Latest news – Page 892
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Time to move on
I reply to Peter Browne’s letter asking us not to follow the crowd and in particular resistance to paying referral fees (see [2009] Gazette, 29 January, 9). As owners of an estate agency, we are well aware that most estate agents successfully try to persuade buyers and sellers to use ...
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Only four firms apply to become LDPs
Hopes that the legal profession would eagerly embrace new business structures created by the Legal Services Act have received a blow with the news that only a handful of firms have applied to be part of the first wave of reforms. With only three weeks ...
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Solicitors to promote own high street brand
High street solicitors have launched a new legal brand to promote themselves collectively when supermarkets and other businesses enter the legal arena in 2011. QualitySolicitors.com is a nationwide alliance of small and medium-sized firms that will pool resources to develop a recognisable brand to compete with ...
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Law firms’ parliamentary links under scrutiny
UK legal firms employ 15 Lords and four MPs as consultants for as much as £61,000 a year, a Gazette investigation has found. Although the relationships are above board and break no rules, parliamentary activity is likely to come under scrutiny amid calls for tighter ...
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Concern as magic circle firm culls partners
The head of an influential alliance of corporate general counsel has expressed concern at the soaring tally of City firm redundancies, as Clifford Chance became the first magic circle firm to announce it will cut partners. Peter Maynard, legal director and company secretary at Prudential and chair of GC100, which ...
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Lawyers blame NHS for soaring negligence bill
Clinical negligence lawyers have denied charges of profiteering following an National Health Service announcement that total claims could almost double to £713m next year. The NHS said the estimated £317m increase in the total bill for 2009/10 was the result of changes to ...
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ECJ ruling threatens London’s arbitration status
London’s Commercial Court will no longer be entitled to grant anti-suit injunctions to support arbitration provisions with London as their seat, if doing so undermines the jurisdiction of another member state’s court, the European Court of Justice (pictured) ruled this week.
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Asylum laws putting women at risk
British immigration policy is putting female asylum seekers at risk of sexual assault, lawyers warned this week as the Refugee Council reported that three-quarters of women seeking asylum have been raped either in their country of origin or in the UK.
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Snow absenteeism creates legal headache
Weather-related absenteeism has brought fresh employment law headaches to firms struggling with redundancies and contract re-negotiations. Roger Byard, employment head at Kent firm Cripps Harries Hall, said where there is no good reason for missing work, managers should interview the individual and either ...
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CPS rapped for sending inexperienced advocates to court
The drive to push novice Crown Prosecution Service advocates into court has led to a decline in the quality of justice, the chairman of the Criminal Bar Association said last week. Giving evidence to the House of Commons justice committee, Peter Lodder QC said: ‘The ...
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New property search rules ‘lack clarity’
Property professionals have demanded more clarity in new search regulations to prevent personal search companies using loopholes to ‘flout the law’ and produce ‘worthless’ searches. From 6 April, new rules affecting the contents of home information packs come into force. From that date, a temporary provision ...
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Domestic violence victims shun legal advice
A fall in the number of domestic abuse injunctions may be caused by victims not engaging with the legal system, according to a study published by the Legal Services Commission. The Domestic Abuse Literature Review, published last week, ...
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Penalties for maintenance defaulters ‘draconian’
Civil liberties lawyers have dismissed as ‘disproportionate’ and draconian new powers to confiscate without a court order the driving licences and passports of parents who default on child maintenance. The Welfare Reform Bill, in the House of Commons committee stage this week, will allow the ...
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Firms face lobbying scrutiny
UK law firms of all sizes risk being dragged into the debate surrounding parliamentary lobbying, as pressure to make consultancy agreements more transparent was stepped up this week. UK law firms engage 15 Lords and four MPs as consultants a Gazette investigation has found. A number ...
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Real estate, hair products and energy efficiency
Heathrow hub: Birmingham firm Wragge & Co advised international real estate group Goodman on its £17m acquisition of a 220-acre site near Heathrow airport from Argent, the property development company. Goodman says it plans to develop a rail freight distribution hub on the ...
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Graduate recruiters buck jobs trend
Law firms top the league for graduate starting salaries and are predicted to recruit more graduates this year than in 2008 - bucking the national trend. These are among the key findings of the bi-annual survey of the jobs market by the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR).
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Property search chief quits after just six months
Mervyn Pilley has resigned as chief executive of the Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) after only six months in the post. The trade organisation for the property search industry said the resignation followed a series of discussions in the new year between Pilley and the ...
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Ormerod to head Law Commission
The Law Commission has appointed Mark Ormerod as its new chief executive. Ormerod, who is currently director of access to justice policy at the Ministry of Justice, will take up his new position on 2 March, replacing William Arnold, who has been acting chief executive ...
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LDPs to go live on 31 March
The ‘go live’ date for legal disciplinary practices (LDPs) has been put back a month, to 31 March, at the instigation of justice minister Bridget Prentice. In a statement today, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) said it will be able to regulate the new business ...
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Land Registry asks private firms to build property chain matrix
The Land Registry has announced it will support commercial IT companies to develop ‘Chain Matrix’ systems to make conveyancing more transparent. The Registry shelved its own prototype system in 2007 after spending £15m in partnership with IBM. This announcement was the result ...