Latest news – Page 695
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News
Comforting thought
Thank you for Roger Smith’s report on the International Legal Aid Group’s meeting in Helsinki. It is so comforting to see that those of us in England and Wales who are supportive of legal aid here are not totally misguided. Thanks to Roger also for ...
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Spot the difference
The letter from Timothy Simkins is timely, apt and hopefully will focus minds. As an extension to the debate, can anyone differentiate between the payment of referral fees to motor insurance companies and similar payments to estate agents? Gordon ...
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Advertise the halo
Regarding Mr Simkins' letter, my firm does not pay referral fees either. But I doubt you can go about banning things just because you disagree with them. Besides, a referral fee is just outsourced marketing with payment by results. Is it just the marketing you want ...
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No complaints
I was very pleased to read the comments of Dianne Hayter about client complaints in the article 'Hayter: solicitors "in denial"'. She says that if the person running Sainsbury's was told the customers were complaining they would take it very seriously.She is entirely correct. I ...
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Clyde & Co and BLG give merger details
Management at City firms Clyde & Co and Barlow Lyde & Gilbert have revealed details of their forthcoming merger after partners gave their backing last week. The combined firm will be called Clyde & Co, and will have 270 partners, more than 1,250 fee earners and ...
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CJC to set up working party on civil costs reforms
A working party is being put together by the Civil Justice Council (CJC) to examine the technicalities of civil litigation reform. Experts will attempt to thrash out practical proposals to follow up on measures planned by the government following the review of litigation costs by Lord ...
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Claimant lawyers warn over health and safety review
Ministers have been warned they risk inviting a raft of claims by loosening health and safety legislation. Consultation closed last week on the Department for Work and Pensions review of workplace rules, with the results to be published in the autumn. Employment ...
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Colombia dubbed ‘the ‘lawyer murder capital of the world’
The South American state of Colombia is fast becoming the ‘lawyer murder capital of the world’, the Law Society warned this week. Recently released figures reveal that six judges, 12 prosecutors and 334 other lawyers were murdered there between 2003 and 2009.
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Columbia dubbed ‘the ‘lawyer murder capital of the world’
The South American state of Colombia is fast becoming the ‘lawyer murder capital of the world’, the Law Society warned this week. Recently released figures reveal that six judges, 12 prosecutors and 334 other lawyers were murdered there between 2003 and 2009.
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Columbia dubbed ‘the ‘lawyer murder capital of the world’
The South American state of Colombia is fast becoming the ‘lawyer murder capital of the world’, the Law Society warned this week. Recently released figures reveal that six judges, 12 prosecutors and 334 other lawyers were murdered there between 2003 and 2009.
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News
Columbia dubbed ‘the ‘lawyer murder capital of the world’
The South American state of Colombia is fast becoming the ‘lawyer murder capital of the world’, the Law Society warned this week. Recently released figures reveal that six judges, 12 prosecutors and 334 other lawyers were murdered there between 2003 and 2009.
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Legal aid lawyers band together to lobby government
Lawyers’ groups have come together in an informal coalition to lobby the government over its legal aid and civil costs reforms, which they claim will ‘threaten the entire legal advice network’. Groups including the Law Society, Bar Council, Legal Action Group, the Legal Aid Practitioners Group, ...
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Solicitors fined £20,000 for sending intimidating letters
Two London solicitors have been fined and suspended for three months by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal for sending intimidating letters accusing people of illegal filesharing. David Gore, a current partner at Davenport Lyons, and Brian Miller, a former partner at the same firm, were found guilty ...
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MoJ clamps down on ‘rogue’ CMCs
The Ministry of Justice shut down nearly 350 rogue claims management companies over the last year, according to statistics released last week. In 2010/11, 349 unauthorised or unscrupulous firms were closed as the ministry clamped down on the exploitation of vulnerable consumers, compared to just 35 ...
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Newspapers warned against prejudicing trials
Newspapers have been warned they risk impeding the course of justice if they vilify a suspect who is under arrest. The Sun and Daily Mirror were today both found to have breached the Contempt of Court Act 1981 through their reporting of the investigation into the ...
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Law for All blames bureaucracy burden for closure
The UK’s largest not-for-profit social welfare law firm has blamed legal aid cuts and the ‘burden’ of the Legal Services Commission’s bureaucracy for its demise. Law For All, which advised 15,000 clients a year in three London boroughs, East Anglia and the Midlands, went into administration ...
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Five new judges appointed to High Court bench
The Ministry of Justice has announced the appointment of five new high court judges, including the first Sikh to be appointed to the High Court bench. Matrix Chambers’ Rabinder Singh QC (pictured) will become the first Sikh judge to sit in the High Court. ...
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Clyde & Co and BLG confirm merger
Partners at top-40 firms Clyde & Co and Barlow Lyde & Gilbert have voted to proceed with a merger. The management of both firms have agreed the move, which will bring together the insurance specialists. Clyde & Co posted a £212m turnover ...
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Looming legal aid cuts to spark closures
Government plans to cut legal aid rates by at least 10% across the board from October will cause a ‘leap into unprofitability’ for firms, solicitors warned this week. The warning comes as mayor of London Boris Johnson voiced concerns that ‘the majority’ of women who have ...
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Santander charges ‘compliance fee’
Santander is to introduce an annual compliance fee for its panel members, in a move that the Law Society has called ‘deeply disappointing’. The lender will also open its panel to new firms in August. In a letter to panel members, the bank outlines its plans to move to a ...