Latest news – Page 806
-
News
Red tape cut for forced marriage orders
Local authorities can issue orders to protect vulnerable adults and children from being forced into marriage without seeking the leave of the court, under new powers introduced yesterday. Forced Marriage Protection Orders can include orders to compel a person to hand over passports to prevent someone ...
-
News
LSC launches tender for Community Legal Advice Centre in Barking & Dagenham
The Legal Services Commission has announced the launch of a tender for the new £2.1m Community Legal Advice Centre (CLAC) in Barking & Dagenham. The new service to provide a one-stop-shop for legal advice and representation will be jointly funded by the LSC and Barking & ...
-
News
Lending credibility
I write on behalf of the Council of Mortgage Lenders in response to Alan Tunkel’s letter (see [2009] Gazette, 1 October, 9). Mr Tunkel states that ‘over the last decade or so the CML has imposed on solicitors who sign certificates of title ever-increasing obligations’.
-
News
Immigration and turning up to court
While thumbing through previous copies of the Gazette I found an article from 4 June 2009 which stated that a defendant had escaped confiscation proceedings because she was unable to find an advocate who was willing to represent her under the legal aid rate. This article emphasised the importance of ...
-
News
LPA error
The Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) has confirmed that on 1 October their website contained an error in the Property and Financial Affairs Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA), where there was an incorrect additional part C (for the attorney to sign) included in the downloaded document.
-
News
Access is the number one priority
The Gazette reported that the Legal Services Commission was capping the number of firms’ new matter starts (see [2009] href="http://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/moj-review-separate-budgets-criminal-and-civil-legal-aid" target="_blank"Gazette, 15 October, >]. The LSC wants to make it clear to all legal aid providers that there is no new rule which says ‘no additional new matter starts’.
-
News
Airport sale, media refinancing and fashion moves
Taking off: Freshfields, alongside City firm Herbert Smith, advised airport operator BAA on its £1.5bn sale of Gatwick Airport to infrastructure asset investment fund Global Infrastructure Partners. Magic circle firm Slaughter and May advised Global Infrastructure Partners, while magic circle firm Allen & ...
-
News
Transport secretary grilled over Freshields fees in Metronet collapse
Legal and professional advisory fees were cast into the spotlight as MPs picked over the bones of Metronet, the collapsed London Underground upgrade consortium whose failure cost the taxpayer up to £410m, at a public accounts committee hearing last week. Magic circle firm Freshfields was the ...
-
News
Recession litigation boom fails to arrive
City litigators have been ‘surprised’ that an expected wave of post-credit crunch disputes has not yet materialised, according to two groups monitoring financial services litigation and dispute resolution.
-
News
Fixed fees rate cuts will drive profession away, say family lawyers
Family law groups have warned that new fixed fees which will slash legal aid rates for some private law cases by up to 50% will drive lawyers away from legal aid and undermine access to justice. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) published the new fee structures ...
-
News
APIL rejoins talks on extending fixed fees regime
The Association of Personal Injury lawyers has rejoined talks on extending the fixed fees regime in personal injury cases.APIL had walked out of the talks last month in an unprecedented move for the organisation. The Civil Justice Council is conducting a mediation process to produce industry-agreed ...
-
News
Court case results recording review shows error rate of 25%
HM Courts Service needs to improve the accuracy of its recording of case results ‘as a matter of urgency’, a report by HM Inspectorate of Court Administration (HMICA) found last week. The inspectorate said the Courts Service was not recording case results on the courts register ...
-
News
Conveyancers must enact 'radical' change to survive, says Chancery Lane
The Law Society has warned conveyancing solicitors that they will need to consider ‘radical’ change – such as increasing their liability – to ensure they retain a ‘sustainable commercial role’ in the property market. Pledging Chancery Lane’s support for conveyancing solicitors, chief executive Des Hudson questioned ...
-
News
Top solicitor jailed for cash theft
A former deputy coroner and high-profile probate solicitor has been jailed for stealing more than £43,000 from a charitable trust. Alan Benstock, 51, a former deputy coroner for West Yorkshire and former vice-chairman of the Law Society’s probate section, was sentenced to 22 months for thefts ...
-
News
Human rights record
Jason McCue of H20 Law became the third human rights lawyer in three years to be named practising Solicitor of the Year in the annual Law Society Excellence Awards. McCue followed in the footsteps of Phil Shiner, who won the accolade in the inaugural year ...
-
News
Recession to blame for rise in law firm investigations
Regulatory investigations into law firms have increased steadily over the lifetime of the Solicitors Regulation Authority, parliamentary statistics show. SRA figures requested by justice minister Bridget Prentice in answer to a parliamentary question show that the SRA handled an average of 574 cases per month in ...
-
News
Aspiring will-writing regulator's colourful past revealed
A new will-writing organisation is lobbying the Legal Services Board for will writing to become a regulated activity and, if successful, will apply to become a will-writing regulator. The company behind the Fellowship of Professional Willwriters and Probate Practitioners (FPWPP), which launched this week, has previously ...
-
News
Solicitors join with bar to fight plans to cut advocacy rates
The government could face legal action by the Law Society and Bar Council as the professions unite over plans to cut criminal defence advocacy rates by 23%. The two representative bodies are taking advice on a potential judicial review action based on the lack of clarity ...
-
News
European Commission criticises lawyers over lobbying
Law firms that carry out EU lobbying work have been criticised by the European Commission for failing to enter their clients’ names on its voluntary lobbying register. The commission said that law firms, in arguing that they would breach professional conduct rules by revealing clients’ names, ...
-
News
Lovells moves closer to transatlantic merger
City firm Lovells and US firm Hogan & Hartson moved closer to a transatlantic merger today as management at each firm agreed to recommend the tie-up to partners. Information on the proposed merger will be sent to partners at each firm late next week, before a ...