Latest news – Page 746
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LSC rules out appeal against family tender judgment
The Legal Services Commission has announced that it will not appeal against the High Court’s judgment following the Law Society’s successful challenge to the family tender process. It said any appeal would only prolong uncertainty over the future of the family contracts, causing difficulties for ...
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Vulnerable people 'not consumers'
In the interview with Jonathan Djanogly it is interesting to note that, while not wanting to discuss the legal aid budget, the minister is quoted as saying: ‘Our priority is not about what lawyers do or the number of lawyers there are doing things. Our priority is legal representation ...
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Slur on my firm's services
I can only applaud the action taken by Hertfordshire firm Judkins and its partner Paul Judkins. My own firm has recently had its appeal concerning removal from the Santander panel, for Abbey, denied. I regard this as an act in restraint of trade and a slur on my firm’s services. ...
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Future LPC students need to be better informed about career prospects
In your article ‘LPC aptitude test risks "clones"’, you quote Kevin Poulter of the Junior Lawyers Division as stating that ‘there are between 10,000 and 20,000 LPC graduates currently looking for training contracts’. This almost certainly overestimates alarmingly the oversupply of LPC graduates. No one knows how many LPC graduates ...
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Freeman tops ranking of high-profile solicitors
Defence lawyer Nick Freeman topped the rankings for the solicitor most frequently mentioned in the national press over the last year, according to figures compiled by Sweet & Maxwell. Freeman (pictured), founder of Manchester firm Freeman & Co and known as ‘Mr Loophole’, was the most ...
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Abolish single PII renewal date and review conveyancing, says report
The single renewal date for professional indemnity insurance (PII) should be scrapped, and there should be an investigation into whether more regulation is needed in the conveyancing process, according to a ‘root and branch’ review of client financial protection commissioned by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
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Regulators consult on tougher rules for law degrees
A joint committee of the Solicitors Regulation Authority and Bar Standards Board has released two consultations on the future of the undergraduate law degree. The first Joint Academic Stage Board (JASB) paper asks for views on whether students who have failed a single foundation subject within ...
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Immigration lawyers issue warning over appeals fee
Immigration lawyers have warned that immigrants could be ‘penalised’ as a result of government plans to introduce fees in certain immigration and asylum appeals. Court fees of up to £250 could be charged for immigration and asylum tribunal appeals. No fees are currently charged.
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Lord chief justice calls for reform of family system
The adversarial court system is not appropriate for settling parental disputes over the custody of children, the lord chief justice said today. Giving evidence to the House of Commons’ justice committee, Lord Judge (pictured) said he has ‘real concerns’ that the adversarial system ‘leaves a ...
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New advocacy proposals ‘prejudice’ solicitors
A proposed new quality assurance scheme for criminal advocates could prejudice solicitors because it places too much weight on the views of judges, an advocates’ group has warned. The Solicitors Association of Higher Court Advocates (SAHCA) has voiced concerns over the ‘over-reliance’ on judicial evaluation proposed ...
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Support victims of rape, says Stern
The government must support the victims of serious violent crime despite financial constraints following its spending review, Baroness Stern said last night. The crossbench peer, who led the independent review into how rape complainants are treated by public bodies, said justice had to be balanced, and ...
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Des Collins named Gazette Legal Personality of the Year
High-profile civil litigation solicitor Des Collins, senior partner of Collins in Watford, was named Gazette Legal Personality of the Year at the Law Society’s Excellence Awards last night.
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Children at risk over court fees
Solicitors have warned that local authorities may be deterred from placing vulnerable children into care, following the government’s decision not to scrap the controversial court fees paid by local authorities in care and supervision cases. In a written ministerial statement yesterday, justice minister Jonathan Djanogly (pictured) ...
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Investors want law firms with capital
Law firms must bulk up their capital reserves if they want investors to consider them as serious acquisition targets, experts said at the Claims Standards Council’s annual conference last week. Royal Bank of Scotland relationship manager Sara Hutton told delegates that firms should retain up to ...
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Conveyancing quality mark launched
The Law Society has launched a conveyancing quality scheme (CQS) designed to give clients a recognisable quality mark for firms providing a high standard of service. The scheme is based on a new Law Society transaction protocol, which will introduce consistent standards to speed up the ...
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Contempt laws needed despite web, says A-G
The increasing power of the internet has not diminished the importance of the contempt of court laws, the Attorney General said last week. Delivering the Criminal Bar Association’s annual Kalisher Lecture, Dominic Grieve QC dismissed calls to scrap the laws that prohibit the publication of evidence ...
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Justice budget will fall to £7bn in four years
The Ministry of Justice will see its budget cut by just under £2bn over the next four years, the chancellor George Osborne announced in the government’s spending review this afternoon. He told the House of Commons that the MoJ budget, which is currently £8.9bn a year, ...
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Huge court closure response, says Djanogly
A Ministry of Justice consultation proposing the closure of 103 magistrates’ courts and 54 county courts has received a huge number of responses, justice minister Jonathan Djanogly told the House of Commons’ Justice Committee this week. The minister said that the MoJ had received ...
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LSC announces contract extension to 14 December
The Legal Services Commission has announced that all current ‘family only’ and ‘family with housing’ legal aid contracts will be extended until 14 December, following the Law Society’s successful judicial review of the tender process. The LSC has until 29 October to decide whether ...
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Abolish ‘unfair’ means testing, say criminal lawyers
Criminal law solicitors have called for the abolition of the ‘unfair, unworkable and discriminatory’ system of means testing for legal aid in the magistrates’ court, claiming the change would save £100m. In a paper on legal aid funding, the Criminal Law Solicitors Association proposed that legal ...