Latest news – Page 875
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Luxury lifestyles
I have just read last week's front page article, 'City litigators dismiss "liability crisis" claim'. It brought to mind the recent case of Office of Fair Trading v Abbey National PLC and others. In that one case, where the various financial institutions effectively sang from the ...
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Advance warning
I wholeheartedly agree with the comments made by Sue Nelson in response to my article on tips for remaining competitive (see [2008] Gazette, 15 May, 11), regarding a happy, well-motivated workforce which takes pride in a job well done and a challenge met.
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Get down to business
Sue Nelson's response to the article by Viv Williams was disappointing. We face enormous challenges in the next few years when the Clementi reforms come in. Add the housing market downturn, the credit crunch and continuing legal aid pay cuts, and I believe we have reached a tipping ...
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Complaints delay
As a practising barrister not infrequently asked to advise solicitors regarding complaints to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), I endorse much of what Gregory Treverton-Jones QC had to say as reported in the news item 'Barrister puts SRA in the dock' (see [2008] Gazette, 8 May, 3).
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Legal Complaints Service hits improvement targets
GOAL: 67% of files closed within three months of receipt The Legal Complaints Service (LCS) achieved year-on-year improvements in all of ...
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Web advice to help lawyers with change
The Sole Practitioners Group (SPG) is launching a new online toolkit to help members cope with changes in the legal sector, including the introduction of alternative business structures (ABSs). The toolkit, sponsored by Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBoS), will give support and guidance on setting up and running ...
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'Solicitors must plan ahead or risk losing everything'
Sole practitioners risk intervention and 'losing everything they have worked for' if they neglect planning for the day they stop practising - delegates at last weekend's annual conference of the Sole Practitioners Group (SPG) in Brighton were warned. Guildford-based probate solicitor Jennifer Margrave said the Code of Conduct ...
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City firm report increased mid-market competition as pool of M&A deals shrinks
HARD MARKETING: magic circle chasing smaller transactions as credit crunch bites Magic circle firms have begun pitching for middle-market business as the pool of blockbusting merger and acquisition deals shrinks, according to competitors outside the circle. At the same ...
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Deals of the week
Liquid deal: City firms CMS Cameron McKenna and Field Fisher Waterhouse advised Luminar Group Holdings, the UK’s largest operator of licensed late-night venues, on a corporate reorganisation and the subsequent sale of 26 bars to Cavendish Bars, advised by City firm Berwin Leighton ...
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Mind the pay gap
I read last week's letter 'cheap labour' with interest (see [2008] Gazette, 29 May, 11). There is undoubtedly an issue with regard to employees within the same organisation being paid differently to staff in similar roles. I do not think that it is contentious to say that this problem is ...
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Cry for help
Can I draw together three recent threads of correspondence in these pages? 1. The anonymous solicitor who wrote describing how they had specialised in a now contracted sector of work and, while too young and too poor to retire, was apparently considered too old to be re-trained elsewhere ...
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No logo
Why does the Law Society need to spend £450,000 on a national advertising campaign? Surely all we need to do is follow the example of our colleagues in the surveyor's profession and utilise the logo of our representative body. We all like the Law Society's logo. Your correspondents repeatedly lament ...
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Leeds leads
Your article on the growing legal scene in Manchester was entitled 'second city?' (see [2008] Gazette, 22 May, 18), but it did not substantiate that headline. Rather, you factually reported the undoubted strengths of the Manchester region.
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Which way next?
If Which? is to move from being an independent critic of legal services to set up its own law firm (see [2008] Gazette, 29 May, 1), then it can hardly claim to be 'the brand that conveys... credibility'. Perhaps it should change its name from 'Which?' to 'Us'. ...
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File guide
As a niche specialist legal aid practitioner I have noticed that any enhancement on civil claims made to the north-east regional office rarely exceeds 30% on selected items, whereas the Supreme Court Costs Office tends to be more generous. Almost every case taken to a review by an independent adjudicator ...
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Terror debate
It is surely not for senior members of the judiciary 'to engage in a serious and considered debate about how best legally to confront terrorism' (see Joshua Rozenberg, [2008] Gazette, 15 May, 14).
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Deals of the week
Green deal: City firm Barlow Lyde & Gilbert advised Dutch banking and insurance services provider SNS REAAL, UK investment and financial services group Alliance Trust Plc and the Universities Superannuation Scheme, which provides pensions to academic staff, on their investment in Climate Change ...
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CCBE ready to establish rule-of-law foundation
COUNCIL OF BARS AND LAW SOCIETIES OF EUROPE: ASSEMBLY The first Europe-wide foundation dedicated to protecting the rule of law across member states looks set to be established by the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE), it emerged during last weekend's bi-annual general ...
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'European lawyer'
The Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) has voted to develop a code of common professional standards to define the role of the 'European lawyer' across all member states. Peter Koves, president of the CCBE, told delegates his 'vision of the European lawyer' was not ...