Latest news – Page 738
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Law Society sets up lobbying working party
The Law Society has set up a working party to address government plans to force law firms to disclose the identities of their lobbying clients, after the coalition government said it will establish a register of lobbyists in a bill to be introduced next year. ...
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Judiciary has failed to lure City lawyers, lord chief justice admits
The head of the judiciary has admitted being ‘unsuccessful’ in persuading City lawyers to become judges. Lord Chief Justice Lord Judge told the Lords Constitution Committee yesterday that, if he could persuade City lawyers and their firms that a judicial career is a plausible option, ‘we ...
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SRA consults on simplifying regulation for sole practitioners
Sole practitioners should no longer be required to have their practising certificate endorsed every year, the Solicitors Regulation Authority has proposed, publishing a consultation on the matter this week. Instead, the SRA has proposed that sole practitioner firms will be indefinitely authorised from 31 March 2012. ...
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Firms set to be forced to publish diversity data
Law firms and barristers’ chambers will be forced to publish data about the diversity of their legal staff, under plans unveiled by the Legal Services Board today. Publishing a consultation, Increasing diversity and social mobility in the legal workforce: transparency and evidence, the LSB said that ...
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Allen & Overy faces lawsuit over employee sacked for erotic blog
A former Allen & Overy solicitor sacked for writing an erotic blog that allegedly used the names of her co-workers and a client is claiming £3.5m compensation from the firm for unfair dismissal and sex discrimination. Former senior associate Deidre Clark, 44, who wrote under the ...
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Government announces court closures
The justice minister Jonathan Djanogly announced today that 93 magistrates’ courts and 49 county courts will be closed as part of the government’s drive to improve the justice system. The government says the move will save an estimated £41.5m, alongside a possible £35.8m raised from the ...
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Consumers unattracted by non-legal brands, survey suggests
Two-thirds of consumers would not want to buy their legal services through non-legal brands, according to a survey of 2,000 clients seen exclusively by the Gazette. In the poll by law firm referral service Contact Law, 66% of consumers said they would not be happy to ...
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Leading Sheffield firm falls victim to downturn
Century-old Sheffield law firm Ashton Morton Slack LLP has collapsed into administration, becoming the latest regional casualty of the economic downturn. Administrators from BDO, appointed by the limited liability partnership’s members last Friday, blamed the firm’s demise on cashflow problems arising from declining volumes of work and increasing overheads. ...
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Youth crime has fallen, report suggests
The volume of crime committed by young people has fallen by 25% over the last decade, according to a report published today by the National Audit Office. However, the report reveals that those offenders who receive serious community sentences or custodial sentences remain just as likely ...
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The court system isn’t for everyone
I am writing to congratulate Lord Justice Jackson on his splendid recommendations for the reform of civil costs, and in particular the proposed removal of after-the-event insurance. I have long been of the opinion that people from a working-class background should not have access to the ...
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Consumer interest must be paramount
I am instructed by a lady awaiting estate money due to her. She had rung her solicitor only to hear a recorded message saying that the firm had ‘closed until further notice’. The firm had in fact been the subject of an intervention by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. I duly ...
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Duncan Lewis courts FTSE takeover
Duncan Lewis, the country’s biggest civil legal aid law firm, is preparing to be taken over by a public company once reforms allow, the Gazette can reveal. The London firm is discussing a takeover with a company listed on the FTSE 250 index, and said it ...
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Where there’s a will
Your recent article, Rise in number of intestacy disputes, highlighted two interesting issues: hard times encourage people to contest inheritances; and intestacies offer more opportunities for such disputes to take place. My summary of this state of affairs is that necessity and greed are powerful motivators of human behaviour, and ...
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PII reforms a ‘disaster’ for high street
Plans for reform of the professional indemnity insurance rules could ‘hand control of the conveyancing market to lenders and insurers’, solicitors have been warned. Former Law Society president Paul Marsh, an industry specialist, said the proposals are ‘potentially a disaster’ for high street conveyancers.
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LSC under fire over spending
The Legal Services Commission’s ‘unlawful’ family tender cost around £1m, its legal director told the House of Commons justice committee last week. The LSC also came under fire from MPs over senior executives’ pay, after its recently published accounts showed that former chief executive Carolyn Regan ...
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Family lawyers offered ADR fee
Legal aid minister Jonathan Djanogly has proposed that family solicitors should receive £150 to provide legal help to clients who engage in mediation, to demonstrate the government’s commitment to alternative dispute resolution. Speaking at the National Family Mediation conference last week, Djanogly (pictured) announced that where ...
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Libel defence broadened to reflect internet age
The first libel case to be appealed to the Supreme Court has seen a defence dating back to Victorian times broadened to meet the needs of the internet age. In Spiller v Joseph, Lord Phillips said the defence of ‘fair comment’, which places a burden on ...
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Solicitors miss out on judicial posts
Two women and two ethnic minority lawyers were among the 13 candidates recommended for appointment to the High Court in the most recent selection round, the Judicial Appointments Commission has said. The JAC said the appointments would increase ethnic minority representation in the court to ...
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Lawyer denies ‘£1.4m theft’
A Leeds solicitor and his wife stole £1.4m from the firm where they both worked to fund a luxury lifestyle, a jury at Leeds Crown Court heard last week. Simon Morgan, 50, who was senior partner at Milners in Leeds, and his wife Ann Young-Morgan, 55, ...
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Out of court disposals warning
Too many cases are being dealt with by out of court disposals where the police are acting as prosecutor and judge, a Court of Appeal judge said last week. Giving the Roscoe lecture on criminal justice, Lord Justice Leveson pointed out that 450,000 cases were dealt ...