Latest news – Page 736
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Supporting the Law Society to fight for access to justice
Your lead letter of 16 December was misleading to those who are unaware of current discussions in the Law Society Council, of which the writer is a member, to develop policy on the government green paper affecting access to justice.
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Older partners - deciding when it's time to go
James Davies makes a number of good points in his discussion of retirement ages for partners. Certainly firms should consider the implications carefully before either retaining or abolishing a retirement age, not least because of the messages it sends out about the firm. As we have seen in other areas ...
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Corporate governance proposals ‘will dilute UK rules’, warns GC100 chair
A torrent of EU initiatives aimed at tightening up corporate governance risks ‘diluting’ robust UK rules and will be a major concern for senior in-house lawyers in 2011, the head of an influential group of general counsel has told the Gazette. John Davidson (pictured), chair of ...
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‘Big fall’ in number of conveyancing practices expected
Property specialists are predicting a ‘significant’ fall in the number of conveyancing firms in 2011, as regulatory pressures on the profession rise and transaction volumes drop. Eddie Goldsmith, chair of the Conveyancing Association and a partner at London firm Goldsmith Williams, predicted that two-thirds of firms ...
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Managing partners predict merger-packed 2011
Managing partners expect a bout of consolidation in the legal market in the coming year, according to an authoritative benchmarking survey seen exclusively by the Gazette. However, the research shows that most law firm leaders believe their firm to be on a solid enough financial footing ...
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New Year honour for LSC chief
The chief executive of the Legal Services Commission and the pro bono leader at City firm Hogan Lovells were among those recognised by the Queen in the New Year’s honours list. Hogan Lovells pro bono manager Yasmin Waljee received an OBE for services to the Muslim ...
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RSPCA victory in disputed will
The RSPCA has won an appeal in a dispute over a testator’s intentions where he left assets ‘up to the inheritance tax threshold’. George Mason, who died in June 2007, had written a will leaving ‘the maximum’ that could be free of IHT to his ...
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Chancery Lane warns against publication of complaints
Reporting the names of lawyers and law firms who have been the subject of complaints by the public will disproportionately affect sole practitioners and black and minority ethnic (BME) lawyers, according to the Law Society. Responding to the Legal Ombudsman’s (LeO) consultation on whether its decisions ...
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Students lured by City-style work
Prospective lawyers are most interested in pursuing careers in City-style law, figures from legal careers website All About Law seen exclusively by the Gazette have suggested. An analysis of the advice pages viewed by the 10,000 students registered on the site indicates a preference for corporate ...
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Expert fees for independent social workers ‘irrational’
The Ministry of Justice is putting the welfare of children caught up in complex family court proceedings at risk, organisations representing independent social work (ISW) expert witnesses have claimed. The British Association of Social Workers and others have written to justice secretary Kenneth Clarke to ...
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Bar Council calls for prohibition of referral fees
The Bar Council and the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) have today called for referral fees to be prohibited. In a joint statement sent to the Legal Services Board, which is in the process of deciding whether or not to ban referral fees, the two bodies say ...
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Ministry of Justice backs virtual courts scheme
Video technology will still play an important part in the courts system despite a report criticising the costs of the virtual courts pilot, the government has said. Justice minister Jonathan Djanogly said in a statement that the report on a year-long pilot showed that virtual courts ...
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Forced mediation will encourage ‘excessive demands’ in family disputes
Pushing parties into mediation in family disputes will encourage badly behaved partners to make ‘excessive demands’, an MP warned in a parliamentary debate on legal aid reform last week. Labour MP Karen Buck, who tabled an adjournment debate on legal aid that took place last week, ...
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‘Irresponsible’ to roll out virtual courts after critical report, says Law Society
Virtual courts should not be rolled out nationally following a critical Ministry of Justice evaluation of a year-long pilot, the Law Society has said. The MoJ said yesterday that the pilot was successful in reducing the average time from charge to first hearing, failure to appear ...
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Age of criminal responsibility will not change, says government
The government will ‘hold firm’ on the age of criminal responsibility despite the findings of a recent critical parliamentary report on the matter, the House of Lords heard yesterday. Francis Hare, the Earl of Listowel, questioned justice minister Lord McNally over the All-Party Parliamentary Group for ...
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Publish complaints against firms, Consumer Panel urges
The body that advises the Legal Services Board on the interests of consumers has called for the publication of complaints made against law firms if they have been upheld. Responding to an open consultation by the Legal Ombudsman (LeO) on whether its decisions should be published, the Legal Services Consumer ...
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Firms reject candidates on the basis of their accents, research suggests
Top London law firms are hiring graduates with ‘smart’ accents and public school backgrounds because they think they are better for their image than working-class candidates, new research has suggested. Suitable white working-class applicants are being passed over for jobs in favour of middle-class graduates of ...
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Lord chief justice allows Twitter in court
The lord chief justice has issued guidance indicating that journalists and others may tweet from the courtroom, provided this does not interfere with the administration of justice. The decision, contained in interim guidance issued today, comes after journalists were allowed to use Twitter to ...
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Immigration cap ‘unlawful’, court rules
The home secretary’s imposition of a temporary cap on the number of skilled workers allowed into the UK from outside the European Union was ‘unlawful’ and must be annulled, the High Court has ruled.
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Solicitors make errors in PII proposal forms
Solicitors continued to make errors in their professional indemnity insurance (PII) proposal forms this renewal period, according to a major broker. Illegible writing, unanswered questions, inaccurate fee breakdown between work types, and incomplete financial information continued to litter law firms’ proposals, according to Kim Swestun, associate ...