Latest news – Page 727
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News
Kenneth Clarke: Bribery Act guidance is clear
The justice secretary has moved to reassure ‘honest’ businesses that they will not need to spend ‘millions’ on new systems to comply with the Bribery Act, whatever they may have been told by advisers. Ken Clarke told parliament that lawyers and consultants ‘will, of course, ...
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Lloyds Banking Group heeds Law Society confidentiality concerns
Lloyds Banking Group will no longer ask its conveyancing panel members to provide client account information, after the Law Society raised concerns with the lender over the risk of breaches of client confidentiality. The Society has advised firms that if any lender asks them for client ...
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Cuts to put half of legal aid firms at risk of closure
The ‘catastrophic impact’ of the government’s proposed legal aid cuts could leave 50% of firms doing publicly funded work at risk of closure, according to research commissioned by the Law Society, seen exclusively by the Gazette. Consultants Andrew Otterburn and Vicky Ling surveyed 163 civil and ...
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London solicitor criticises 'absurd' situation over conditional fee agreement
A London solicitor could be left tens of thousands of pounds out of pocket after a judge ruled that the funding agreement under which he accepted a case was unenforceable. Joe Golstein, at the time sole principal at Arbeid & Golstein, took on a clinical negligence ...
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One in two children in care 'don't trust the courts'
Half of the children in care do not trust the court to make the right decision about their lives, according to a report by Children’s Rights director Roger Morgan, published by Ofsted. Of 58 children interviewed, 50% thought courts never or do not usually make the ...
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Justice system delays endemic, research shows
Law Society research submitted to the government last week has identified a ‘lack of communication’ pervading the justice system that is causing delays throughout the process. The survey of 245 individuals in the justice system, including 172 defence solicitors and 55 prosecutors, showed that respondents attributed ...
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APIL chief urges government to give RTA portal a chance
The road traffic accident claims portal should be ‘given a chance’ before the government rushes to implement the Jackson civil justice reforms, the president of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers warned last week. Muiris Lyons said that the RTA claims process, which was implemented on ...
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Stick to the law
With the Jackson Review demonstrates once again is that members of the judiciary should never be asked to advise on anything to do with costs or funding. Judges notoriously know nothing about either. Eminent though he is as a lawyer, it is apparent from Lord Justice ...
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Filing complaints
I recently had the misfortune to have dealings with the supreme legal quango, the Legal Ombudsman. What is so concerning about this organisation’s approach to handling complaints is how it applies one rule for us and a different rule for itself. Rather than, for example, ...
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Look who’s talking
I was astonished to read the comments of Sadiq Khan MP, shadow justice secretary, in which he described the government’s proposed legal aid cuts as ‘irresponsible and inequitable’. I have no recollection of Mr Khan expressing his concerns about the cuts introduced by his own ...
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Cuts cost money
Many of the Law Society’s suggestions would not achieve savings, but create further cost, something we all need to avoid. The suggestion that prosecutors should meet the cost of acquittals, instead of central funds, simply passes cost from one area of public expenditure to another ...
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Bridging the cultural gap between lawyers and clients
My business partner Tania Jeffery and I recently opened a new practice in Hampshire and our mission statement echoes the points raised by Law Society president Linda Lee in her article ‘Listening to our customers'.
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Study to examine oversupply of LPC graduates
An in-depth study into education and training within the profession will address the current ‘mismatch’ between the number of Legal Practice Course graduates and training contracts, and will assess the role of paralegals, the Legal Services Board has said.
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News
Stick to the law
What the Jackson Review demonstrates once again is that members of the judiciary should never be asked to advise on anything to do with costs or funding. Judges notoriously know nothing about either. Eminent though he is as a lawyer, it is apparent from ...
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News
Oversupply of lawyers to drive down costs, says Green
The oversupply of qualified lawyers denied entry to the profession has led to a ‘burgeoning body of paralegals’ that will have a profound effect on solicitors and barristers, former bar chairman Nick Green QC said last week. At a conference on legal education in London last ...
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Separating couples to be forced to consider mediation option
From April separating couples will be required to consider whether their disputes can be settled by mediation rather than through the courts, justice minister Jonathan Djanogly announced today. Under a new protocol, agreed with the judiciary, all parties will be required to attend a mediation awareness ...
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First law firms accredited under Conveyancing Quality Scheme
The first law firms to be awarded the Law Society’s new quality mark for conveyancing practices were announced last week, with 385 firms having applied for the scheme so far. Colchester firm Martin Elliott & Co, Kent firm Boys & Maughan, Hull firm Hamers and London ...
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Djanogly defends impact of legal aid cuts on voluntary sector
The government is ignoring its own research on peoples’ need for free legal advice as it plans to cut legal aid, the House of Commons heard last week. Anas Sarwar, Labour MP for Glasgow Central, said that the government’s planned funding cuts, which will impact law ...
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Jackson reforms fail to account for RTA progress
The road traffic accident claims portal should be ‘given a chance’ before the government becomes distracted from the ‘bigger picture' by rushing to implement the Jackson reforms, the president of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers warned last week. Muiris Lyons told an audience at APIL’s ...
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Rise in legal disputes between commercial landlords and tenants
The economic downturn has led to a surge in landlord and tenants disputes, court figures have shown. Figures obtained by legal publishers Sweet & Maxwell indicated that the number of legal disputes between commercial property landlords and tenants reaching the High Court in London jumped 43% ...