Latest news – Page 846
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News
Vulnerable defendants not helped in understanding court proceedings
Defendants with learning disabilities are routinely deprived of help with understanding criminal court proceedings, a report from the Prison Reform Trust has revealed. The report, published this week, found there was no systematic procedure for identifying adults with learning disabilities. Some defendants did not know why ...
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Woolf calls for arbitration overhaul as he launches new guidance
International arbitration has ‘lost its way’, the former lord chief justice Lord Woolf (pictured) told the Gazette this week, as he launched a set of guidelines which will build mediation into the arbitration process. Woolf co-chaired an international commission for the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution ...
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Quarter of firms expected to walk away from legal aid in next five years
More than a quarter of firms expect to walk away from legal aid work in the next five years, a report slamming the Legal Services Commission’s poor administration has revealed. The report by public spending watchdog the National Audit Office (NAO) showed that one in six ...
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Guidance notes and rule changes
I am interested in the recent exchange of letters between Messrs Hopper and Treverton-Jones and Antony Townsend, the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s chief executive, about changes to the guidance notes to rule 9 of the Code of Conduct made on 13 November 2009.
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Legal groups publish ‘manifesto for justice’
An eight-strong coalition of legal, consumer and campaigning groups today published their ‘manifesto for justice’ as part of a political campaign intended to strengthen justice and the rule of law. AdviceUK, the Bar Council, the Institute of Legal Executives, Justice, the Law Centres Federation, the Legal ...
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Paying referral fees is not a crime
What a relief to read Michael Moore’s recent letter in the Gazette (‘Don’t tie our hands’) as I had begun to think that I was the only solicitor left who didn’t regard the paying of referral fees as akin to some kind of criminal activity.
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Chinese bar strengthens UK links
China’s Tianjin Bar Association (TBA) will visit the UK next week in a bid to strengthen ties with UK lawyers. The TBA delegation will visit London and Bristol on Monday and Tuesday next week, in a move that the Law Society said will provide business opportunities ...
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SRA boosts the diversity of adjudicators
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has confirmed the appointments of a panel of 23 external adjudicators, who will make decisions on regulatory matters.
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New commission chairman planning to reform adult social care law
The Law Commission is planning ‘very important and potentially very exciting’ reforms to the law on social care for adults, the commission’s new chairman said in an interview for the Gazette. Sir James Munby, who now sits in the Court of Appeal as Lord Justice Munby, ...
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New Law Commission chairman planning to reform adult social care law
The Law Commission is planning ‘very important and potentially very exciting’ reforms to the law on social care for adults, the commission’s new chairman said in an interview for the Gazette. Sir James Munby, who now sits in the Court of Appeal as Lord Justice Munby, ...
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Don't tie our hands on referral fees
John Hawks has seven years on me as a solicitor and will, I suspect, remember charging scale fees for conveyancing (see letters, 19 November). By the time I qualified in 1980, changes were afoot. I now look back along the road we have travelled.
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Clear guidance
I write in response to Andrew Hopper and Greg Treverton-Jones’ letter Amending the Code by the back door (see letters, 19 November) on the new guidance to rule 9 (referrals of business).
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News
Clear guidance
I write in response to Andrew Hopper and Greg Treverton-Jones’ letter ‘Amending the Code by the back door’ (see letters, 19 November) on the new guidance to rule 9 (referrals of business).
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News
Lacking confidence in Lord Bach
Further to your news item ‘Compulsory pro bono’ (see letters, 12 November) I must express my amusement at Lord Bach’s views on pro bono work and the ‘concern’ he has about the lack of confidence in our profession. Perhaps he should address the lack of confidence the publicly funded members ...
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New PC charges to benefit in-house lawyers
Changes to the practising certificate (PC) fee charging system will see around £16m transferred onto private practice solicitors, to the benefit of in-house and local government lawyers, under plans due to be unveiled by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Under the new charging regime, 40% of ...
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Cafcass judicial review threat
A Somerset solicitor is set to launch a judicial review action against the Children and Family Courts Advice and Support Service (Cafcass) because of its ‘unacceptable delays’ in appointing children’s guardians and family court advisers. Martin Davis, director of the family department at Somerset firm Battens, ...
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Bar Standards Board sanctions legal disciplinary practices
The Bar Standards Board gave the green light for barristers to go into practice with solicitors last week, but proposed an extension of the cab-rank rule to all advocates including solicitors. At a meeting last week the BSB decided that barristers could join legal disciplinary partnerships ...
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Talks on fixed fees for fast-track cases fail
A bid to fix the level of legal fees paid for all ‘fast-track’ cases has failed, the Gazette can reveal. The deadline for a mediation process conducted by the Civil Justice Council, which attempted to reach a deal between insurers and solicitors representing claimants and defendants, ...
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African lawyers complete training at top City firms
Ten leading African lawyers completed a three-month training and relationship-building programme at top City firms this week, in a scheme designed to improve UK links at a time when there is high demand for English-qualified lawyers on the African continent. The International Lawyers for Africa (ILFA) ...
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LawNet to strengthen solicitor ‘brand’ with new website
A national network of independent law firms has launched an online consumer marketing initiative to help secure work referrals and give the firms a strong internet presence. The 65 firms that make up LawNet have banded together to launch a legal referral and advice website, called ...