Latest news – Page 828
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News
Lawyer executives
In last week’s news item ‘Licensed conveyancer made partner’ (see [2009] Gazette, 28 May, 1), there was a reference to ‘legal executives [making] up the other 16 non-lawyer partners’.
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Restraint orders
In an article that appeared in the In Practice section of the Gazette (see [2009] Gazette, 30 April, 16), John Masters questions whether the Crown Prosecution Service has locus standi to apply for a restraint order under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA 2002) while a case is still ...
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Fact is not stranger than fiction
I cannot leave uncorrected certain remarks made by Sir Geoffrey Bindman, solicitor for Amnesty International in the Pinochet case (see [2009] Gazette, 21 May, 9). As is well known, my firm acted for Senator Pinochet.
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Defendant escapes confiscation because no advocate would take legal aid fee
A defendant has escaped confiscation proceedings because she was unable to find an advocate willing to accept the legal aid rate to represent her. The court’s decision, upheld in the Court of Appeal, will fuel an ongoing dispute over the levels of legal aid fees. ...
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Solicitors believe judicial appointments ‘not for me’, JAC research finds
Official research published today reveals a ‘widespread and underlying perception’ of ‘inherent prejudice’ in the judicial application process and suggests that solicitors still see the bench as a career for ‘other people’. The study, sponsored by the Judicial Appointments Commission, surveyed barristers and solicitors eligible for ...
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Sole practitioners condemn SRA risk-assessment plans
Sole practitioners have condemned as ‘outrageous’ and ‘totally intrusive’ plans by the Solicitors Regulation Authority to require commercially sensitive information to carry out risk assessments. SRA head of policy Bronwen Still told the annual general meeting of the Sole Practitioners Group (SPG) that firms ...
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Local authorities face action over obstructing property searches
Private search companies are threatening to get tough with councils who block access to property search information or fail to comply with the government’s charging guidance. The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) said this week that it would take action against local authorities that ...
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BVT ‘threatens criminal chambers as well as solicitors’ firms’
Criminal chambers as well as solicitors’ firms will go to the wall under best value tendering (BVT), practitioners have warned while calling for the profession to unite on the issue.
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Clifford Chance to cut equity partners
Magic circle firm Clifford Chance will report a 5% fall in revenue and profits ‘significantly down’ on last year’s £1.33bn, according to the firm’s global managing partner David Childs. He said the firm will cut around 15% of its equity partners at the end of its ongoing staff restructuring. ...
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Straw apologises for probation failings
The justice secretary has apologised to the families of the two murdered French students for the ‘serious failures across the criminal justice system’ that left one of the defendants free to kill when he should have been incarcerated. Dano Sonnex and Nigel farmer were found guilty ...
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Eagle promoted at Ministry of Justice
Junior minister Maria Eagle MP, a former solicitor, was today promoted by under-fire prime minister Gordon Brown. Eagle, a parliamentary under-secretary of state at the Ministry of Justice since June 2007, was today appointed minister of state at the MoJ, one of several new ministerial ...
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Legal aid means testing to hit the Crown court in January
Defendants convicted in the Crown court will have to pay a contribution towards their legal expenses under government plans to redirect legal aid funds more appropriately. The announcement follows a consultation on the proposal to introduce means testing in the Crown court. Under the proposed scheme, ...
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Former justice minister cleared of code breach
Former justice minister Shahid Malik (pictured) has been cleared of breaching the ministerial code over a rental agreement. Malik stepped down last month while the prime minister’s independent adviser on the code, Sir Philip Mawer, examined the financial arrangements of a £100-a-week rent deal on a ...
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Home Office plans big cuts in forensic science service
The Forensic Science Service (FSS) could cut up to 800 jobs in a move to make it more competitive. The Home Office confirmed the company, which is owned by the government and analyses crime scene evidence for the police, has begun a consultation with its staff ...
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Chancery Lane defers decision on compensation fund levy
The Law Society’s Council today deferred a final decision on the level of this year’s compensation fund levy until its next monthly meeting in July. Society president Paul Marsh said this was to accommodate further discussion with the SRA on the matter. Papers for today’s meeting ...
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Law lords ruling on control orders ‘turning point’ on secret evidence
The House of Lords today ruled that three terror suspects have been denied a ‘fair’ trial because they have not been told about, or allowed to challenge, the secret intelligence evidence against them. The suspects, who cannot be named, have been subject to control orders for ...
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SRA appoints 16-strong panel to work on its actions
The Solicitors Regulation Authority today appointed 16 law firms and solicitor-advocates to work on its disciplinary and regulatory actions.
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Speak out on best value tendering, solicitors urged
The Law Society has called on members to respond to the government’s consultation on the introduction of best value tendering (BVT). Chancery Lane has warned that the Legal Services Commission’s plans, which will require firms to bid against each other to win contracts for legal aid ...
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Compensation fund
I see from your story ‘Compensation fund levy set to treble?’ that the SRA is trying to justify a large increase on the basis that, if the Law Society had accepted their advice last year, the rise would have been less this year (see [2009] Gazette, 21 May, 1).