Latest news – Page 857
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News
Pro bono lesson
Attorney General Baroness Scotland launched the seventh national pro bono week with a mock trial at the Royal Courts of Justice, led by the National Centre for Citizenship & the Law. BPP Law School students debated knife and gun crime with a jury of young people from the Behaviour Support ...
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'Fragmentation' fears over regulation review
A review of solicitor regulation must not be allowed to fragment the profession, sole practitioners have warned. Hamish McNair, chairman of the Sole Practitioners Group (SPG), said: ‘Sole practitioners and solicitors at magic circle firms may have very different clients, but it is important to ...
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HMRC warned over barristers
HM Revenue & Customs prosecutors have relied too heavily on too small a pool of barristers to fight cases, the House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts said this week. According to its report on the Revenue and Customs Prosecution Office (RCPO), one set of chambers, ...
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Mixed half-year results picture
Big UK firms have endured mixed fortunes so far this year, with the half-year revenue estimates released so far showing large variations in growth. At the top end of growth, City firm Trowers & Hamlins estimated fee income up 16% to £42m for the first half ...
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Mixed half-year results picture
Big UK firms have endured mixed fortunes so far this year, with the half-year revenue estimates released so far showing large variations in growth. At the top end of growth, City firm Trowers & Hamlins estimated fee income up 16% to £42m for the first half ...
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Bespoke suits
I was interested in Joshua Rozenberg's article on the doom-laden prognoses of Richard Susskind, who apparently believes that, in future, ‘bespoke’ legal services will be the exception (see [2008] Gazette, October 30, 10). With great respect, what utter tosh. The only examples of so-called ‘commoditised’ ...
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Independence and the vote
Your editorial (30 October 2008) on the result of the recent postal ballot reads like an extension of the Law Society’s publicity machine. It is disappointing that you do not seem to have applied independent thought to the issue. Even worse, you have ignored the fact that a two-thirds majority ...
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It ain't broke
Law Society members thankfully rejected the plan for an affiliate category for non-solicitors. The Society is for solicitors. We do not want the brand diluted, and extra administration and costs introduced in permitting others even to be ‘associated’ with the Society. Instead, the aim should be for simplicity and cost ...
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Referral rule breaches widespread
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is to reconsider the controversial question of referral arrangements as new figures show that the number of firms not complying with rules governing referrals remains stubbornly high. The SRA also expressed fears that the current economic climate might encourage practitioners to cut further corners.
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Solicitor poised to sue broker as Society takes action
A two-partner firm is set to sue its broker after its professional indemnity insurance (PII) premium quadrupled, the Gazette has learned – while in a parallel development, the Law Society has created a PII crisis group and hinted it could launch its own action. Joe Golstein ...
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Society and bar clash over solicitor-advocates
The Law Society has hit back at criticism from the bar over the ‘appalling’ standards of some solicitor-advocates, who it is alleged are keeping work for themselves for economic reasons rather than instructing barristers. Law Society President Paul Marsh said the comments were ‘exactly what you ...
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Newspapers plan legal referral services
The Daily Telegraph and another national newspaper are to launch their own legal referrals services. The newspapers have tied or are about to tie deals with legal referrals company Contact Law to offer the company's service under their branding. ...
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'Snowy peaks' charge
Sir Ken Macdonald QC has made an outspoken attack on the criminal justice system for failing to recruit enough black and minority ethnic (BME) staff. In his final official speech as Director of Public Prosecutions, Macdonald (pictured) called on other parts of the justice system to ...
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Defendants value solicitor choice
A choice of solicitor is important to nine out of ten criminal defendants, according to a government-sponsored study published this week. Users perspectives of defence services in the criminal justice system also says that one-third of defendants at police ...
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Firm closures increase
Latest figures from the Solicitors Regulation Authority show the number of law firm closures month-by-month since January 2005. As shown by the spike in the green line, September this year was the worst month by far, with 375 firms closing – nearly 40% higher than the September average for the ...
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Social welfare contract threat
Specialist firms could be lost to legal aid under government proposals for a single social welfare contract, practitioners have warned. The Legal Services Commission (LSC) last week began a consultation on a new procurement model for civil legal aid services. From 2010, the commission plans to ...
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Internet property plea
The Law Society should be the ‘pathfinder’ in developing systems to computerise the process of buying and selling properties, the chairman of the Society’s conveyancing and land law committee said last week. Richard Barnett, who is also senior partner at volume firm Barnetts, told the ...
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Society to vote on Council size
Law Society Council representatives are to put their heads on the block to decide the future size of the body. After more than a year of investigations into the structure of the Council, a vote will be taken at next week’s Council meeting. A consultation ...
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Boris rapped over legal snub
The Mayor of London’s decision not to invite City lawyers on to his high-level economic crisis group has drawn criticism from the City of London Law Society. The new group, which is tasked with helping London through the downturn, will meet regularly to discuss the effects ...
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Lawyers warned of individual fines
Solicitors responsible for their firms’ anti-money laundering systems will now risk being personally fined if they do not have adequate procedures in place, experts have warned. The Financial Services Authority (FSA) last week levied its first fine on a business money laundering reporting officer (MLRO). If ...