Latest news – Page 805
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News
Some advocates are more equal than others
Re: Animal Farm (In the Court of Appeal)All animals are equal except that in the Court of Appeal some are more equal than others.
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Bank buyouts and nuclear land sales
Loan arrangers: Magic circle firm Clifford Chance advised 11 banks as lead arrangers on a $2.4bn (£1.46bn) financing for agricultural, industrial and energy supply chain manager Noble Group. Noble Group was advised by Allen & Overy. ...
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European Commission accuses law firms on lobbying disclosure
The European Commission has accused law firms of ‘hiding behind the rules’ to avoid revealing the names of clients for whom they conduct lobbying activities. The commission has reopened the debate on disclosure of firms’ lobbying clients despite the UK government’s recent decision not to force ...
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Market guru predicts transatlantic merger could spark more tie-ups
The anticipated transatlantic merger between City firm Lovells and US firm Hogan & Hartson will spark a rash of copycat mergers in the next 12 months, a leading market commentator has predicted. After speaking to a number of large firms considering similar moves, leading consultant Alan ...
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LSC launches £2.1m CLAC tender
The Legal Services Commission has launched a tender for the new £2.1m Community Legal Advice Centre (CLAC) in Barking & Dagenham. The new centre, which will provide a one-stop shop for social welfare problems, will be jointly funded by the LSC and Barking and Dagenham Council. ...
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Firms settle trademark dispute
Nottingham firm Paragon Law has forced West Bromwich and Peterborough firm Paragon Solicitors to change its name and pay legal costs after a trade mark dispute. Paragon Solicitors has now changed its name to H&V Solicitors and paid £20,000 to Paragon Law in costs. The Paragon ...
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Government retreats on plans for contingency fees
The government last week withdrew plans to create a legislative framework for contingency fees in contentious work. Amendments proposed for the Coroners & Justice Bill aimed to regulate so-called damages-based agreements (DBAs) used in tribunals – which are deemed non-contentious – and also allow the justice ...
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Regional administrative courts attract only 8% of cases
The new regional administrative courts have attracted only 8% of new cases since they opened six months ago, figures seen by the Gazette have revealed. In April 2009, the administrative courts began to sit in four regional venues – Birmingham, Cardiff, Leeds and Manchester – to ...
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Law China delegation to promote UK entrants
China offers business opportunities for UK law firms of all sizes, not just the magic circle, the Law Society’s head of international told the Gazette this week as a Chancery Lane delegation visits the country on a joint mission with the Bar Council. Representatives of the ...
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Public unable to name a single law firm, research shows
More than 60% of the public cannot name a single law firm, according to research seen by the Gazette this week, even though 78% have used a solicitor before. However, more than half of those questioned said they would be happy to buy legal services ...
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Money laundering regime will not be relaxed
The government has decided not to relax the UK’s anti-money laundering reporting regime despite calls from a House of Lords committee to do so. In its July inquiry into money laundering and the financing of terrorism, the home affairs subcommittee of the House of Lords select ...
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‘Failed’ Kent virtual court pilot to become compulsory
Only seven defendants have chosen to use the virtual court in Kent since the pilot began three months ago, the Gazette has learned, as the Ministry of Justice seeks to make the Kent scheme compulsory. The pilot enables defendants to make their first court appearance from ...
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Solicitors rebut claim that they ‘overcharge’ for legal aid work
Solicitors hit back this week at claims that they have been overpaid by nearly £25m for legal aid work, blaming the ‘mountain of bureaucracy’ they face from the Legal Services Commission. A report by the National Audit Office said the LSC had overpaid solicitors by an ...
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UPDATE: Calls for end to single renewal date for PII
The Law Society’s council yesterday voted overwhelmingly in favour of pressuring the Solicitors Regulation Authority to abolish the single renewal date for professional indemnity insurance (PII), in favour of staggered renewals. Some 55 council members voted in favour of the move, with 14 against and three ...
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Lawyers provide £400m of pro bono work a year
The value of pro bono work done annually by lawyers has soared to more than £400m according to estimates published by the Law Society in advance of next week’s national pro bono week. The estimated value of the pro bono work performed by private practice solicitors ...
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Law Society Council votes against referral fees
The Law Society will lobby the government and Legal Services Board to ban the use of referral fees by all providers of legal services. The Law Society’s council voted to change its policy on referral fees yesterday. It adopted a motion by council member Sue Carter ...
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Government offender management IT project a ‘shambles’
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has branded the government’s delayed and over-budget IT project to set up a single database to manage offenders through the prison and probation services a ‘shambles’, in a damning report published today. Five years after the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) ...
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Family judgments to be made available online in pilot areas
Judgments in some family cases will be made available online as part of a 12-month Ministry of Justice pilot, launched today. Family case decisions of the magistrates’ courts in Leeds and the magistrates’ court and county court in Cardiff will be published in what the MoJ ...
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Law firm partners ‘overpaid’, says Mayson
Law firm partners are paying themselves too much and their businesses will struggle to attract external investment because they are not worth as much as the partners believe, a leading commentator has warned. Professor Stephen Mayson, director of the Legal Services Policy Institute, said partners have ...
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CPS publishes ethical principles
The director of public prosecutions has today published a ‘statement of ethical principles’, setting out what is expected of public prosecutors in England and Wales. Keir Starmer QC said the document, which sets out the ethical principles that underpin and guide the work of public prosecutors, ...