Latest news – Page 818
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News
Mr Justice Gross to head Commercial Court
Mr Justice Gross has been appointed judge in charge of the Commercial Court with effect from 1 October. He will succeed Mr Justice Andrew Smith, whose term of office comes to an end on 30 September. Gross will have overall responsibility for ...
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Co-op launches legal services promotion campaign
The Co-operative has launched a high-profile campaign to promote its legal services to the 17 million weekly shoppers in its food stores. The campaign, which includes in-store radio, till screen displays and door-to-door leafleting, will last nine weeks and aims to promote awareness of the range ...
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Provision gap in the east after East Anglia law centres close
East Anglia is currently without a single legal aid law centre after Cambridge Law Centre and Huntingdon Law Centre, the only two centres in East Anglia, closed down after their parent charity ceased trading. Advice for Life, the charity that ran both law centres, stopped trading ...
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BVT consultation
I write with reference to the letter in support of best value tendering (see [2009] Gazette, 23 July, 11). I am pleased to see that others recognise the potential benefits of best value tendering (BVT). I would, however, reassure Gazette readers that in developing our proposals we have spoken with ...
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National interest
We read with interest the Benchmarks item on forced marriage protection orders (see [2009] Gazette, 23 July, 19).
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Debt blocks access
The final report of the Panel on Fair Access to the Professions should have been seen as the propaganda it is.
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Free dispute mechanism does the bar no credit
I wonder how many solicitors undertaking occasional litigation are aware of the Bar Council’s terms of work, and in particular the mechanism that comes into play if the solicitor disputes a barrister’s fee note.
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ITV and Lovells form pro bono partnership
ITV Legal has launched a new pro bono initiative with City firm Lovells as part of an innovative partnership programme with its panel law firms. The ITV Legal pro bono bank gives in-house lawyers at ITV the opportunity to take part in Lovells’ pro bono work. ...
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Bar Council accuses CPS of ‘Alice in Wonderland accounting’
The Bar Council accused the Crown Prosecution Service of ‘Alice in Wonderland accounting’ this week over the CPS’s claim to have saved millions using its own lawyers rather than external advocates. In its 2007/08 annual report, the CPS said it had saved £17.1m ...
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Claims management market booms with 60% rise in number of firms
The number of businesses entering the claims management market has risen by 60% in the past year, new figures show, while the industry’s regulator said solicitors were responsible for malpractice in personal injury claims-handling. The Claims Management Regulator’s 2009 impact assessment revealed that 2,885 businesses were ...
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Legal Services Commission asks crime lawyers to join assessment pilot
The Legal Services Commission has called for more criminal lawyers to take part in its scheme to test different methods of assessing advocacy, after too few practitioners signed up. Piloting of the Quality Assurance for Advocates (QAA) scheme began in February at Crown courts in Birmingham, ...
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SOCA ignores call to give lawyers feedback on money laundering reports
The Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) intends to reject a recommendation that it should provide solicitors and other professionals with feedback when they make suspicious activity reports (SARs), the Gazette has learned. A House of Lords committee last week asked SOCA to provide ‘increased levels of ...
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Miners’ MP seeks probe into compensation payouts
The new chair of the All-Party Coalfield Communities Group has called on the government to investigate whether wide variations in compensation paid to injured miners may be explained at least in part by bad advice from solicitors.
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Solicitors hit by HSBC bank charges on client accounts
HSBC, the world’s biggest bank, has taken a ‘commercial decision’ to introduce extra charges for solicitors which could add thousands of pounds to law firms’ banking bills, the Gazette has learned. The new policy, which applies specifically to solicitors, comes despite the fact that most client ...
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Lord Justice Goldring to become senior presiding judge
Lord Justice Goldring has been appointed senior presiding judge for England and Wales. Currently deputy senior presiding judge, Lord Justice Goldring will take on his new role from 1 January 2010. He will succeed Lord Justice Leveson, whose three-year term of office ...
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LSC delays tendering for civil legal aid contracts
The Legal Services Commission has delayed tendering for civil legal aid contracts by six months. The delay means that family solicitors will have to wait longer for the new rules which will ensure they are paid the same as barristers for advocacy work. ...
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Huge fines await regulators under LSB proposals
The Legal Services Board could punish non-compliant regulators with multi-million-pound fines if its proposals on enforcement, released today, are accepted. From January 2010, the LSB would be able to fine the Law Society up to £28m for non-compliance if its proposals come into force in their ...
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New Law Commission chairman appointed
Justice secretary Jack Straw (pictured) appointed Family Division High Court judge Sir James Munby on Saturday as chairman of the Law Commission for three years, until August 2012. Straw said he was confident Munby would be a valuable asset to the Law Commission and further enhance ...
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Apple iPhone app makers need legal advice, says Law Society
The Law Society has urged UK inventors of Apple iPhone applications to secure their intellectual property rights by seeking advice from a solicitor. Apple iPhone applications or 'apps' can be worth tens of thousands of pounds in revenue, and anyone with the PC skills and a ...
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Legal aid providers offered free business and financial management training
The Legal Services Commission has announced a series of free training sessions in business and financial management skills for legal aid providers, which will begin in the areas where best-value tendering is to be piloted. The LSC’s ‘provider readiness’ team has commissioned accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers to create ...