Latest news – Page 878
-
News
Jackson costs review backs CFAs, alternative dispute resolution
Lord Justice Jackson today (8 May) published his much-awaited preliminary report as part of his review of civil litigation costs. Speaking this morning, Master of the Rolls Sir Anthony Clarke, who commissioned the review, said Jackson’s final proposals will be given a ‘fair wind’ by the ...
-
News
A misunderstanding
One of the pitfalls of editorial control over letters is that sometimes the nub is removed so that the printed remnants are misunderstood. That is what happened to my letter that you printed on 17 April. In the version I sent to you I said, in relation to the letter ...
-
News
Room for abuse
I spend a fair proportion of my time dealing with both lasting power of attorney and Court of Protection work, both of which bring me into contact with local GP practices, whose doctors act as certificate providers and assess mental capacity on court form COP3.
-
News
Bad call over helpline criticism
Michael Burdett’s criticisms of CDS Direct and the Defence Solicitor Call Centre (Letters, 23 April) ignore recent positive comments by independent practitioners.
-
News
Bradley review 'revolution' in mental illness treatment of offenders
A report calling for offenders with mental health problems and learning difficulties to be identified and diverted to health rather than criminal justice services may revolutionise the handling of such cases. Lord Bradley’s review of people with mental health problems in the criminal ...
-
News
Top legal aid fee-earners named
The squeeze on legal aid spending has not yet consigned the million-pound-a-year legal aid barrister to history, Ministry of Justice statistics revealed last week. Charles Salmon QC of London’s Hare Court topped the annual league table of the highest-paid criminal legal aid barristers. He received ...
-
News
Law Society to review access to justice
The Law Society has launched a wide-ranging review of access to justice to mark the 60th anniversary of legal aid. Andrew Caplen, chairman of the Society’s access to justice committee, will study the long-term policy options for publicly funded criminal and civil legal services, the Society said this week. ...
-
News
Serious Fraud Office to ask parliament to grant it new powers
The Serious Fraud Office is to ask parliament to enhance its powers to fight fraudulent companies and corrupt directors, the Gazette has learned. The investigation and prosecution agency has begun consulting privately with senior lawyers and officials before it approaches parliament later in the year. Sources close to the discussions ...
-
News
Solicitors launch national brand with bean protest
Law firms appeared outside the Royal Courts of Justice today to stage a symbolic demonstration against the prospect of supermarkets and banks running legal services. To mark the launch of a new brand name QualitySolicitors.com, law firm members handed out cans of beans labelled: ‘Legal services by supermarkets is as ...
-
News
City watchdog ‘not yet ready’ to debate regulation of mortgages
City watchdog the Financial Services Authority is not yet ready to even begin the debate on regulation of the mortgage market, let alone offer recommendations, its chairman Adair Turner admitted today. Speaking at the FSA’s mortgage conference, Lord Turner said that the FSA’s detailed analysis of ...
-
News
Solicitors favour sharp rise in employment tribunal claim limit
More than two-thirds of solicitors are in favour of scrapping the present £25,000 cap for breach of contract claims in employment tribunals, research by the Law Society suggests. The web survey found that 61 (70%) of 87 respondents thought the £25,000 cap should not be retained, ...
-
News
SOCA ‘motoring’ on money laundering prevention
A solicitor figured among 67 criminals charged with money laundering following investigations by the Serious Organised Crime Agency last year, according to the agency’s annual report, published today. Stuart Creggy, former magistrate and senior partner at Mayfair law firm Talbot Creggy, pleaded guilty to a charge ...
-
News
Law Society complains over judge’s remarks on solicitor-advocates
The Law Society has made an official complaint over what it says were ‘inappropriate comments’ by a Crown court judge about the alleged incompetence of three solicitor-advocates. Chancery Lane has written to Mr Justice Calvert-Smith, the presiding judge of the south-eastern circuit, about remarks made by ...
-
News
50% tax rise will raise £150M from City partners alone
Equity partners at the UK’s 10 biggest law firms will each pay on average £100,000 extra a year to help bail the government out of deficit, Gazette research suggests. Chancellor Alistair Darling’s new 50% income tax bracket, which comes in to force in April 2010, will raise £150m from City ...
-
News
Solicitors and estate agents condemn missed opportunity from budget
Last week’s Budget was a missed opportunity to rescue the housing market and will have no impact on property buying and selling trends, according to the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA). The association said that the chancellor had ignored proposals to abolish or reform ...
-
News
MoJ delays implementation of new accident claims processing regime
The Ministry of Justice has conceded defeat over its timetable for introducing a new claims process for road traffic cases, as the Gazette predicted last week (see [2009] Gazette, 23 April, 3). A letter sent to stakeholders this week says it now hopes to have the ...
-
News
Which? enters online wills market
Which? Legal Service is entering the wills market in a tie-up with law firm Blake Lapthorn. The service uses an online questionnaire which takes customers through 1,500 questions tailored to individual needs. Once the questionnaire is completed, a solicitor at ...
-
News
Society survey will reveal salary inequalities
An in-depth investigation into solicitors’ salaries will reveal ‘significant inequalities’ between white members of the profession and those from black and minority ethnic (BME) groups. The warning came from Law Society president Paul Marsh (pictured) at the Minority Lawyers’ Conference at Chancery Lane on Saturday. ...
-
News
SRA’s submission to Hunt review calls for clarity
The division between regulatory and representative functions of the Law Society is ‘inconsistent with the requirements of the Legal Services Act’ and ‘baffling to many consumers and solicitors’, the Solicitors Regulation Authority has told Lord Hunt’s regulation review. In its submission to the Law Society-commissioned ...
-
News
Jackson commends German costs recovery model
Lord Justice Jackson (pictured) may consider a costs recovery system based upon the German model when he releases the preliminary findings of his 1,000 -page review into civil litigation costs early next month.