Latest news – Page 813
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News
SRA launches tender for new legal panel
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has invited law firms to tender for the provision of regulatory work. The regulator is seeking to appoint a panel for three years that will coordinate: dealing with court ...
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New guidance issued on assisted suicide law
New guidance intended to clarify the law on assisted suicide does not provide any guarantee against prosecution, director of public prosecutions Keir Starmer QC warned today. The guidance sets out the legal boundaries for people who help somebody commit suicide. It follows a ruling in the ...
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Law Society publishes Excellence Awards shortlist
The Law Society published the shortlist for its legal Excellence Awards this week. Entrants range from David Wilde, the senior partner of a two-partner Devonshire firm who has been shortlisted for private practice solicitor of the year, through to the microfinance working group at magic circle ...
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Surge in online professional networking
Nearly a third of professionals have set up an online professional profile, research showed this week. A study of more than 2,000 professionals commissioned by business network LinkedIn showed that 29% now have an online business profile. More than one-fifth of those ...
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Sick and frustrated
Our property departments are decimated by the effects of a global recession created by causes totally beyond our control and yet for which we still suffer. Our sole practitioner colleagues are being threatened with expulsion from conveyancing panels, as a result of which many could lose their livelihoods.
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The cost of HIPs
Mr Ockenden, director general of the Association of Home Information Pack Providers, was rather disingenuous in his letter about estate agents ‘overcharging’ for HIPs (see [2009] Gazette, 3 September, 11).
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Supreme confidence
Joshua Rozenberg’s article reports Lord Neuberger’s warnings about the ‘peril’ of ‘mucking around’ with the British constitution by creating a UK Supreme Court (see [2009] Gazette, 3 September, 6).
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Jewellery stores, chocolate bids and phone deals
Sparkling opening: City firm Field Fisher Waterhouse advised jeweller David Morris International on opening four stores in the United Arab Emirates. Life is sweet: Slaughter and May and US firm Shearman & ...
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General counsel opt for quality over cost, says thinktank
Corporate general counsel are not particularly concerned about the size of legal bills when considering the value of work done by their external law firms, new research has suggested. In-house thinktank Global Leaders in Law, which examined how general counsel measure value in legal services, found ...
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Legal market guru Hodgart predicts 'global elite' of firms
Four of the five magic circle law firms will step into an emerging international elite, advising on only the biggest deals and paying the most lucrative partner salaries, according to legal market guru Alan Hodgart. In an interview with the Gazette, Hodgart, a consultant at business ...
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APIL walks out of fixed-fee talks
The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers has walked out of talks on extending fixed costs in personal injury cases, in an unprecedented move for the organisation. The Civil Justice Council (CJC) has begun a mediation process to produce industry-agreed fixed costs for all ‘fast-track’ road ...
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Legal sitcom Lunch Monkeys hits the TV screen
A sitcom set in the postroom of a personal injury law firm and starring Nigel Havers made its debut last week. Lunch Monkeys, which debuted on BBC3 on Thursday and was watched by 403,000 viewers, is a six-part series written by former solicitor David Isaac. ...
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MoJ admits personal data breaches
Nearly 2,000 people have had personal information about themselves lost by the Ministry of Justice over the past year, in a series of incidents listed in the department’s accounts, published last week. The disclosure comes after the MoJ faced embarrassment last year when its IT supplier ...
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Firms keep trainees 'in limbo', says JLD
Trainees and junior lawyers are being unfairly kept ‘in limbo’ as firms delay making a decision on whether to retain them until the last moment as a result of the recession, the Gazette has learned. Kevin Poulter, former chairman of the Junior Lawyers Division (JLD), said ...
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Town halls call for monitoring officers with legal expertise
Local authorities are overwhelmingly in favour of requiring monitoring officers to be legally qualified, a recent consultation by Solicitors in Local Government (SLG) and the Law Society has revealed.
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LSB cost deferral too late to affect PC fee
The Law Society is to offer the Legal Services Board early payment of the amount it must contribute towards the £19.9m setup costs of the board and the Office for Legal Complaints, in return for an early payment discount. The LSB announced last week that ...
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SRA unveils mortgage fraud probe
The Solicitors Regulation Authority is to examine the role played by solicitors in mortgage fraud as it marshalls its resources to tackle the escalating problem. The SRA claimed its investigations have already led to frauds worth several million pounds being thwarted. Over ...
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Aspiring judges are quizzed on race
Applicants for judicial office are facing aggressive questioning about their attitudes to race, an approach which has in some cases caused offence, the Gazette has learned. One white male barrister was asked if he was ‘racist’ as an opening question, while another was quizzed about why ...
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Chancery Lane drive to promote high street solicitors
The Law Society is to launch a £250,000 advertising campaign to promote high street solicitors next week. The latest campaign, which takes a Beatles theme with the strapline ‘Help, I need somebody’, will be featured in the print media and on posters in more than 200 ...
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Firms shut down ahead of PII renewal
Law firms of various sizes have begun to close down ahead of the professional indemnity insurance (PII) renewal deadline, with others contemplating closure to avoid paying spiralling PII premiums for the second year running, the Gazette has learned.