Latest news – Page 817
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News
SRA announces new Board appointments
The Law Society has announced the members of the new Solicitors Regulation Authority board who will take up their posts on 1 January 2010. The 13 appointments – seven solicitors and six lay members – have been made by an independent panel, chaired by the former ...
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Land registry sees 75% drop in income
The Land Registry’s annual report has revealed the impact of the faltering housing market on the government body, with its core business down by 75%. The Land Registry’s annual report published today shows that its income from fees for the year 2008/09 fell to £308m, compared ...
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New code of conduct for third-party funders
Self-regulation of third-party litigation funders has moved a step closer after a draft code of conduct was submitted to Lord Justice Jackson (pictured), the Gazette has learned. However, in putting the code to the judge as part of his review of ...
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Estate agencies charging 50% more for HIPs
Home information packs (HIPs) purchased from estate agents can cost 50% more than those bought directly from specialist HIP providers such as law firms and conveyancing practices, new research indicates. On average, HIPs from estate agents cost about £110 more than HIPs from specialist providers, according ...
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Barnardo’s report claims children wrongly taken into custody
Around 170 children between the ages of 12 and 14 may have been wrongly put behind bars in 2007-08, a report published by children’s charity Barnardo’s claimed today. Government policy states that children aged 14 and younger should only be put into custody if they have ...
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Judicial Office reveals £4.45m budget
The Judicial Office budget for 2009/10 will be £4.45m, the office has revealed in its first ever business plan. The Judicial Office was set up in 2006 to provide administrative support to the Lord Chief Justice and senior judiciary. It also provides training to the 42,000 ...
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Bahrain to open alternative dispute resolution centre
Bahrain is to open an alternative dispute resolution centre to conduct international arbitrations, following an agreement formalised at the Bahrain embassy in London today. Bahrain’s Ministry of Justice signed an operating agreement with the American Arbitration Association (AAA) to establish the Bahrain chamber for dispute ...
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A question of authority
I have just read your article on claims management companies (see [2009] Gazette, 30 July 3). I note that Kevin Rousell appears to believe that the majority of CMCs are trying to ‘comply’ with the referral code.
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Clarity on claims
A recent editorial refers to the claims management regulator placing blame for malpractice firmly on solicitors (see [2009] Gazette, 30 July, 10).
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Diversity distraction
I have just received a questionnaire to complete in connection with the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s equality and diversity study. I am absolutely stunned at its content.
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What Lord Justice Jackson’s report left out
In his interim report Lord Justice Jackson gives a number of suggestions, including such ideas as one-way costs shifting in personal injury claims to avoid the necessity for after-the-event insurance.
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Civil legal aid contracts delayed by Legal Services Commission
The Legal Services Commission has delayed tendering for civil legal aid contracts by six months, in a move described as a ‘mixed blessing’ by lawyers. The delay means that family solicitors will have to wait longer for the new rules, which will ensure they are paid ...
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Information commissioner opens up access to property search data
The information commissioner’s decision to allow free viewing of property search data held by local authorities has sparked fears that unregulated ‘cowboy companies’ will flood the search market. In a guidance note, the commissioner said that because most search data held by local authorities was environmental, ...
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Major third-party funding case fails in House of Lords
A major negligence case that first brought third-party funding into the public eye was struck out by the House of Lords last week at a cost of around £2.5m to the litigation funder. IM Litigation Funding admitted that the cost of losing the case, which it ...
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CPS criticised by Justice Committee over victims’ rights
Government proclamations that the Crown Prosecution Service is a champion of victims’ rights are ‘a damaging misrepresentation of reality’, a report said this week. The report by the House of Commons Justice Committee praised the CPS for its collaborative working with police, but raised concerns over ...
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Class actions in employment tribunals called for by government research
Unpublished government research obtained by the Gazette has called for opt-out class actions to be piloted in employment tribunals, so as to deal with the thousands of discrimination and equal pay cases clogging up the system. The report by Lexicon Ltd, whose publication has been delayed ...
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Miners win negligence payouts from solicitors over coal health claims
Injured miners who successfully sued their former solicitors for under-settling coal health compensation claims have won tens of thousands of pounds in settlements, it has emerged. Documents obtained by the Gazette from a law firm that has handled miners’ negligence cases show that a small ...
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Legal Services Board seeks powers to impose huge fines on regulators
The Legal Services Board could punish the Law Society and other regulators with multi-million-pound fines if they fail to meet its regulatory objectives, under proposals published this week. The plans, which would give the LSB powers to fine the Law Society up to £28m for non-compliance, ...
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Fox Hayes £1m FSA fine still unpaid
The Financial Services Authority has yet to recover a penny of the £1m fine it levied against collapsed Leeds firm Fox Hayes for its part in a £15m ‘boiler room’ fraud, the Gazette can reveal. The City regulator fined Fox Hayes in February for failing ...
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PII bills to stay flat for big firms, but rise sharply for small
Professional indemnity insurance (PII) premiums for the top 100 law firms look likely to remain flat for 2009/10 despite a slight increase in claims, insurance broker Marsh said today. Insurance bills for small firms, however, are likely to rise significantly. Marsh, which claims it brokes PII ...