Latest news – Page 842
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Fund more free advice, urges Tory MP
Emergency funding for free legal advice must be made available to help people suffering in the downturn, Parliament will hear this week. Nadine Dorries, Conservative MP for Mid Bedfordshire, said she would use an adjournment debate on Tuesday evening to urge the government to provide ...
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Law Society and bankers clash over money laundering rules
Professional bodies representing bankers and accountants have clashed with the Law Society over its views on the severity of the UK’s anti-money laundering regime. Giving evidence to the House of Lords Inquiry into Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism last week, the British Bankers’ Association ...
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Law centres off the danger list
Six law centres that had been at risk of closure have been taken off the Legal Services Commission’s critical list, the Law Centres Federation said this week. The six, which include Saltley and Nechells Law Centre in Birmingham, have ‘seen significant improvements in their ...
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Pro bono/human rights lawyer of the year
Parosha Chandran (pictured above with Antony Townsend, chief executive of the SRA, and Law Society President Paul Marsh) was named pro bono/human rights lawyer of the year at the 2009 Society of Asian Lawyers’ annual ball. Other winners were Kishan Chandarana, young lawyer of the year; Farmida Bi, commercial lawyer ...
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Solicitors see estate agents as allies, says survey
Most solicitors see estate agents as collaborators rather than competitors, according to the latest in a regular half-yearly survey of trends in the conveyancing market. The study, the third carried out by property search company Searchflow, found that estate agents are the main source of referrals for nearly a quarter ...
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Alarm at Jobcentre Plus advertisement rule
Law firms and other employers sponsoring recruits from outside the European Economic Area have condemned as ‘political’ the UK Border Agency’s (UKBA) ruling that all vacancies should be advertised in Jobcentre Plus.
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Law Society disappointed at judicial selection round
Law Society President Paul Marsh is calling on the Judicial Appointments Commission to tackle the imbalance of solicitors being appointed to the bench after the ‘disappointing’ outcome of the latest selection round. Of 76 recorders chosen for the north, north-east and Wales circuits last year, only seven were solicitors. ...
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London boroughs pool legal resources
A coalition of local government legal teams aims to unite legal resources across London councils and drive down spending on private practice lawyers, the Gazette has learned. The London Boroughs Legal Alliance (LBLA) will unite the London boroughs of Camden, Hammersmith & Fulham, Harrow, Hillingdon and ...
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Litigation funder seeks an extra £35 million
The only UK-listed third-party litigation funder is raising a further £35m, in part because it says other funders have fallen away with the downturn. Juridica Investments, in Guernsey, raised £80m when it launched on the Alternative Investment Market in December 2007, but says it requires more ...
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Family barristers protest at cuts
Family barristers are to lobby the government to halt proposed cuts in legal aid, which they say will force experienced practitioners out of publicly funded work. At a meeting last weekend, attended by more than 300 family barristers in London, with 250 joining via videolink, members ...
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Treasury warns firms of money-laundering threat
The government has warned law firms and others subject to anti-money laundering regulations that a number of countries pose a ‘serious threat’ to their businesses. The Treasury today named several countries which it says do not have proper procedures or systems in place to prevent money ...
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Spending watchdog raps Crown Court IT failures
Inadequate IT systems in Crown Courts mean staff are having to spend 12 hours a month on administrative work re-keying data, at a cost of £300,000 a year. The CREST system, which has been used to manage cases in the Crown Court for 20 years, has ...
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BSB consults on conduct rules for barristers
The Bar Standards Board has today (13 March) published a consultation paper on proposed new conduct rules for 14,000 barristers in England and Wales. The paper proposed conduct rules that are underpinned by seven core duties. The board believes that this approach creates a ‘more ...
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Government amends secret inquest plans
The government is revising plans for non-jury inquests included in the Coroners and Justice Bill, limiting the circumstances in which such inquests can be held. The revisions will allow for more judicial involvement and discretion, offering more balances and checks, the Ministry of Justice said. ...
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Eversheds stays top in adviser rankings
National firm Eversheds advises more stock market clients than any other law firm, according to the latest quarterly rankings from investment adviser Hemscott. However, nearly all the firms featured in Hemscott’s rankings saw client numbers fall in the most recent three-month period surveyed. Eversheds topped the ...
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HMRC publishes tax law rewrite bills
Two draft bills aimed at cleaning up UK corporation tax and international tax legislation have been published by HM Revenue & Customs. The bills, drafted by the Tax Law Rewrite project, form part of a scheme begun in 1996 to rewrite the majority of direct tax ...
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Office of the Public Guardian highlights positives
I am disappointed to see that the Gazette continues to highlight criticism of efforts made by my office to improve services to customers. I think it’s wrong for the Gazette to portray the views of a vocal minority as the general (and current) position. It is true that there ...
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Estate agency – it's not rocket science
Now is the time for the Law Society and its members to take heed of the advice offered by Peter Morgan in his letter, that ‘we need to embrace property selling’ (see [2009] ...
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Which? is impartial
Following your item headlined ‘High street network and Which? link up’ (see [2009] Gazette, 26 February, 1), I would like to clarify that Which? Legal Service would not solely recommend one particular service. As part of the consumer charity Which?, we pride ourselves on providing independent, impartial advice. ...
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Unpublished research confirms bar earnings divide
Widely held suspicions that white male barristers earn far more than their female and ethnic-minority colleagues have been confirmed by unpublished research commissioned by the Bar Council.