Latest news – Page 754
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News
Solicitors anxious over ABS ‘threat’
There is a high level of anxiety among solicitors over the impact of legal services reforms, with conveyancers showing the greatest alarm, according to research seen exclusively by the Gazette. A survey of more than 300 solicitors by law firm network Contact Law found ...
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Financial crisis sees dispute resolution surge
The financial crisis has seen a surge in dispute resolution cases, with the UK performing well as a venue for hearing international disputes, according to a report published today. The report Dispute Resolution in London & the UK, compiled by membership body TheCityUK, shows the number ...
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Innovation ‘anathema to solicitors’, report suggests
Innovation appears to be ‘anathema’ to solicitors, who place too much reliance on the value of their reputation and are overly wedded to ‘old school’ marketing techniques, according to a report published today. The ‘white paper’ compiled by business advisory group Selling for Solicitors also found ...
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Law Society warns Home Office over immigration cap
The Law Society has today made a submission to the Home Office warning that its proposed limits on non-EU highly skilled migration could damage the legal sector. The submission follows concerns voiced by Liberal Democrat business secretary Vince Cable this week that immigration limits are damaging ...
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Firms must inform clients of new complaints body
Solicitors will be obliged to inform clients that the Legal Complaints Service has been replaced by the Legal Ombudsman (LeO), following a rule change approved by the Solicitors Regulation Authority at its board meeting today. The SRA said it had been forced to introduce the rule ...
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Solicitors queue up to sue LSC
Pressure is mounting on the Legal Services Commission over its handling of the tender for civil legal aid contracts, as it faces a growing number of judicial review challenges to the process, and talks with the Law Society broke down.
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Army cuts could hit support for Afghan operations
The defence spending and security review will result in cuts of at least 25% in the numbers of lawyers in the Army and Royal Air Force, the Gazette understands. The cuts will include lawyers who advise frontline troops and commanders on compliance with the Geneva ...
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MoJ to review media reporting in family courts
The Ministry of Justice has told the Gazette that it will not commence legislation that would extend the media’s right to report family cases without ‘looking closely’ at the changes, amid pressure from family lawyers. Family lawyers have called on the government not to ...
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Akzo Nobel ruling a ‘missed opportunity’ say lawyers
Lawyers expressed dismay this week at a European Court of Justice ruling that legal professional privilege does not apply to legal advice given by in-house lawyers in EU competition law investigations. Ruling in the Akzo Nobel case, the ECJ said that in-house lawyers were not independent ...
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Solicitor charged with theft
A Lincolnshire solicitor has been charged with stealing over a quarter of a million pounds from her former clients. Jacquelina Laverick, who practised under the name Jacqui Johns, appeared at Grantham Magistrates’ Court last week charged with 11 offences of theft totalling more than £250,000, and ...
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Law firms fear school panel axe
Seventeen law firms signed up to advise local authorities on the Labour government’s lucrative school building project will soon learn whether or not their legal panel is to be scrapped. The Department for Education (DfE)’s £55bn Building Schools for the Future (BSF) project was abolished ...
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Lord Bingham – lawyers pay tribute
Tributes have been paid to Lord Bingham of Cornhill, the ‘most respected, distinguished and admired judge of our times’, who died at his home in Wales on 11 September, aged 76.
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Mobile phones, bonds and healthcare
End of the line: Magic circle firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer advised mobile phone group Vodafone on selling its $6.6bn (£4.3bn) stake in China Mobile. Freshfields also advised the board of Anglo Irish Bank on its break-up at the behest of the Irish government, ...
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Client protection
I read with interest, and a degree of optimism, Charles Fuchter’s article entitled The SRA must amend the Code of Conduct or law firms will close on the Gazette website. Mr Fuchter’s comment that ‘mortgage lenders would be required, in effect, to contribute to the ...
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Positive process
In response to John Ford Solicitors’ letter, we have not reduced volume as part of our recent tender for low volume category legal services. New matter start volumes are consistent with those delivered from September 2008 to August 2009. Also, matter starts are ...
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Religious freedom
One way the government could reduce spending, while promoting its ideal of the freedom of the individual, would be to abolish chancel repair liability. If more applications are made by parochial church councils (PCCs) for registration of notices against lay rectors’ titles, leading up to the registration deadline of 12 ...
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Paralegal forces removal of posting from solicitorsfromhell website
A London paralegal has forced the removal of a ‘malicious and inaccurate’ posting on the solicitorsfromhell.co.uk website after issuing a claim for defamation against the owner, the Gazette has learned. Max Campbell, a paralegal at McCormacks, spotted the posting on 1 September, which related to his ...
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Law firms reduce carbon footprint
Legal services is among the UK’s most successful business sector for reducing carbon emissions, a report released today reveals. The report, from HRH the Prince of Wales’ Mayday Network, a group of 2,862 companies working towards a sustainable future, found that network constituents had together reduced ...
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National Accident Helpline launches charter for panel firms
National Accident Helpline (NAH) has launched a customer charter for the solicitor firms on its panel, which it said will ‘offer new guarantees of the highest service standards to consumers accessing justice for personal injuries’. NAH, which refers personal injury claims to a panel of 105 ...
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New human rights body must be independent, says Law Society
The Law Society has welcomed foreign secretary William Hague’s decision to create an advisory body of independent human rights experts that will not be influenced by other policy considerations. Hague’s group will draw on the advice of key NGOs, independent experts and others. The aim is ...