Latest news – Page 836
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News
Number of family law disputes in January much greater than expected
The number of legal disputes over children almost doubled in January as Christmas and the recession combined to increase tensions between divorced parents, figures have revealed. Contact Law, a client introduction network for law firms, said enquiries regarding child support and child custody jumped 49%, from ...
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Injured person ‘forgotten’, says APIL
The personal injury claims process has lost sight of the injured person, the president of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers has said. Speaking at the APIL president’s lunch, John McQuater said a good claims system needed to strike ‘the right balance’ for injured people and ...
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Star flaws
I read with interest Richard Taylor’s article regarding copyright problems over the uniform of the Imperial Stormtroopers featured in the Star Wars films (see [2010] Gazette, 4 February, 14). It would appear the editor knows far more about intellectual property law than Star Wars – the accompanying picture is actually ...
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In a fix on fees
To justify lawyers’ time-based charging, Peter Rogers and Lloyd Junor seek to take comfort from the idea that heart surgeons charge more if they hit complications mid-operation (see [2010] Gazette, 4 December, 13). As I understand it, surgeons quote a fixed fee and stick to it, complications or not.
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Aid at a premium
My colleagues and I were interested to read the story 'Society plans costs-capping challenge’ (see [2009] Gazette, 17 December, 1).
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It’s good to talk
I recently had my first experience of the court’s small claims mediation service, in a difficult building dispute which started life as a small claim but, had it proceeded, would have gone into the fast track.
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SLG teams up with schools and charity to highlight pro bono
The Solicitors in Local Government (SLG) group has teamed up with three schools and a legal advice charity to raise the profile of local authority lawyers in the ‘neglected’ area of pro bono work. The SLG has agreed a partnership arrangement with the Citizenship Foundation to ...
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High Court decision deals blow to claims industry
A recent High Court decision has put ‘another nail in the coffin’ of a lucrative industry for hundreds of law firms bringing consumer credit claims, a leading litigation expert has told the Gazette. David Greene, president of the London Solicitors Litigation Association, said a series ...
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Ghanaian law firm opens in London
A law firm with ambitions to become the ‘Linklaters of Africa’ has become the first Ghanaian firm to open in London. Ghanaian corporate and commercial firm Oxford & Beaumont has set up in the UK to service UK law firms conducting business in Ghana.The four-partner firm, ...
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Des Hudson warns that legal aid policy needs ‘radical rethink’
The Law Society has warned that a ‘radical rethink’ of legal aid policy is needed to prevent a reduction in the quality and scope of legal aid and to ensure access to justice. Law Society chief executive Desmond Hudson (pictured) told delegates at the Westminster Legal ...
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Law Society mulls Zimbabwe protest
The Law Society is considering intervening in the case of a solicitor who was imprisoned by the Zimbabwe authorities for asserting that evidence incriminating his client was obtained under torture. Zimbabwean solicitor Mordecai Mahlangu was arrested when acting for Roy Bennett, a Zimbabwean farmer of European ...
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Legal recruiters see upturn in law firm job market
Legal recruiters have seen a ‘substantial upturn’ in the law firm jobs market in the past three months, and are predicting a still more buoyant year ahead. The positive forecasts came as a new survey predicted a 7% rise in graduate vacancies in the legal sector ...
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LCJ warns of 'undoubted danger’ to administration of justice
The lord chief justice has warned that budgetary pressures on the prosecution and the courts are having a ‘very real impact’ on the administration of justice and said there is ‘an undoubted danger’ that the situation could worsen. In his first annual review, Lord Judge said: ...
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‘New era’ for family mediation in London
The implementation of the revised President’s Private Law Programme in London this week could herald a ‘new era’ for mediation in the capital and reduce ‘unacceptable’ delays in the court system, according to a leading family lawyer. The guidance, devised in 2004 by the then president ...
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LSC procurement plans show no rise in civil legal aid cases
The Legal Services Commission’s procurement plans for civil legal aid, published last week, have revealed that there will be no increase in the number of civil cases funded in the 2010/2011 financial year, to the dismay of solicitors. To assist firms tendering for the civil contracts ...
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Solicitors should report insolvency risk to SRA, recommends KPMG
Solicitors should be under a duty to notify the Solicitors Regulation Authority when they get into financial difficulties, a report to the SRA board by accountants KPMG has recommended. The report also proposes that there should be a new core duty on financial management as part ...
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Firms face court action risk over money laundering reports
Law firms could find themselves being sued for reporting suspected money laundering following a Court of Appeal decision last week. Law firms, banks and other businesses handling client money are obliged to file Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) to the Serious and Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) ...
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Trainee solicitors 'exploited' after qualification
Trainee solicitors are being ‘exploited’ by firms offering them a Hobson’s choice between a paralegal role or the dole when they qualify, the Gazette has learned. The Junior Lawyers Division (JLD) said firms’ financial problems meant they were attempting to avoid paying newly qualified lawyers’ salaries ...
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High numbers of women and solicitors appointed to judicial posts
More than half the candidates selected in the last recruitment round for fee-paid employment tribunal judge positions were women, statistics have shown, while three-quarters of selected candidates were solicitors. The Judicial Appointments Commission today published the statistics for the two most popular selection exercises for fee-paid ...
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Banks predict M&A recovery in 2010
Financial institutions have predicted a recovery in the volume of deals in the European acquisition finance market in 2010, with healthcare and professional services expected to be at the forefront of the M&A rebound, according to research published by a national law firm today. The European ...