Latest news – Page 728
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News
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% ...
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Clifford Chance merges with Australian firms
Clifford Chance has merged with two boutique Australian firms, marking the second foray by a major English firm into the country this year. The magic circle firm will merge with Sydney firm Chang, Pistilli & Simmons, and with Perth firm Cochrane Lishman Carson Luscombe. The combined ...
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Lloyds backs down on client account information
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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Law Society sets out £394m justice system savings
The Law Society has today submitted proposals to government that would make savings of £394m in the justice system. The proposals would provide an alternative to the £350m cuts to the legal aid budget contained in the government’s consultation paper on legal aid reform. ...
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QualitySolicitors opens 100 new branches and business brand
National legal brand QualitySolicitors opened 100 new branches today, the Gazette can reveal. The new member firms will take the total number of QS-branded branches to 175. Nottingham firm Wilson Browne and Cornwall firm Nalders are among the new joiners. Other ...
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Lawyer wins £10,000 damages from Solicitors from Hell owner
A judge has condemned the owner of the Solicitors from Hell website for his conduct when committing a serious libel against a young solicitor. Mr Justice Lloyd Jones said that comments on Rick Kordowski’s website, solicitorsfromhell.co.uk, which criticised Juliet Farrall’s professional capability, were baseless, abusive, malicious, ...
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Client confidentiality fears over Lloyds request
A request by Lloyds Banking Group for members of its conveyancing panel to provide client account information has sparked fears that firms could be in breach of confidentiality rules. Law Society chief executive Desmond Hudson said he was ‘urgently liaising’ with the group to clarify the ...
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Injured parties deserve full compensation, says Law Society
Individuals should be compensated in full for the wrongdoing or negligence of others, the Law Society said this week as it submitted its response to the government’s consultation on civil litigation costs. The Society said that conditional fee agreements (CFAs) have provided ‘important access to justice ...
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Defendant delays driving up claims costs
Delays by defendants are driving up the costs of personal injury and clinical negligence claims, an academic report has suggested. The study, carried out by the University of Lincoln and commissioned by claims referrer National Accident Helpline (NAH), suggested that the average daily cost of defendant ...
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Magistrates consider judicial review over court closures
Magistrates’ courts earmarked for closure are considering legal action against the Ministry of Justice, the Gazette has learned. The Magistrates Association (MA) has taken legal advice regarding a potential judicial review of the lord chancellor’s proposals for court closures. The controversial plans, ...
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European Commission targets collective redress system
The European Commission has relaunched its bid to introduce a coherent system for collective redress in Europe. Publishing a consultation on 4 February, the EC said it wanted to identify common legal principles on collective actions among European states. However, it ‘firmly opposes’ introducing US-style class ...
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Real reason for cuts
Has it occurred to anyone that the motivation behind cuts (begun by New Labour remember) in legal aid – particularly in the civil arena – may be a good deal more sinister than the coalition would have us believe? Any first-year law student should spot that ...
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Conveyancing: bigger is not better
As a firm dealing with conveyancing matters on a comparatively small scale we feel hugely threatened by the pressures on our business from the increase of indemnity premiums largely resulting from the requirements of the Council of Mortgage Lenders, who of course include all the major banks and financial institutions. ...
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Poorly drafted wills
I read (online) the Gazette article about the benefits of Will Aid (and the comments posted on that article). Friends of mine had their wills prepared by a small firm of solicitors under the Will Aid scheme. I offered to check the wills for them before ...
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Butchery and ABSs
I have attended a number of seminars and read a number of different articles regarding alternative business structures that are due to be permitted from October 2011. As I understand it, a ‘manager’, who may be a butcher, a baker or a candlestick maker, would be able to participate in ...
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Weighing up the balance sheet
What a cheerless world is portrayed in Maureen Broderick’s article . Are we really just a ‘time and materials’ business? It is a very long time since there was any debate about the basis of our professional ethics. There are still some of us who worry ...
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Legal aid cuts ‘do little to protect public interest’, says bar regulator
The government’s proposals for legal aid reform have no positive regulatory impact and do little to protect or promote the public interest, according to the bar’s regulator. In its response to the green paper, the Bar Standards Board said the planned scope and eligibility cuts will ...
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Thousands respond to Ministry of Justice legal aid consultation
The Ministry of Justice received 5,000 responses to its consultation on legal aid cuts, Jonathan Djanogly told the Justice Committee this morning. The legal aid minister told the committee he could not discuss what the responses to the consultation, which closed on Monday, but said the ...