Latest news – Page 848
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Check medical examiners' credentials, solicitors warned
Defence solicitors have been advised to check the credentials of forensic medical examiners (FMEs) following a warning that police use of inexperienced agency staff may be putting detainees at risk. Ian Kelcey, chairman of the Law Society’s criminal law committee, said inadequately trained or qualified FMEs ...
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Big rise in calls for help on stress
The number of case files opened by support group LawCare jumped by two-thirds last year, with stress the main cause of concern. LawCare said that it opened 500 case files and received another 1,925 calls in 2008. This compares with 301 case files and 1,310 calls in 2007. ...
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Solicitors dominate Office for Legal Complaints board
Three solicitors, but no barristers, have been appointed to the body charged with setting up and running a new consumer complaints system for the legal profession. The Legal Services Board on Tuesday named the six successful candidates for appointment to the Office for Legal Complaints, due to become operational next ...
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MP condemns government on libel reform
Justice minister Bridget Prentice has come under fire for ‘dismissing’ arguments made by MPs in a debate on libel laws. In a letter to Prentice (pictured), seen by the Gazette, Rotherham MP Denis MacShane, who led the adjournment debate in December, said: ‘I regret deeply you ...
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Council chief legal officer plan faces opposition
Proposals to require all local authorities to appoint a chief legal officer have run into opposition from groups representing senior council staff. The Law Society and Solicitors in Local Government (SLG) argue that the new post should replace the role of monitoring officer.
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Means testing ‘will leave clients unrepresented’
Many defendants could go unrepresented under government proposals to means-test Crown Court legal aid and cap funds to reimburse those acquitted, the Law Society has warned. Responding to the two Ministry of Justice consultations that ended last week, Chancery Lane said: ‘The introduction of means testing ...
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Law Society regains voluntary accreditation role
The Law Society has regained control of voluntary accreditation schemes from the Solicitors Regulation Authority after 96% of council members voted for them to be handed back to the Society. The vote affects schemes to accredit practitioners in a number of areas, including mental health, ...
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Solicitors act against personal injury ‘capture’
A solicitor group fighting the insurance company practice of ‘capturing’ personal injury clients is to meet the Ministry of Justice next week.
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Army reports surge in recruitment inquiries
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) says it has had a surge of enquiries from solicitors and barristers about joining the army as legal advisers. Although figures from this year’s annual intake are not yet available, the MoD said the number of applicants was higher than in recent years, possibly because ...
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Firms settle web spat
A dispute between two Manchester law firms has ended with a modest payout to two clients whose case studies were used on a firm’s website. The argument began when a solicitor moved from Geoffrey Miller to Olliers, which then featured on its site some motoring cases she had worked on. ...
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Lawyers targeted as ID card users
Lawyers may be among the first customers of equipment to read UK identity cards, the minister in charge of the scheme said last week. Meg Hillier, undersecretary of state at the Home Office, told a conference on the business uses of ID cards that one ...
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Gold mines, liquidity pools and retail stores
Waitrose acquisition: City firm Lovells advised retailer Waitrose on its acquisition of 13 stores from the Co-operative group and Somerfield for an undisclosed sum. National firm Addleshaw Goddard advised Co-op and Somerfield. ...
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South Korea hints at market opening
City law firms may steal a march on their US rivals by gaining access to the potentially lucrative South Korean market first, it has emerged. A bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) between the European Union and South Korea could be signed as early as March, ...
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Poaching teams is profitable, research shows
Large law firms are increasingly looking to poach teams from their rivals as they can quickly turn a profit, according to new research. The annual Smith & Williamson professional practices survey found that 45% of the 102 law firms which took part – most in the ...
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Practice criminal law and earn the minimum wage
I was admitted to the roll on 1 September 2008. To be able to work in criminal law, I had to complete police station accreditation, which involved a portfolio of 27,000 words and travelling some 200 miles to take the critical incidents exam. If I want to become a ...
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Judicial obstacles
The recent research carried out by Professor Dame Hazel Genn and quoted in Joshua Rozenberg’s article [see [2009] Gazette, 15 January, 8] highlighted clearly the barriers that women solicitors can face when applying for a judicial appointment.
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Buck the market
Lord Turner’s recent report says the banking crisis was caused by banks abandoning proven, prudent banking principles. Their attitude seems to have been ‘everyone in the market is doing it, so it must be all right. We have to copy them or go out of business’.
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Novel experience
May I congratulate Neil Rose on an excellent article about combining a professional legal career with that of a novelist (see [2008] Gazette, 18 December, 8). I am not a solicitor, but have worked as administrator for LawCare for the past ten years, and also had my third novel published ...
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Conveyancing specialists go into receivership
The Law Society has urged residential conveyancers not to panic following the collapse of two large Yorkshire firms. Leeds-based Fox Hayes, which employed 115 people, last week went into administration, joining Bradford-based property conveyancing and home information pack processing company Hammonds Support Services (HSS). ...
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Massive rise in civil court fees slammed
Plans for some civil court fees to rise nearly fifty-fold to help raise an extra £38m for the Ministry of Justice have come under fire. Proposals out for consultation could see hikes in 26 fee areas in civil court matters, with increases in 10 fee areas ...