Latest news – Page 887
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News
Balance sheets, waste technology and Formula 1
On the button: City firm Taylor Wessing advised Ross Brawn, former boss of the Honda GP Formula 1 motorsport team, on buying the Honda team to create Brawn GP F1. The new team has taken on Honda’s drivers from last year, Britain’s Jenson ...
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NSPCC – legal aid cuts ‘risk miscarriages of justice’
Children’s charity the NSPCC has warned that government proposals to cut legal aid for vulnerable children and families would ‘risk miscarriages of family justice’. NSPCC lawyer Barbara Esam said: ‘The proposed, repeated cuts in legal support in family law cases comes at the worst possible time, ...
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Get involved, get posting
Now you can have your say on the Gazette website, as Gazette online now includes blogs and the facility for visitors to add their comments to news stories and blog entries. We are making space for more of your letters, as well as a News blog, ...
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Forgotten victims
I write to comment on the item ‘Abuse victims shun law’ (see [2009] Gazette, 12 February, 4). I work in the area of domestic abuse and have done so for eight years. I agree that this is an area that requires a specialist service. ...
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Ignorance no excuse
Why is it that solicitors seem to think that they are above the law and that it is not necessary to practise what they preach? As an eight-year-qualified solicitor who was employed as an associate partner specialising in commercial and residential property, and employment law, ...
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LPAs to become cheaper following overhaul
Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA) forms are to be overhauled to make them simpler to complete and cheaper to register, Public Guardian Martin John said today (11 March). The overhaul follows a public consultation on key aspects of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Forms will now ...
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Straw’s pay warning to legal aid lawyers
Lawyers and law firms dependent on state funding would be ‘wise to reconsider’ their expectations of earnings, the Lord Chancellor has warned. In a stark vision of the future, underlining the government’s determination to press ahead with controversial legal aid reforms, Jack Straw said last ...
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Firms’ network forms alliance with accountants
The prospect of solicitors joining other professionals in one-stop shops for clients with issues that cross disciplinary boundaries has come a step closer with an alliance between law firms and accountants. LawNet, a national network of mid-tier firms set up in 1989, has formed a collaborative ...
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Fund more free advice, urges Tory MP
Emergency funding for free legal advice must be made available to help people suffering in the downturn, Parliament will hear this week. Nadine Dorries, Conservative MP for Mid Bedfordshire, said she would use an adjournment debate on Tuesday evening to urge the government to provide ...
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Law Society and bankers clash over money laundering rules
Professional bodies representing bankers and accountants have clashed with the Law Society over its views on the severity of the UK’s anti-money laundering regime. Giving evidence to the House of Lords Inquiry into Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism last week, the British Bankers’ Association ...
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Law centres off the danger list
Six law centres that had been at risk of closure have been taken off the Legal Services Commission’s critical list, the Law Centres Federation said this week. The six, which include Saltley and Nechells Law Centre in Birmingham, have ‘seen significant improvements in their ...
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Pro bono/human rights lawyer of the year
Parosha Chandran (pictured above with Antony Townsend, chief executive of the SRA, and Law Society President Paul Marsh) was named pro bono/human rights lawyer of the year at the 2009 Society of Asian Lawyers’ annual ball. Other winners were Kishan Chandarana, young lawyer of the year; Farmida Bi, commercial lawyer ...
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Solicitors see estate agents as allies, says survey
Most solicitors see estate agents as collaborators rather than competitors, according to the latest in a regular half-yearly survey of trends in the conveyancing market. The study, the third carried out by property search company Searchflow, found that estate agents are the main source of referrals for nearly a quarter ...
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Alarm at Jobcentre Plus advertisement rule
Law firms and other employers sponsoring recruits from outside the European Economic Area have condemned as ‘political’ the UK Border Agency’s (UKBA) ruling that all vacancies should be advertised in Jobcentre Plus.
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Law Society disappointed at judicial selection round
Law Society President Paul Marsh is calling on the Judicial Appointments Commission to tackle the imbalance of solicitors being appointed to the bench after the ‘disappointing’ outcome of the latest selection round. Of 76 recorders chosen for the north, north-east and Wales circuits last year, only seven were solicitors. ...
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London boroughs pool legal resources
A coalition of local government legal teams aims to unite legal resources across London councils and drive down spending on private practice lawyers, the Gazette has learned. The London Boroughs Legal Alliance (LBLA) will unite the London boroughs of Camden, Hammersmith & Fulham, Harrow, Hillingdon and ...
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Litigation funder seeks an extra £35 million
The only UK-listed third-party litigation funder is raising a further £35m, in part because it says other funders have fallen away with the downturn. Juridica Investments, in Guernsey, raised £80m when it launched on the Alternative Investment Market in December 2007, but says it requires more ...
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Family barristers protest at cuts
Family barristers are to lobby the government to halt proposed cuts in legal aid, which they say will force experienced practitioners out of publicly funded work. At a meeting last weekend, attended by more than 300 family barristers in London, with 250 joining via videolink, members ...
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Treasury warns firms of money-laundering threat
The government has warned law firms and others subject to anti-money laundering regulations that a number of countries pose a ‘serious threat’ to their businesses. The Treasury today named several countries which it says do not have proper procedures or systems in place to prevent money ...
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Spending watchdog raps Crown Court IT failures
Inadequate IT systems in Crown Courts mean staff are having to spend 12 hours a month on administrative work re-keying data, at a cost of £300,000 a year. The CREST system, which has been used to manage cases in the Crown Court for 20 years, has ...