Latest news – Page 782
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News
MoJ publishes details of firm meetings to promote transparency
The Ministry of Justice has published details of the law firms and other external groups it held meetings with in the last quarter of 2009, as part of a new policy of greater transparency. The document reveals that lord chancellor Jack Straw met nine large legal ...
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PI solicitors to mount legal challenge to RTA claims process
A collective of personal injury solicitors is planning a legal challenge against the Ministry of Justice over its new road traffic accident (RTA) claims process, the Gazette has learned. The Accident Compensation Solicitors Group (ACSG) claims that fixed costs under the new process ‘have not been ...
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Grieve slams Whitehall plans for reforming criminal legal aid market
The shadow justice secretary has dismissed the government’s proposals for reforming the criminal legal aid market as ‘pre-election posturing’. Dominic Grieve QC said the plans outlined last week by justice secretary Jack Straw were ‘woefully inadequate to tackle the deep problems in the way legal aid ...
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Judge rejects free access to property information
Local authorities are not obliged to provide free access to raw property information, the High Court has ruled. The decision follows a judicial review action by search company OneSearch Direct, challenging York City Council’s refusal to allow access to its property records so that it could ...
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Complaints against claims management companies rise 300%
Complaints by consumers against claims management companies (CMCs) have more than trebled over the past year, Ministry of Justice figures have revealed. The number of complaints against CMCs shot up from just under 200 a month in January 2009 to more than 600 a month in ...
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Bar offers legal aid ‘olive branch’ on criminal fee proposals
The Bar Council has offered the government an ‘olive branch’ to avoid judicial review proceedings if it withdraws the current criminal fee proposals and negotiates a way forward. In February, the Bar Council and Criminal Bar Association launched judicial review proceedings in relation to two consultations ...
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Whitehall to consult lawyers over move to cut fees in libel actions
The government has agreed to consult media lawyers on its controversial proposals to cut success fees in libel actions. In a House of Lords debate on a draft order that will reduce the success fees paid to lawyers who win defamation actions from 100% to 10% ...
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New family practice direction promotes mediation
A new practice direction that will encourage parties in family proceedings towards mediation comes into force today. The president of the Family Division released the new Private Law Programme practice direction last week, with greater emphasis on conciliation. Under the new ...
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MPs spearhead undersettlement claims drive for former coal miners
Solicitors behind a website aimed at gathering allegedly undersettled coal health compensation claims have begun running seminars for former coal miners with the backing of local MPs. North-east firm Ingrams and sole practitioner Neil Hudgell, who together run undersettlement website claimagain.com, hosted a seminar for more ...
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‘Tesco law’ will put an end to hourly billing, says Lord Neuberger
‘Tesco law’ will put an end to hourly billing and lead to ‘fixed price deals’ for litigation, the master of the rolls Lord Neuberger predicted last week. Speaking at the Personal Injuries Bar Association conference, Neuberger said that the Legal Services Act 2007 would do much ...
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Most asylum seekers wrongly denied funded representation
Nearly 80% of asylum seekers are being wrongly refused publicly funded legal representation, according to a study published today by Devon Law Centre. Since July 2007, the Devon centre has had referred to it 75 asylum cases that had been refused controlled legal representation on the ...
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Consumer panel calls for competence test for lawyers
Lawyers should undergo five-yearly competence testing and there should be peer review of the advice they provide to clients, the chairwoman of the Legal Services Consumer Panel has said. Dianne Hayter said continuing professional development was an insufficient check of quality, and she would like to see a more formal ...
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SRA issues advice on Quinn administration
The Solicitors Regulation Authority today advised 2,911 law firms to sit tight and take no action after Irish insurer Quinn Insurance, which provides their solicitors' professional indemnity insurance (PII), was forced into administration yesterday.
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Expansion of barristers’ role following relaxation of bar rules
The Legal Services Board has approved a relaxation in the bar rules that will allow barristers to take advantage of the Legal Services Act 2007. Following the LSB’s approval of the Bar Standards Boards’ applications to relax the bar’s Code of Conduct, barristers will now be ...
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Lawyers warning over family experts fee cuts
Slashing the fees of social work experts will put vulnerable children at risk and increase delays in the family court, their representative groups have warned. From October 2010, the Ministry of Justice will reduce by around 50% the fees paid to social workers who give independent ...
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SRA issues advice on Quinn administration
The Solicitors Regulation Authority today advised 2,911 law firms to sit tight and take no action after Irish insurer Quinn Insurance, which provides their solicitors’ professional indemnity insurance (PII), was forced into administration yesterday.
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Quinn Insurance in administration
Irish insurer Quinn Insurance, a major underwriter of solicitors’ professional indemnity insurance (PII) policies in the UK, has today fallen into administration. In a statement, the Irish Financial Regulator said that it has directed Quinn to cease writing new business in the UK. The statement said ...
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Legal challenge threat to RTA process
A collective of personal injury solicitors is planning a legal challenge against the Ministry of Justice over its new road traffic accident (RTA) claims process, the Gazette had learned. The Accident Compensation Solicitors Group (ACSG) claims that fixed costs under the new process ‘have not been ...
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New higher rights qualification approved
New regulations that provide a single route for solicitors to qualify to appear in the higher courts come into effect this week, on 1 April. The Ministry of Justice has approved the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s new system, which will see one route to qualification through an ...
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‘Tesco law juggernaut halted’ in Scotland
Scottish solicitors opposed to the introduction of alternative business structures yesterday hailed the ‘halting of the Tesco law juggernaut’ north of the border, following a heated debate over the future of the nation’s legal profession. At a special meeting held in Edinburgh’s Murrayfield stadium, the ...