Latest news – Page 676
-
News
Plight of Colombian lawyers dramatised
Human rights lawyers in Colombia live under constant threat of violence and death, according to campaign group Peace Brigades International. At an event at Middle Temple Hall, London, this week, artist Helen Chadwick and actors Joanna Foster, Stephanie Street, Samuel West, Juliet Stevenson and Zoe Wanamaker dramatised, with readings and ...
-
News
MASS chief calls for ‘honesty’ over fees ban
The chair of the Motor Accident Solicitors Society has appealed to the insurance industry for ‘honesty’ in the debate over the effects of a ban on referral fees. Addressing the Association of British Insurers conference on Tuesday, Donna Scully, partner at Liverpool firm Carpenters, called ...
-
News
Bar aptitude pilot a success
A proposed aptitude test for bar students could accurately identify individuals who would do well in their courses, according to pilot studies. The Bar Standards Board proposed the test for students applying for the bar professional training course following the 2008 Wood review. The hour-long ...
-
News
Top analyst predicts rash of legal mergers
A leading legal market authority has predicted a rash of mergers at top 50 firms in the next five years. Tony Williams (pictured), founder of consultancy firm Jomati and former managing partner of Clifford Chance, told a conference last week that further consolidation is inevitable as ...
-
News
Stop misleading the public with costly additional expenses in terms and conditions
I was recently asked to provide a conveyancing quote for a financial adviser who later produced for me a copy of the quote that his client had received via the estate agents. Our quotes were very similar, but on reading their terms and conditions there were ...
-
News
A heartfelt thanks
All too often our profession fails to trumpet the good things we do. A fine example of worthwhile activity is the splendid, generous work of the trustees of the Law Society Charity. Since its foundation in 1974, the charity has quietly made well over 1,000 donations ...
-
News
Freehold covenant: ‘shelf life’ needed
Every conveyancer knows that the possibility of an old covenant imposed upon a freehold property being enforced is practically nil. Yet instead of taking a view, as was the practice 20 to 30 years ago, everyone now demands insurance to the great benefit of insurance companies, but, so far as ...
-
News
Quality marks must not ‘usurp’ regulators
The legal sector’s consumer watchdog has today warned that voluntary quality marks should not be made mandatory to access part of the market as this could ‘usurp’ the role of regulators. In a new report, the Legal Services Consumer Panel also called for such schemes to ...
-
News
PI lawyers criticise Clarke’s coroner policy
The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) has criticised justice secretary Kenneth Clarke’s refusal to allow appeals against a coroner’s verdict. Clarke has scrapped plans to abolish the post of chief coroner after heavy opposition from charities such as the Royal British Legion.
-
News
Economists say Jackson reforms will cost £70m a year
The Jackson reforms of civil litigation will cost the taxpayer more than £70m a year in employers’ liability cases, according to a report prepared by economists. The report, published by consultancy firm London Economics, states that much-vaunted savings in damages pay-outs and insurance premiums will be ...
-
News
Appeal court in landmark ruling on migrant removal
Migrants are denied the right of access to the court if they are given under 72 hours’ notice of their removal from the UK, the Court of Appeal ruled yesterday. The judgment frustrates the UK Border Agency’s aim to win permission for zero-notice removals. In ...
-
News
Targets needed for judicial diversity, peers are told
Setting targets and raising the retirement age of judges from 70 to 75 would help achieve greater diversity in the judiciary, groups representing women and black lawyers told the Constitution Committee of the House of Lords today. It would also help if partners and other senior ...
-
News
Lawyers must embrace case management reforms, says Jackson
Lord Justice Jackson has stressed that lawyers need to embrace his proposed reforms of case management if the necessary ‘culture change’ he envisages is to be realised. The architect of the government’s reform of civil litigation hopes that by securing the co-operation of the Law ...
-
News
New accreditation scheme for licensed conveyancers
The Society of Licensed Conveyancers (SLC) has unveiled a quality assurance scheme, designed to ensure its members get places on mortgage lenders’ conveyancing panels at a time when these are being trimmed back. The new scheme combines the governance of the Council for Licensed Conveyancers, ...
-
News
SRA to phase in online PC renewals
The Solicitors Regulation Authority is to phase in its new online practising certificate registration and renewal system, following delays caused by implementation problems. Selected firms will begin using the new system this week, after the regulator decided that it does not plan to revert to paper-based renewals for 2011/12. A ...
-
News
First Bribery Act sentence ‘sends powerful message’
The East London court officer who faced the first prosecution under the 2010 Bribery Act has been sentenced to six years in prison. Munir Yakub Patel was jailed for six years for misconduct in a public office, to be served concurrently with a three-year sentence for ...
-
News
Bank reveals £5m litigation funding outlay
International bank Investec has revealed it has lent around £5m this year to legal clients pursuing commercial litigation. The bank started a pilot of the scheme eight months ago and claims it is the first to offer specialist finance to pursue a civil claim in court. ...
-
News
Ex-Minster Law chief unveils claims.com
A Leeds-based claims management company which paid a seven-figure sum for its web address opens for business this week, with a strategy that includes buying its own law firm and becoming an alternative business structure. Chief executive Matthew Briggs, who formerly led the Yorkshire personal injury ...
-
News
Alcoholism in profession ‘underestimated’
Widely publicised research findings that 15-24% of lawyers will suffer from alcoholism during their careers may underestimate the problem, the legal health support charity LawCare said this week. Among senior solicitors the figure is nearly one in three, a spokeswoman told the Gazette.
-
News
‘Last chance’ to stop legal aid cuts - Khan
Only the House of Lords can preserve the notion of equality for everyone before the law, the shadow justice secretary Sadiq Khan writes in the Gazette today. On the eve of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill reaching the Lords, Khan says ...