Latest news – Page 693
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Greenwich law centre on the brink
Greenwich Community Law Centre is facing closure after the local council axed its funding. The London borough’s cabinet decided last week to discontinue an annual grant of nearly £200,000. Cash will instead be set aside for the provision of legal advice by Citizens Advice, Greenwich Housing ...
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Watchdog’s warning on trading standards
Deep funding cuts to Trading Standards could see legal services neglected and leave consumers exposed to rogue operators, watchdog the Legal Services Consumer Panel has warned. The ‘level of detriment’ that could result and the impact on consumer confidence would make savings from slashing funding ...
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Cohabitants should have scope for financial redress, says Chancery Lane
The Law Society has called for legislation to provide financial redress for cohabiting couples in the event of relationship breakdown. President John Wotton expressed disappointment at the government’s refusal to consider changing the law to protect cohabitants in the current parliamentary session. ...
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Chancery Lane criticises bar’s ‘special pleading’
The Law Society has voiced concern about the Criminal Bar Association’s intention to approach the judiciary with its fears about the controversial Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates (QASA). A Law Society spokesman said: ‘It is surprising that the bar should seek to involve the senior judiciary ...
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High street should embrace ABSs, says regulator
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has urged high street firms to be proactive and take advantage of opportunities presented by alternative business structures. The regulator’s executive director of supervision, risks and standards, Samantha Barrass, said the SRA hopes to start registering ABSs in December. ...
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‘First credible framework’ to analyse legal market
The Legal Services Board today unveiled what it described as the ‘first credible framework’ to analyse the changing legal services market. Consultancy Oxera was commissioned to help the board evaluate the impact of the Legal Services Act 2007 and the LSB itself. Its approach considers the ...
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Barristers get green light to take ‘direct action’
The Bar Council and Criminal Bar Association believe it would be lawful for them to take direct action to protect members’ interests, it has emerged.
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Solicitors can take technology into police custody areas
Solicitors have been given permission to take mobile phones and laptop computers into police custody areas, under an agreement reached between the Law Society and Association of Chief Police Officers. New guidance adopted by all forces in England and Wales provides that: ‘Unless there is good ...
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New M&A support service for law firms launches
360 Legal Group, which has over 700 UK law firm members, has joined forces with legal recruiters Jepson Holt Consulting to launch new venture 360 Jepson Holt. The latter will offer what it claims to be the first comprehensive legal M&A support service, from pre-merger assessment ...
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Dowler family urges PM to halt ‘no win, no fee’ reforms
The family of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler has written to David Cameron urging him to block ‘unjust and unfair’ civil justice reforms. In an open letter to the prime minister and deputy prime minister Nick Clegg, the family said the reforms would ‘significantly weaken’ the ‘no ...
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Lawyers2you franchise launch highlights lack of marketing and client care skills
I am delighted that the recent story about the Lawyers2you franchise launch by Blakemores has sparked debate.
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Erring on fees
I am writing to shed some light on the current referral fee scheme, which Jack Straw appears to have adopted as his current specialism. There is one major misconception which appears to be the primary motivation fuelling Mr Straw’s outrage at the system. It is ...
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Train to nowhere
Andrew Sutherland is quite correct - and accurately describes my route into the profession.
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Bid to force ABS reform on US states
Final submissions will be made this week in a landmark legal action which experts believe could open up the US legal market to alternative business structures.
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New law franchise targets 600 firms
Another national law firm franchise formally launches today, designed to help firms compete against cut-price and ‘faceless’ providers which operate online and through call centres. Face2face solicitors, set up by solicitor Ray Gordon (pictured), is targeting smaller firms and startups, offering reduced overheads and ...
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Lenders warned over panel charges
The Law Society has warned mortgage lenders against following the example of Santander by charging a fee for conveyancing panel membership. Chancery Lane told the Council of Mortgage Lenders that such a trend would make house buying more expensive, and could see solicitors applying for several ...
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Police ‘abusing’ bail rules
The police are abusing bail rules, the chairman of the Law Society’s criminal law committee has alleged. Richard Atkinson has called for evidence from solicitors of what he believes to be a worsening phenomenon. He said: ‘Practitioners have very real concerns that huge numbers of people ...
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EU law education programme launched
Some 700,000 of the EU’s estimated 1.4 million lawyers, prosecutors and judges will have received a week’s formal training in EU law by 2020, the European Commission (EC) announced last week. The EC said in a press statement that the aim is to equip legal practitioners ...
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Junior lawyers slam college over training contracts
The Junior Lawyers Division has angrily rejected College of Law claims that there will soon be more training contract vacancies than Legal Practice Course graduates to fill them. The college has been accused of ‘spinning’ the figures to make it appear that securing a training contract ...
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Olswang to pilot new training model targeting City firms
A groundbreaking solicitor training model has launched this week, targeting City law firms and in-house legal departments. The first non-legal services provider to be authorised by the Solicitors Regulation Authority to take on trainees, Acculaw claims it will cut costs and improve efficiency for firms looking ...