Latest news – Page 757
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PC fee expected to fall in 2011/12
Law firms and solicitors could see their regulatory fees slashed by almost a fifth this year. However, there is likely to be an increase in contributions to the compensation fund. Under SRA plans to be put before its board tomorrow, the individual ...
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LSC big firm meetings 'unfair', small practices allege
Small legal aid firms accused the Legal Services Commission of breaching its duty of fairness this week, as it emerged that the LSC had scheduled two meetings in recent days exclusively for large firms, in the run-up to the government’s best value tendering (BVT) consultation. ...
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Magistrates drop court closure challenge
Sedgemoor magistrates have dropped legal action seeking to prevent the closure of their court after having ‘lost faith in the system’. The decision leaves the Ministry of Justice facing three actions over its programme of court closures. Mike Dodden, former chairman of ...
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Solicitors face 'challenge' from Council for Licensed Conveyancers over ABS
The solicitors’ profession faces an ‘interesting challenge’ following the Legal Services Board’s recent stamp of approval for the Council for Licensed Conveyancers to become a regulator of alternative business structures, a leading market commentator has suggested. Stephen Mayson of the Legal Services Institute said that ...
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Solicitors Regulation Authority under attack from insurers
Insurers have criticised the Solicitors Regulation Authority for being too slow to act when law firms breach the rules. Speaking at the Law Society Property Section’s annual conference in London last week, Andrew Nickels, risk manager at Zurich Professional, claimed the SRA fails to take action ...
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Fresh plea for asbestos victims 'fund of last resort'
Lawyers acting for people suffering from asbestos-related diseases have renewed their appeal for a ‘fund of last resort’ when insurance details cannot be found. Claimant lawyers said they had waited more than a year for the results of a consultation on setting up an Employers’ Liability ...
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City law firms urged to rethink strategy
City firms must reinvent themselves to keep pace with the changing corporate sector over the next decade, according to a report published last week. Legal consultancy Jomati, run by Tony Williams, former managing partner of magic circle firm Clifford Chance, said firms will need a new ...
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Essex legal aid firms to merge
Two established Essex firms will on 1 July become the latest legal aid firms to merge. Fisher Jones Greenwood, which has offices in Colchester, Chelmsford and Clacton-on-Sea, will join forces with Chelmsford firm Budd Martin Burrett in the fourth major legal aid firm tie-up this year. ...
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News focus: counsel for Europe
Proposals for an EU-wide approach to collective redress exposed deep divisions among delegates gathered in Luxembourg for last week’s plenary session of the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE). Collective redress, sometimes called group litigation or class action, was the subject of one ...
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‘No win, no fee’ unjustly blamed for rise in negligence claims
Your recent article reporting on the increased number of medical negligence claims in 2010 is interesting, but the Medical Defence Union reaches a highly speculative conclusion. The MDU offers no firm evidence for its suggestion that ‘no win, no fee’ arrangements are behind the increase ...
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Working in the law for less
As a practising barrister with no party-political affiliation, I have, like all lawyers, had to think long and hard recently about what our reaction should be to the savage cuts to legal aid imposed by ministers who have very adequate incomes, and in some cases substantial private wealth. ...
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Good legal service matters
With regard to ‘Join a brand, warns Holt’ there is a fundamental difference between providing a service and selling a product. Tesco and WHSmith sell products. The legal profession provides legal services. Some may wish ...
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Respect atheism
I am an atheist who is married to a Christian and who is the father of another Christian. While I do not share their faith, I respect it. With respect to Ian Newman (letters, 19 May), I do not recognise ...
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Christianity is not totalitarianism
I cannot believe that Darren White equates Christianity with totalitarianism. The latter imposes its will on the population. The former tells people what the situation is and leaves them free to decide for themselves. Likewise David Rhodes, with respect, misunderstands what ...
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Different ethics
Atheism and Christianity produce different law and ethics. Militant scientific atheism tells us that, biologically, a human is more intelligent but no more special than a chimpanzee or a slug. Our noblest thoughts are just chemical ...
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Faith is rational
Lord Justice Laws’ statement (quoted by Ian Newman in his letter) that 'religious faith is necessarily subjective, being incommunicable by any kind of proof or evidence', is of course itself 'necessarily' subjective being the reasoning or opinion of an individual, no matter how eminent or important.
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Religious privilege exists
In his letter of 19 May (Christianity needs more than just ceremonial support) in response to my letter of 6 May, Ian Newman makes some interesting points. He seems upset that the Queen has done nothing to ‘Defend the Faith’. ...
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Land proof needed
Edwin Lee refers in his letter to an increase in property fraud. The cause of it is not so much the open register, but HM Land Registry’s decision to do away with documentary proof of land ownership. A person who rents ...
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High Court delays judgment over Sittingbourne court closure
The High Court has reserved judgment in its judicial review of the Ministry of Justice’s decision to close Sittingbourne Magistrates Court. The court will close for business tomorrow, but the legal challenge to that closure, brought by Kent firm Robin Murray & Co, was heard yesterday ...
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Cost judges voiced fears over Jackson reforms, report reveals
Three costs judges from the Senior Court Costs Office broke ranks to object to radical reform of civil litigation, it has emerged. Masters Campbell, Haworth and Leonard said they were ‘unhappily’ unable to agree with the majority view of the costs judges who supported recommendations made ...