Latest news – Page 794
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Family justice review aims to foster positive relationships’
The government was expected to launch a ‘family justice review’ as the Gazette went to press to consider how family courts can take a more ‘positive’ role in proceedings. The review will coincide with the publication of a ‘family green paper’ offering greater support for separating ...
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Costs regime bad for environment
The UK’s ‘shabby and mean-spirited’ costs regime has halted more than half the cases referred for judicial review by an environmental charity, a report has revealed. The Environmental Law Foundation (ELF), a charity that helps people use the law to protect and improve their surroundings, said ...
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Land Registry urges conveyancers to sign up to web portal
The Land Registry has urged conveyancing solicitors to sign up to access its new web portal in advance of the closure of Land Registry Direct (LRD). On 31 March, LRD, the means by which solicitors access the Land Registry’s e-business services, will be shut down and ...
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LawCare helpline sees surge in solicitor calls
A charity that provides pastoral support to solicitors has recorded its busiest year to date, with a 10% rise in lawyers reporting stress and other problems. LawCare opened 549 case files last year, up 10% on 2008. Calls to the helpline were becoming ‘longer and ...
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Government backs fairer access proposals
The government signed up to wide-ranging proposals to help young people from less privileged backgrounds enter the legal and other professions this week, but rejected plans to give tax incentives or other ‘targeted support’ to law firms to help them achieve this.
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Claimant personal injury lawyers angry over Jackson review
Furious claimant personal injury (PI) lawyers have accused Lord Justice Jackson of bowing to the defendant insurance lobby with his radical proposals to cut the costs of litigation, which they say will also reduce access to justice.
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Family solicitors report rise in 'collaborative prenups’
Family solicitors have reported a rise in the number of clients asking for prenuptial agreements to be prepared using the collaborative law model. Suzanne Kingston, a partner at London firm Dawsons, said about 50% of the pre- and postnuptial agreements she completed last year were done ...
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LSC announces dates for civil legal aid tenders, but concerns remain
The Legal Services Commission has announced the revised dates that tendering for the new civil contracts for legal aid work will open, but the Law Society has warned that problems must still be addressed before the tenders begin. Bid rounds for social welfare law and ...
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Solicitor comparison wesite for legal fees
A new solicitor comparison website will allow consumers to compare law firm fees for the first time, the Gazette can reveal. CompareLegalSolutions.com, to be launched in March, claims it will allow consumers to compare firms on price across 90 areas of law.
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SRA poised to relax conflict of interest rules
Law firms will be able to advise rival clients on the same deal after the Solicitors Regulation Authority laid down plans to relax conflict of interest and confidentiality rules in a shortened consultation which will close next month. The proposed rule changes being pushed through by ...
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Judgement call
I write in response to the letter from Shamil Purohit (7 January) headed ‘Wake up and smell the coffee’.
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Martial law
In response to Christopher Digby-Bell’s letter of 7 January, I quote field marshal von Moltke: ‘No battle plan survives contact with the enemy.’ Michael Timms, M R Timms & Company, Dudley
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Supply and demands
Your editorial ‘Future in the balance’ (7 January) told us nothing new. There has always been an imbalance between those wanting to enter the profession and those for whom there is an opening.
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Jackson LJ on civil litigation costs – your views
I believe Lord Justice Jackson’s emphasis on before-the-event (BTE), and the removal of after-the-event and adverse success fees, is linked to the onset of the Legal Services Act (LSA) and the introduction of alternative business structures.
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Straw to crack down on lawyers’ defamation fees
The Ministry of Justice has launched a four-week consultation proposing an ‘urgent’ interim measure to limit the success fees that can be claimed by lawyers in defamation cases. The consultation paper proposes limiting the uplift charged by lawyers for winning defamation cases taken on under conditional ...
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Tax lawyers report rise in tribunal appeals work
Tax litigation lawyers have seen a 14% increase in tribunal cases as a result of more aggressive tax collection by HM Revenue & Customs. A report by accountants UHY Hacker Young found that tax tribunals cases grew from 4,311 in 2007 to 4,897 in 2008, with ...
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MPs warn of criminal justice 'crisis'
A committee of MPs has warned that the criminal justice system is ‘facing a crisis of sustainability’ as government spending on prisons takes resources away from other aspects of criminal justice. The Justice Committee said the government should make ‘radical moves’ to shift resources away from ...
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Secret profit
I would once have been astonished to read that we are now allowed to add a mark-up to counsel’s fees (see [2009] Gazette, 17 December, 2). Sadly, it is a sign of the times. This appears to be yet another example of professional standards being undermined by commercial expediency.
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This year’s model
Adam Makepeace of Duncan Lewis & Co makes some pertinent points with regard to the large-scale provision of civil legal aid work (see [2009] Gazette, 10 December, 12). However, his conclusion that the choice of a model other than that used by his firm for the provision of civil legal ...
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Competency test
While I accept the underlying premise of Christopher Digby-Bell’s argument regarding hourly charging, I fear he has missed one important point.