsh government will ask the judiciary, lawyers and members of the public whether they want a jurisdiction along the lines of those found in Scotland and Northern Ireland. ...
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‘Difficult’ year ahead for ABS hopeful
One of the UK’s leading legal expenses insurers has predicted a ‘difficult’ coming year despite an impending move into the legal profession. Abbey Protection today reported 2011 pre-tax profits of £10.1m - 5% up on the previous year. The company had expected by now to have ...
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Britons will suffer from Clarke’s opt-out, says Brussels
Brussels officials have reacted with surprise and sadness after the UK government formally opted out of a six-year European Commission justice programme. Justice minister Kenneth Clarke confirmed last week that the UK would not take part in the €803m scheme. Clarke admitted that charities and organisations ...
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Watchdog plans hefty rise in compensation maximum
The Legal Ombudsman is planning a 66% rise - to £50,000 - in the maximum amount of compensation it can force lawyers to pay clients who receive poor service. It also plans a six-fold increase - to six years - in the time limit within ...
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Banks make quality scheme a must for new panel firms
The Law Society claimed further success for its Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS) today after two banks announced that membership will be compulsory for firms joining their lender panels and two Top 100 firms signed up. Clydesdale Bank and Yorkshire Bank, both part of the National Australia ...
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Jackson says one-third of his clinical negligence proposals at risk
The architect of the government’s civil justice reforms has admitted the ‘jury is still out’ on a third of his proposals for clinical negligence. Lord Justice Jackson said there had been little progress on three of the nine recommendations made when his report on costs was ...
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Advocate quality deal leaves plea-only question unsettled
An agreement reached last week over accreditation for advocates has failed to settle a key point of difference between barristers and solicitors. In a joint briefing published on Friday, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), Bar Standards Board (BSB) and Ilex Professional Standards announced that they had reached an agreement on ...
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New York wants to wake up in a city without ABSs
New York state legal authorities have reaffirmed their resistance to non-lawyer ownership of firms. In a decision likely to affect international firms, New York Bar Association this week ruled that lawyers cannot practise in the state if their firm is owned by non-lawyers, even if the owners are overseas.
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Advocacy compromise deal includes judicial assessment
Judicial assessment will remain a ‘central element’ of the controversial quality assurance scheme for advocates, legal regulators announced today. However it will apply only to Crown court advocates. Accreditations will begin this summer. Under an agreement on the Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates (QASA) announced ...
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Lord Young shuns meeting with profession’s regulator
Lord Young of Graffham turned down an offer to meet with the solicitors' regulator in advance of his report on health and safety and the ‘compensation culture’, the Solicitors Regulation Authority has said. The SRA said it had ‘offered to engage’ with Young during the research ...
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Claims portal won’t cope with expansion, say solicitors
Solicitors have warned the government there is no way to fast-track employer and public liability claims through the existing low-value scheme. The Ministry of Justice met key stakeholders yesterday for discussions on the proposed expansion of the road traffic accident (RTA) portal scheme. ...
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Lenders move to common approach on panel management
The Law Society has welcomed a move by lenders to create a single national repository of data about firms on conveyancing panels. Leading lenders, including Lloyds Banking Group and Santander, have set up a working group, facilitated by the Council of Mortgage Lenders, to develop the repository. The group ...
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Manchester PI firm goes under
National firm Irwin Mitchell has agreed a deal to take on the files of Manchester personal injury firm Donns which went into administration today. Some 50 staff members are thought to have been made redundant. Irwin Mitchell confirmed this afternoon that an arrangement had been made ...
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Tip of the iceberg
I couldn’t agree more with the letter ‘Passing the buck’ from Howard Shelley. However, what Mr Shelley identifies is only the tip of the iceberg. I am currently researching the accident compensation process for road traffic accidents with a value of £10k, as part of a ...