Latest news – Page 788
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Why Lexcel needs a rebrand
I read with little surprise at the Law Society being voted strongest Business Superbrand in its sector, or at its overall 75th placing. The Law Society is an internationally recognised brand with an enviable heritage.
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Concerns over terminating retainer
I refer to the Court of Appeal decision in Buxton v Mills-Owen [2010] EWCA Civ 122 which seems to me to raise some issues of general concern to the profession.
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Only one solicitor among new QC appointments
Just one solicitor was among the 129 Queen’s Counsel appointments announced by the lord chancellor today in the fourth competition run by the independent selection panel. George Trinick, energy partner at national firm Eversheds, was the only solicitor of the 10 who applied to be appointed. Only four solicitors applied ...
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Lawyers work ‘extreme’ overtime, study reveals
Lawyers are among the most likely workers to do ‘extreme’ unpaid overtime, figures have revealed. Research by the Trades Union Congress found that 18% of legal professionals did more than 10 hours of unpaid overtime a week. The study found that ...
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Nationwide Autocentre sale and mining asset spinoff
Sales drive: North-west firm Brabners Chaffe Street advised car service and repair operator Nationwide Autocentres on its £73.2m sale to retailer Halfords, advised by national firm Pinsent Masons. Asset building: Magic circle ...
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Political lobby interests disclosed
Two MPs and one lord have taken up new lobbying or advisory roles connected with law firms over the past year, parliamentary registers show. New on the register is John Hutton, Labour MP for Barrow and Furness, who was paid £11,000 by national firm Eversheds to ...
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In-house warning over City law firm skills gap
Solicitors from the ‘cosseted environment’ of top City law firms have been denied the skills and experience they need to make the transition to an in-house role, leading general counsel have warned. In-house lawyers have complained that they cannot recruit the right candidate from private practice ...
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Immigration lawyers unhappy over new accreditation process
Immigration solicitors are concerned that they have been ‘singled out’ from other legal aid lawyers through the introduction of a new reaccreditation process. The compulsory immigration and asylum accreditation scheme, administered by the Law Society, was launched in 2004, with reaccreditation required after three years. ...
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Solicitor concerns over plans to scrap ARP
Solicitors have voiced concerns over ‘knee-jerk’ proposals to abolish the assigned risks pool (ARP) next year in their responses to a Solicitors Regulation Authority consultation on the issue. The Law Society said it did not support the SRA’s plan to scrap the pool, which it ...
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Law Society TUPE action reaches the High Court
The Law Society’s legal action against the Office for Legal Complaints and the government to determine whether employment protection rules apply to staff at the Legal Complaints Service was heard in the High Court last week. In December 2009, the Society issued proceedings seeking a declaration ...
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Two solicitors charged over £50m of mortgage frauds
Two solicitors have been charged with multiple offences related to a series of high-value commercial mortgage frauds worth around £50m in total. Mark Knights of Cheshire, 45, who worked at Manchester firm Mace & Jones at the time the frauds took place, appeared last Friday at ...
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Pioneering public sector alliance to offer 'budget' legal services
Cardiff and East Midlands law firm Geldards has teamed up with Kent County Council (KCC) to offer ‘budget’ legal services to the public sector across England and Wales. The two organisations have formed Law:Public, a public sector legal team of more than 100 lawyers, in what ...
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OFT calls for referral fee payment regulation
The Office of Fair Trading has recommended that the government consider legislation to regulate the payment of referral fees to estate agents, but stopped short of calling for them to be banned. In a report on home buying and selling published last week, the OFT said ...
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Poorer students cannot afford to become legal aid lawyers
Students from low-income backgrounds cannot afford to become legal aid lawyers, according to a report published today by the group for Young Legal Aid Lawyers (YLAL). The report warned that legal aid lawyers were becoming less representative of the clients they help. ...
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Insurer claims public will pay more if Jackson is implemented
The public will bear the brunt of increased civil litigation costs if Lord Justice Jackson’s report is implemented in full, a leading insurer claimed this week. Speaking at the Law Society Civil Justice Section annual conference, Dominic Clayden, director of technical claims at Aviva, said the ...
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Coodes unveils online legal service
A 263-year-old south-west law firm has stepped into the internet age by launching a new online legal service in preparation for competition from new entrants to the market. Devon and Cornwall firm Coodes, established in 1747, has set up Coodes Direct offering fixed-price legal advice, plus ...
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Some criminal advocates ‘not up to the job’
Research on how to assess standards of advocacy has backed up anecdotal evidence that there are problems with the quality of some criminal advocates, but found there is no significant disparity between the performance of solicitors and barristers. Professor Richard Moorhead of Cardiff Law School, who ...
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Solicitors ‘key’ to increasing judicial diversity
Persuading more solicitors to apply for judicial posts is ‘absolutely key’ to increasing diversity in the judiciary, the chairwoman of the Advisory Panel on Judicial Diversity told the Gazette this week, as the panel published a raft of recommendations aimed at improving diversity on the bench. ...
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When life is worth more
I would like to comment on the letter of 11 February from Guy Otten of Hempsons, Manchester, headed ‘A licence to die’, [2010] 11 February, 13.
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Surveyors call the shots
As a chartered building surveyor of 40 years’ standing, my specialisms have been in the preparation of full building surveys (previously known as structural surveys) and what are known as ‘engineers reports’.