Latest news – Page 856
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News
Baby P 'scapegoat' claim
Local government solicitors have defended colleagues at the London Borough of Haringey against press criticism of their role in the case of ‘Baby P’. Suzanne Bond, chair of Solicitors in Local Government, said that some media coverage of the case had been ‘chilling’ in ...
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QC review by Nichol
The Law Society and Bar Council have appointed Sir Duncan Nichol to review the operation of the Queen’s Counsel (QC) appointments system, three years after its introduction. The independent selection panel, developed by the two professions, replaced a process run by the former Department for ...
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Council members vote 'no' to a reduction in seats
Plans to reduce the size of the Law Society Council look to have been killed off following a members’ vote last week. Law Society chief executive Des Hudson predicted it will now be ‘some time’ before any future decision is made on the Council’s size ...
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Warning over video link for defendants
Government plans for defendants to make their first appearance before magistrates’ courts via video from the police station will lead to more people being remanded into custody, practitioners have warned. The Office for Criminal Justice Reform (OCJR) plans to test a ‘virtual court’, intended to save ...
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Late surge boosts PC numbers
A late surge in applications for practising certificates over recent days has reversed an apparently startling decline in numbers. Latest figures from the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) show 97,291 submissions as of 16 November – 477 more than at the same time last year. The previous ...
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Civil costs rates 'next month'
New guideline hourly rates for civil costs may be published by Christmas, the chairman of the committee charged with recommending the rates announced last week. In a rare public address, Professor Stephen Nickell admitted that producing the rates has not been an easy process, with the ...
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Building Society mergers, offshore farms and property development
Big build: Magic circle firm Allen & Overy is advising Skipton Building Society on its proposed merger with Scarborough Building Society, which, if completed, would create a society with 860,000 members and more than £16bn in assets. Completion is expected in early 2009. ...
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Can 83-year old legislation enable home buyers to recoup deposits
We have clients who signed a contract in June 2007 to purchase a flat in a large new development, off-plan. At exchange of contracts, they had a mortgage offer based on the flat having a value of £470,000 and they paid a deposit of £47,000. ...
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Court fidelity
It was disappointing to read Roger Smith’s rather unforgiving assessment of the recent performance of the US Supreme Court (see [2008] Gazette, 23 October, 10). Mr Smith singled out the court’s decision in Boumediene v Bush as an example of the court’s ‘illiberalism’, yet this was ...
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Anglo-Welsh
I am sure I was not alone in reading your focus on Wales with a mixture of interest and frustration (see [2008] Gazette, 23 October, 12). The thriving legal community in Chester was barely mentioned.
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Societies seek united front
The City of London Law Society and the Law Society have begun meeting formally to discuss potential areas of co-operation, the Gazette has learned. David McIntosh (pictured), City of London Law Society chairman, said the two societies were developing a ‘sensible liaison’ to present a ...
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Medical care 'lottery' for detainees
A top forensic physician has criticised the quality of medico-legal help available to some police station detainees, backing lawyers’ claims that cost-cutting in medical care could block access to justice.
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Blow for third-party funding
A leading Australian litigation funder has pulled out of its European joint venture less than six months after it set up, the Gazette can reveal. In a blow to the nascent third-party funding market, IMF has withdrawn from Claims Funding International (CFI), which it formally launched ...
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Courting the regions
Claimants will no longer be forced to come to London to have administrative cases heard, under plans to improve access to justice due to be announced by the Ministry of Justice. The Gazette has learned that four regional centres of the Administrative Court are to open ...
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Child care cost case fails
Councils have failed in their attempt to challenge increases in court fees for child care and placement applications. High Court judges last week dismissed a claim brought by four local authorities that the policy of ‘full cost recovery’ in family proceedings was unlawfully introduced. Since ...
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Legal aid burden
Job cuts at the Legal Services Commission (LSC) could increase administrative burdens on legal aid solicitors, practitioner groups have warned. The LSC announced last week it is to shed 600 posts, reducing its workforce to 1,100, and close seven of its 13 offices. ‘More efficient processes ...
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KBF back in business soon?
Troubled legal lender Key Business Finance (KBF) could be back in business within weeks – but money already paid to KBF would remain in the hands of its administrators. Gazette sources said KBF’s management team is looking to buy ...
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'Right to reject' goods at risk
Plans for a new European directive on consumer rights would place UK consumers in a weaker position, the Law Commission has warned. Commissioners said the Consumer Rights Directive could lead to the abolition of the ‘right to reject’ faulty goods for a refund within a reasonable ...
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New assault on third-party capture
Solicitors are joining forces to attack the practice of insurance companies ‘capturing’ personal injury clients. The move reflects continuing concern that some insurance companies are pressurising claimants into instructing companies’ panel solicitors, rather than their independent solicitor, and to accept reduced compensation.
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Fee-cap 'outrage'
Practitioners have condemned as ‘outrageous’ government proposals to cap payments for acquitted defendants’ legal costs that would leave innocent people out of pocket. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) last week published a consultation on reform to the system of reimbursing the legal costs of people acquitted ...