Latest news – Page 913
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News
Changes in dentistry prompt hike in negligence claims
The decline in NHS dentistry and an increase in cosmetic dental treatment have led to an surge in negligence claims referred to solicitors, practitioners have told the Gazette. Simon Elliman, head of clinical negligence at regional firm Withy King, said the department has seen more enquiries ...
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Starmer sets out CPS brief
Ensuring the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has the public’s full confidence will be top of the newly appointed Director of Public Prosecutions’ (DPP) to-do list, Keir Starmer QC has told the Gazette.
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Alcohol test for care cases
A new rapid call-out service to test for evidence of alcohol abuse by parents might be used to speed up the launch of child care proceedings, its manufacturers claim. Trimega Laboratories says hair samples will be taken within 90 minutes of an initial request. Test results, ...
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Lawyer hits out at Red Cross confidentiality
A leading human rights lawyer has condemned the Red Cross’s confidentiality policy as ‘colluding in the secrecy’ of regimes that torture and breach the rule of law, and called for its charitable status to be questioned.
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Parliament rules supreme
Government’s planned consultation on pleural plaques is not a hasty response to an unwanted judgment The pre-emptive attack by insurers and their solicitors on the government’s planned consultation on pleural plaques is unwarranted and contributes little to the discussion (see [2008] Gazette, 17 July, 4).
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Balancing act
I am writing to respond to last week’s letter from Dawn Chapman, chairman of the Institute of Legal Cashiers and Administrators (ILCA) (see [2008] Gazette, July 17, 9). The Solicitors Regulation Authority’s board received a number of valuable responses to all the consultations. Numerous changes were ...
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Marital advice
I read with interest the article by District Judge Duncan Adam on pre-nuptial agreements (see [2008] Gazette, 17 July, 24). He concludes with the proposition that for a solicitor not to give advice about pre-nups could be negligent.Crossley is a further milestone on the route to ...
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Pre-nup absence
I take to heart the advice of the District Judge that we could be guilty of negligence in failing to advise our clients about pre-nups. However, there is one problem – they have to come to see us pre-nup! This is just what they do not do.
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Fee speech
I note that there is another government drive to make the court self-funding through court fees. When was this principle debated in Parliament? It is of profound significance. Imagine the same principle being applied to the NHS or state education.
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Microsoft sets sights on costs shake-up
Microsoft, the software giant, has told law firms across the globe that they must trim fees and scrap hourly-rate billing if they want to continue working for the company. In a letter from Microsoft HQ in Washington, seen by the Gazette this week, Brad Smith, senior ...
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Legal recruiters swamped as conveyancers feel the pinch
Legal recruiters have been inundated by approaches from conveyancing practitioners looking for work as the credit crunch takes its toll on the housing market. The decline in the property market has led to job losses for lawyers and support staff across the country. Volume conveyancers Barnetts ...
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Solicitor slaps writ on county court
Frustration at the service lawyers receive from some court administrators was further manifested this month when a Surrey solicitor filed a High Court order to force a county court to list a hearing on a landlord-tenant case. Clive Wismayer, of Wismayers Solicitors, Great Bookham, said ...
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ECJ in disability ruling
A law firm could be the first of many thousands of employers to face a disability discrimination claim following a European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling on ‘discrimination by association’, employment lawyers have warned. Legal secretary Sharon Coleman, who has a disabled son, left London firm ...
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Moj backtracks on claims
The government announced a major climb-down this week in its long-awaited response to the claims process consultation. The new process will only apply to road traffic cases worth up to £10,000 where liability is admitted. The consultation had proposed a £25,000 limit that also encompassed disease, ...
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New conduct code for third-party funders
Plans to introduce a code of conduct for third-party litigation funders have moved a major step closer after a high-level summit, the Gazette can reveal. The code, which will be endorsed by the Civil Justice Council (CJC), will set minimum standards of behaviour and outline the ...
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Question of conflict
Leading employment lawyers have questioned the use by legal and professional services group Parabis of its subsidiary law firm to defend its employees in a poaching dispute. Parabis employees Martin Hynes, Sarah Preston and Heather Smith were defended by Plexus Law, one of four law firms ...
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Super regulator names members
Solicitors will make up one-third of the members of the new overarching regulator of legal services, the Ministry of Justice has disclosed. The new Legal Services Board was set up under the 2007 Legal Services Act to simplify regulation and ‘put the consumer first’. ...
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GMC witness prescription
The medical profession’s regulator will publish new rules this week to ensure doctors acting as expert witnesses understand their overriding duty is to the administration of justice. The General Medical Council’s new guidelines appear at a time of crisis in the witness system, following complaints about ...
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£32k copyright dispute
The dispute with two silks over copyright issues related to the Society’s Code of Conduct cost the Law Society more than £30,000, council members were told last week. Chief Executive Des Hudson said the total spend on the litigation – which was settled in April on ...
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Tender pilot for legal aid
Competitive or best value tendering (BVT) for criminal defence legal aid work will be piloted before its full introduction in 2011, the Legal Services Commission (LSC) announced last week. The scheme will be trialled in Avon and Somerset, and Manchester, in 2010. It was expected to ...