Latest news – Page 809
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Collaborative law a success for divorcing couples, says judge
Collaborative law has proved a huge success for divorcing couples and could soon be extended into the commercial arena, one of the UK’s most senior judges said last week. Lord Kerr of Tonaghmore, a justice of the Supreme Court, said the number of collaborative lawyers practising ...
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Surge in unfair dismissal claims puts tribunals under strain
Lawyers are witnessing a huge surge in unfair dismissal claims which is leading them to expand their employment teams but is also placing a severe strain on the tribunal system. Figures released by the Tribunals Service last week showed that unfair dismissal claims rose 29% to ...
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SRA commissions £40,000 diversity research
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has commissioned research to find out why ethnic minority solicitors are over-represented in its regulatory decisions, the Gazette has learned. The £40,000 study, by business psychologists Pearn Kandola, will look at issues including the SRA’s processes, the career progression of ethnic minority ...
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Joint LA panel to save £1.5m
Six London boroughs have combined to slash almost £1.5m a year in legal fees. The London Boroughs Legal Alliance, which links lawyers from Harrow, Hammersmith & Fulham, Camden, Hillingdon, Hounslow and Kensington & Chelsea councils, aims to save £1.44m through a pioneering collaboration.
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Legal process outsourcing is ‘here to stay’
Legal process outsourcing (LPO) is ‘here to stay’ and attracting interest from investors, a leading practitioner claimed last week. Mark Lewis, head of outsourcing at City firm Berwin Leighton Paisner, said there are ‘a number of private equity providers knocking around the City offering quite a ...
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SRA rules out lowering premiums in assigned risks pool
The Solicitors Compensation Fund looks set to receive a £5m boost to its reserves which could ease the financial pressure on individual firms, under plans being put forward at the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s board meeting today. However, in a separate development the SRA has concluded that ...
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MoJ review on separate budgets for criminal and civil legal aid
The Ministry of Justice has announced a review of the way the £2bn legal aid budget is delivered which could see separate civil and criminal funds run by different bodies. The review came as legal aid lawyers warned that firms providing social welfare work are at ...
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Costly choice
In his Euro blog last week, Jonathan Goldsmith could barely hide his excitement following the judgment by the European Court of Justice in the Eschig case, in which it was held that a clause in an Austrian legal expenses policy did not in fact allow...
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Homme d’affaires
I suppose it is the function of influential thinktanks to take away one’s breath. The College of Law’s Legal Services Policy Institute (‘Scrap training contracts’, see [2009] Gazette, 24 September, 1) certainly does that. New entrants to the profession are overqualified? I don’t think so.
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Brussels simplifies rules on cross-border successions
The European Commission has today adopted a proposal that should greatly simplify the rules on successions with an international dimension in the EU. The aim is to make life easier for citizens by laying down common rules enabling the competent authority and law applicable ...
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Factory flaw
The newly announced Claims Process for RTA claims valued up to £10,000 is the latest attack on the rights of those injured in road traffic accidents.
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Fixed costs folly
The news from the current Civil Litigation Costs review by Lord Jackson becomes more depressing by the day. Despite the fact that raising the small claims limit has been debated fully in the recent past, the threat is being made again...
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Conflicting messages
I cannot be the only person who is left feeling utterly bemused by the conflicting ideas that have been aired in the Gazette of late.
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Title hijack
I may be alone but I was not aware, with the coming into force of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, that solicitors will no longer bear the illustrious title of ‘Solicitor of the Supreme Court’.
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Helping solicitors in the ARP
Reading the latest article describing the huge number of firms in the ARP my immediate reaction was one of sympathy. Last year, to my huge shock, I found myself in the ARP. I have moved on and life is good, but at the time it was a dreadful feeling.
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PII – problems and solutions
Having read the ‘Solution to the insurance crisis’ letter (1 October) it occurs to me that, if those solicitors who actually meet their conveyancing clients (and there are still many of us), forwarded the copy passport and driving licence or other ID ...
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Law Society responds to PII concerns
I want to take the opportunity to respond on behalf of the Law Society to some of the comments that have been made in response to recent articles in the Gazette about PII, and to clarify our position. I want to do so to rebut some of the more fanciful ...
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UK corporate firms face growing threat from ‘zealous’ prosecutors
The financial crisis provides a ‘golden opportunity for zealous prosecutors’ in the UK to bring proceedings across a broader range of activities, according to a leading criminal silk. Speaking at the International Association of Defence Counsel’s conference in Paris, Richard Lissack QC of London’s Outer Temple ...
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SRA to set up new London office to help regulate City
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has decided against establishing a semi-autonomous regulatory arm for big City and other large corporate law firms, a key recommendation of the landmark Smedley report. The regulator said this is ‘unnecessary’ because of its developing work programme, which includes opening a London office and joint working ...