Latest news – Page 586
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News
Welsh office
The National Assembly for Wales was delighted to feature in the Gazette (interview with Elisabeth Jones). However, we would like to point out a small, but important, slip in the first paragraph of the hard copy edition, in which Ms Jones is described as leading ...
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Pilot aims to limit clinical negligence solicitors’ fees
Solicitors could receive as little as £500 for clinical negligence cases worth up to £25,000 in a proposed fixed costs pilot scheme drawn up by the NHS Litigation Authority. In a document prepared by the authority and seen by the Gazette, the terms of the fixed ...
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Will-writing could still be regulated
Will-writing could eventually be brought within the scope of regulation, despite the government’s spurning of the profession’s call to make it a reserved activity. Justice secretary Chris Grayling last week responded to the Legal Services Board’s recommendation for regulation by saying there was insufficient evidence ...
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Appeal Court applies Russian law in dispute
The Court of Appeal has applied Russian law to dismiss an appeal by a wealthy Russian businessman who sought a half-share of the family’s £40m London home. The dispute concerned the beneficial ownership of a family home bought by Vladimir and Olga Slutsker using an offshore ...
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Insurers to revamp third-party code
Insurers are to rewrite a code of conduct on the practice of third-party capture of claimants, the Gazette can reveal. James Dalton, head of motor and liability at the Association of British Insurers (ABI), said he wanted the voluntary code to be more robust and ensure ...
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Court interpreters reject new contract deal
Courts are being disrupted on a ‘daily basis’ as interpreters continue to boycott the private sector contract for translation services, despite a peace move by the Ministry of Justice, an interpreters group claimed this week. The ministry last month revealed that it would foot ...
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European data plan labelled ‘demented’
European Commission data protection plans are the biggest threat currently facing the UK economy, a senior Downing Street figure said this week. Rohan Silva, the senior policy adviser behind the government’s Tech City initiative, described the draft European data protection plan as ‘a completely demented ...
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Grayling asks for quality standard for PCT firms
The justice secretary has asked the Law Society and Bar Council to develop a quality standard for firms bidding for criminal legal aid contracts under controversial plans for price-competitive tendering (PCT). In an exclusive interview with the Gazette, Chris Grayling said: ‘I have invited both the ...
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Saudi Arabia accepts registration of female lawyer
Arwa Al-Hujaili has become Saudi Arabia’s first female lawyer – but only after spending three years post-graduation petitioning the kingdom’s Ministry of Justice to register her as a trainee. However, Al-Hujaili’s problems may have only just begun: any Saudi judge who disapproves of women speaking in ...
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Don’t worry about Jackson fallout – judge
The High Court judge responsible for implementing the Jackson civil litigation reforms has made two speeches seeking to allay lawyers’ fears about the reforms’ impact. Speaking to the Commercial Litigation Association annual conference, Mr Justice Ramsey urged more ‘hot-tubbing’ of expert witnesses to improve the ...
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North-west paralegal initiative
A group of law firms has come together to create a paralegal apprenticeship, as financial pressures on the sector start to take effect. Nine firms based in the north-west have formed the Legal Sector Employer Skills Group to take on 100 paralegals, who start their apprenticeships ...
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French revolution
Group actions could become possible under French law for the first time, under a plan presented to the government this month. Benoît Hamon (pictured), finance minister responsible for consumer affairs, said the proposal would rebalance power to the benefit of citizens. However, actions will be ...
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7,000 lawyers to hit the streets for free legal advice
The lord chief justice, the president of the Supreme Court, the master of the rolls, the attorney general and the director of public prosecutions will be leading some 7,000 legal professionals in the largest organised gathering of lawyers in the UK. The ninth London Legal ...
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Pannone turns to fixed-price mediation post-Jackson
Four out of five commercial disputes are capable of being resolved through fixed-priced mediation, according to a firm unveiling a two-tier service today. Manchester firm Pannone says it has responded to the Jackson reforms and the possibility of compulsory mediation with a service that settles ...
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Mass meeting of barristers takes a stand on QASA
The largest of the six bar circuits has voted to boycott the Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates (QASA) – which the circuit leader vowed ‘will be defeated’. At a ‘unique’ meeting attended by some 400 barristers in London on Saturday, Sarah Forshaw QC, leader of the ...
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Overwhelming public backing for legal aid: poll
Government claims that the legal aid system has lost credibility with the public are rebutted by a survey published today showing that seven out of 10 adults fear that criminal legal aid cuts could lead to innocent people being convicted of crimes they did not commit.
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Fight PI changes, says MASS chair
A figurehead for the claimant personal injury sector has urged solicitors not to give up opposing further changes to the system. Craig Budsworth, chairman of the Motor Accident Solicitors Society (MASS), told today’s Manchester Law Society conference that the fight against increases to the small-claims limit ...
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‘Google’ asylum refusals
Home Office officials are resorting to searching the internet for reasons to refuse asylum, entry clearance and leave to remain applications – and copying and pasting the resulting text into refusals, the Gazette has been told. Philip Trott, head of immigration at Bates, Wells Braithwaite, ...
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Poor will suffer from court fee changes, MoJ warned
Government plans to means-test waivers for civil court or tribunal fees could impact the most deprived and vulnerable sections of society, the Civil Justice Council has warned. The advisory group of judges, academics and lawyers, chaired by the master of the rolls (pictured), said there were ...
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PCT will mean the death of Welsh justice, lawyers warn
The government’s plans for price-competitive tendering (PCT) will have a ‘devastating’ impact on firms and chambers in Wales, leaving clients represented by English firms and without Welsh language provision, lawyers have warned. Their concerns come as solicitors and barristers unite today staging a demonstration in Westminster ...