Latest news – Page 705
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News
Lawyers ‘not trusted’ by majority, says consumer watchdog
Under half of the general public trust lawyers, according to the results of a survey commissioned by consumer watchdog the Legal Services Consumer Panel. Published today, the research reveals that only 47% of people in England and Wales trust lawyers to tell the truth. That figure ...
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Legal aid and sentencing reforms set to be announced later today
The delayed Justice Bill will be unveiled in the House of Commons this afternoon by justice secretary Kenneth Clarke. He is expected to outline deep cuts to the legal aid budget and plans for an overhaul of civil litigation funding – including plans to charge ...
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Arbitration service launched for libel disputes
A new not-for-profit company to help litigants resolve libel disputes quickly and cheaply has been launched today. Early Resolution is the brainchild of retired High Court judge Sir Charles Gray and Alastair Brett, former legal manager of The Times and Sunday Times. ...
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Djanogly reveals lawyers' pay from legal aid
The justice minister Jonathan Djanogly has provided details of the barristers and law firms paid the most from legal aid over the last year, ahead of the publication of the bill setting out the governments planned legal aid cuts. The figures prompted the Law Society to ...
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Administrators pursue former Halliwells partners for £20m
The administrators of collapsed law firm Halliwells have written to former equity partners demanding the repayment of a £20m ‘reverse premium’ which the partners shared when the firm moved into new premises in Manchester. BDO confirmed it wrote to the partners last week demanding they pay ...
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High Court dismisses challenges to magistrates’ court closures
The High Court has rejected legal challenges to the closures of Sittingbourne and Barry magistrates’ courts. Kent firm Robin Murray & Co brought judicial review proceedings in relation to the closure at Sittingbourne, while Vale of Glamorgan Council acted in the case of Barry. ...
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Board approves SRA application to license ABSs
The Legal Services Board has approved the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s application to become a licensing authority for alternative business structures. At a meeting this week, it also approved the SRA’s new Handbook, which sets out the standards and requirements for principles-based outcomes-focused regulation (OFR). ...
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Colombian government makes human rights a priority
Further to the article ‘Colombian lawyers under threat’ by Jonathan Rayner, I would like to clarify that the government of Colombia is fully committed to the protection of human rights for all and a better judicial system. Contrary to the concept of ‘judicial war’ described in ...
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Become a vet, solicitors
For those of us being driven to seek an alternative career might I suggest becoming a veterinary surgeon, a profession probably almost as old as ours. Our poor old terminally ill cat suffered a serious seizure on Bank Holiday Monday. ...
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Fair and swear
Today, for the first time in my life, I had to get a document notarised. It seems that this is a rather grand title for having my signature witnessed by a notary. At least that was all it entailed on this ...
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Treatment of wills
I share the views on Illott v Mitson reported so cogently by John Hyde. As a practitioner in the field of wills, the decision is most alarming to me and drives a coach and horses through the whole basis upon which mentally capable testators, acting of ...
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False claim
I read with interest Myles Hickey’s complaint about a court returning a claim form on the day of limitation as it was not verified by a statement of truth. Mr Hickey’s argument that a claim form is not in itself a statement of case and that ...
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It is illogical but...
Myles Hickey is quite correct in that neither rule 22.1 of the CPR nor the Practice Direction 22 include the claim form itself in the list of documents that need to be verified by a statement of truth. However, paragraph 3.1 of CPR part 2 ...
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Strikes likely after MoJ staff ballot
Strikes, a ban on overtime and a work-to-rule are likely to follow a ballot of Ministry of Justice staff who are members of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS). Industrial action by PCS members, who work across most areas of MoJ activity, could result ...
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DLA Piper boss’s warning for legal sector
The head of global legal giant DLA Piper warned this week that a ‘paradigm shift’ is about to hit the sector. Sir Nigel Knowles (pictured), joint chief executive of the firm, predicted many firms will flounder in the next 10 years after alternative business structures (ABSs) ...
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Trainee solicitor minimum salaries remain unchanged
The minimum salary for trainee solicitors will remain unchanged for the third successive year, at £18,590 per annum in central London and £16,650 elsewhere, the Solicitors Regulation Authority has confirmed. The rates equate to less than £9 an hour in central London and £8 elsewhere, based ...
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Keep it simple
PR 2.3(1) says a claim form is a statement of case. 22.1(1) says a statement of case must be verified by a statement of truth. Easy really. John Wilson, Wilsons Solicitors, Leeds
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Who costs most?
We have, within the last week, been consulted by a client who was persuaded as a result of a cold call to make a will incorporating trusts to protect the value of half the matrimonial home from the risk of care home charges. The cost ...
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Feel free to leave, insurers
I write with reference to the attack on the Solicitors Regulation Authority by insurers and the comment ‘Why stay in a market which has been a bloody mess?’. If insurers are forced to leave the market, we might be forced to use an insurance model ...
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Better in deed
Oh how I agree with Anthony Shuttleworth that ‘land and charge certificates should be brought back before matters get out of hand’. I suspect that matters are already out of hand, from what I have learned. I am sure details of ...