Latest news – Page 768
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Government wields axe over court estate
The Ministry of Justice today outlined proposals to shut nearly a third of the courts in England and Wales and confirmed it will be looking at ways to make ‘efficiency’ savings in the legal aid budget. A consultation document details plans for the closure of 157 ...
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Chancery Lane warning over budget tax hike
The capital gains tax (CGT) increase announced in this week’s budget will mean trustees and personal representatives administering the estates of the deceased could feel the full brunt of the rise, the Law Society has warned, as gains made will be at risk of exposure to the new higher rate. ...
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New international hub to promote pro bono work
A new online service to promote pro bono legal work around the world and provide an international hub for information on anti-corruption and good governance was launched today by the Thomson Reuters Foundation TrustLaw provides: an online database of national legislation; international conventions; news; country profiles; ...
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Solicitors ‘should enter into partnership with estate agents’
The future for the conveyancing market in England and Wales lies in partnerships between solicitors and estate agents to provide a one-stop shop for sellers, the new president of the E-Homebuying Forum has told the Gazette. Sir Bryan Carsberg, who is also a former director of ...
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Chancery Lane hails costs cap coup
Controversial rules to cap the costs recovered by acquitted defendants were struck down as ‘unlawful’ by the High Court in a victory for the Law Society this week. The regulations, which are now invalid, were introduced in October 2009 and sought to ensure that acquitted defendants ...
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Court of Protection failing to meet targets, report reveals
The court that makes decisions on behalf of people lacking mental capacity has suffered ‘more than its fair share of setbacks’ and is still achieving only one of its six targets, over 30 months after its creation, a report revealed last week. The first report into ...
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Human rights key to fighting terrorism, Lord Phillips says
The Human Rights Act 1998 is ‘a vital part of the foundation of our fight against terrorism’, the president of the Supreme Court has declared in an outspoken defence of the act. Setting out a series of recent cases in which government anti-terrorism measures have ...
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PII complaints initiative to cut premiums
A City law firm and an insurance broker are offering to take on complaints-handling work for law firms with a service that they claim could cut firms’ professional indemnity insurance (PII) premiums. Davies Arnold Cooper will provide 10 hours of free legal advice on internal and ...
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Insolvencies in Merseyside on the rise
Solicitor bankruptcies in the Merseyside area have risen sharply, the official receiver said last week.Ian Thomson, official receiver for Liverpool, said that there have been ‘more than the usual’ number of solicitors going bust over the last six months. Thomson estimated that in a normal year, between four and five ...
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BSB chair: 'merge solicitors' and barristers' training courses'
The chair of the bar’s regulator has called for a radical overhaul of legal professional education by merging the solicitors’ and barristers’ courses, to give young people longer to decide which branch of the profession they want to join. Bar Standards Board chair Lady Deech ...
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Society repeats nationwide ad campaign to promote solicitors
The Law Society has launched a repeat of last year’s nationwide drive to promote solicitors in an advertising campaign that began this week. Adverts will run in more than 450 railway stations and on more than 40 buses, as well as in the national press and ...
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Fresh legal aid cuts not ruled out by MoJ
The new legal aid minister refused to rule out more legal aid cuts in his first press interview last week. Jonathan Djanogly (pictured) also said no decision had been made on whether the coalition would proceed with the Labour government’s plans to consolidate the criminal defence ...
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EAT upholds victimisation claim
A firm that ‘gratuitously’ mentioned a solicitor’s previous discrimination claim against it when providing an employment reference to another firm has lost an appeal in the Employment Appeal Tribunal. Pothecary Witham Weld (PWW) lost the appeal in a case that has established that the reverse burden ...
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Banks' reluctance to grant loans impedes student access to LPC
Access to the profession is being restricted because banks are increasingly unwilling to provide loans to Legal Practice Course students, the Junior Lawyers Division has warned. JLD chair Heidi Sandy said LPC students across the country have reported that they are finding it more difficult ...
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Warning over CPS recruitment freeze and budget cut
A recruitment freeze at the Crown Prosecution Service and its latest budget cut will increase the burden on defence solicitors and the criminal justice system, lawyers warned this week. The Attorney General’s Office has said that the CPS must contribute an additional £16m of savings. This ...
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Conveyancers 'vulnerable' as mortgage fraud continues to rise
Conveyancing solicitors are ‘uniquely vulnerable’ to exploitation by criminals laundering money, a leading anti-money laundering solicitor has warned. The warning came as the latest figures from the Solicitors Regulation Authority showed that cases of mortgage fraud continue to rise. Peter Rodd, ...
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Law firms and investors showing 'little appetite' for external funding
Lifting restrictions on external investment in law firms will not lead to a ‘big bang’ for the legal profession, ‘just a big whimper’, a leading private equity investor has predicted. His comments came as the Ministry of Justice confirmed that the new government is ‘fully ...
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Split profession?
I read with interest that the Legal Services Board commissioned an ‘economic analysis’ which concluded there was no evidence that referral fees harm consumers.
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Border agency has to get it right
I agree with C Selvarajah ‘Asylum tragedy’ (see letters, 27 May). Nobody likes uncertainty, which prevents them from pursuing a full life.
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Regulation and will-writing
As long as there is an unregulated will-making sector, professional and ethical solicitors, and professional and ethical willwriters, should join forces with a common goal to provide professional and regulated will-writing services to consumers by whatever means the consumer chooses.