Latest news – Page 665
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Fury over ‘chaos’ in central civil claims processing
A ‘totally chaotic’ scheme to slash costs and processing times for civil claims has prompted around 100 individual complaints to the Law Society’s council member for civil litigation. The complaints concern Salford Business Centre (SBC), also known as the National Civil Business Centre, which is HM ...
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Morale low among Ministry of Justice staff
Evidence of poor morale among staff at the Ministry of Justice has emerged from the civil service’s annual ‘people survey’. Among its findings is that staff at the ministry and its agencies have no confidence in decisions made by senior managers. Only 32% of respondents would recommend the MoJ as ...
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Law Society outlines initiatives to reinforce access to justice
The Law Society vice-president has outlined initiatives to bolster access to justice following the government’s proposed legal aid reforms - but stressed that Chancery Lane has not given up its opposition to the cuts. Lucy Scott-Moncrieff (pictured) told the Gazette that the Society has given ‘a ...
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Compensation awards restored to solicitors
The body that pays compensation to victims of violent crime has backed down in the face of a judicial review challenge and restored its policy of paying awards directly to solicitors. In a related development, it is also to allow legal fees to be paid out ...
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Restrict title to fight fraud, Land Registry urges
Property owners are being encouraged to register a restriction requiring a solicitor to certify their identity as homeowner before their property can be sold, in the Land Registry’s latest move against property fraud. From this month, the Registry’s Form LL restriction will be free for absent ...
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Firms warned over letters to Citizens Advice clients
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has warned firms that they could risk breaching the code of conduct by contacting individuals directly on behalf of clients if those individuals are represented by Citizens Advice.
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Deech: barristers and solicitors should share training
Barristers and solicitors should share most of their training, the chair of the Bar Standards Board has proposed. Lady Deech (pictured) told students at Oxford University last week that the new structures in which lawyers can practise, and the severe shortage of pupillages, have called into question the way both ...
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McNally unmoved as he rejects third-party capture ban
Justice minister Lord McNally has reiterated that the government has no intention of banning insurers from third-party capture. Speaking during Wednesday’s House of Lords debate on civil litigation reform, McNally said there was no proof that accident victims were harmed by a direct approach from insurance ...
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Law centres warn on legal aid cuts
Law centres will close, leaving ‘many thousands’ of the poor and marginalised without access to justice if the government’s legal aid cuts are implemented, peers have warned. In a short debate this week, Labour’s former legal aid minister Lord Bach asked what assessment the ...
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Mirror wills invalidated by signature mix-up, appeal judges rule
A simple mix-up when a husband and wife signed mirror wills 13 years ago means they have no value in law, the Court of Appeal ruled today. The ruling disinherits the couple’s intended heir and has left lawyers calling for a more flexible approach to probate law. ...
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RJW to be limited company following £53.8m Aussie takeover
Top-100 firm Russell Jones & Walker this week became the biggest beast in the new world of alternative business structures by announcing a £53.8m takeover by a stock-exchange listed Australian firm. Slater & Gordon of Melbourne announced the acquisition on Monday, saying it planned to create one the UK’s biggest ...
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Jackson civil cost reforms deferred until April 2013
The government has deferred Lord Justice Jackson's civil costs reforms until April 2013 but fought off attempts to scale back the changes. The Ministry of Justice this week confirmed that civil litigation reform will be put back by six months to give law firms time to ...
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Judges ponder action over pensions
Judges are considering legal action to block an increase in their pension contributions. The judges claim that the changes, which follow the 2010 Hutton report on public service pensions and come into force in April, would be unlawful and have set up an action group to ...
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US warning on third-party funding reform
An influential US legal lobbying group has warned of 'serious concerns' about the growing power of third-party litigation funding in the UK. The Chamber Institute for Legal Reform (ILR) has already pleaded with the American Bar Association to halt the increasing use of external litigation funding ...
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Fewer apply to study law
Applications to study law at UK universities and colleges have fallen sharply, figures released today show - but not as sharply as applications for university places overall.
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Merger talks off
Talks over a possible merger between national firms DWF and Cobbetts have ended just weeks after they were first confirmed. In a joint statement released today, the firms said the decision had been made not to progress with talks due to ‘current uncertainty in market conditions’. ...
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We’re clearing web backlog, says SRA
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has apologised for delays to online practising certificate renewal as it starts to clear the backlog of applications.
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Pain of rejection
I have noticed in the past six months a markedly increased level of rejections being received from the Legal Services Commission in respect of claims for payment, for what can only be described as the most petty of reasons. These include, among many: ...
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At least say sorry
In the sympathetic sense of the word, I pity Jewels. The Legal Services Commission clearly does not. An LSC spokesman said: ‘We are sorry to learn that Jewels Solicitors have decided to go into administration and we are now working with the administrators to ensure the firm’s clients continue to ...
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Naked populism
In discussing two recent bail decisions, Robin Tilbrook asks, rhetorically, whether racism is now worse than murder. The answer, of course, is that murder is worse, because the victim has no chance of recovery from the damage inflicted.