Latest news – Page 610
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News
‘Limited trust’ threat to SRA whistleblowing plan - Society
Whistleblowers in the legal profession do not trust the SolicitorsRegulation Authority enough to agree to report misconduct, the Law Societysaid today. The Society said there was no pressing need for a cooperation policy toencourage people to report colleagues for wrong-doing.
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‘Limited trust’ undermines SRA whistleblower plan - Society
Whistleblowers in the legal profession do not trust the Solicitors Regulation Authority enough to agree to report misconduct, the Law Society said today. The Society said there was no pressing need for a cooperation policy to encourage people to report colleagues for wrongdoing. ...
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EC proposes new money-laundering controls
A long-awaited directive against money laundering published by the European Commission today includes new mechanisms to ensure that beneficial owners of companies are identifiable. The commission’s fourth anti-money laundering (AML) directive includes a regulation governing information that accompanies fund transfers. The commission said the proposals ...
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Solicitors urged to vet insurer finances
The Law Society is warning solicitors to check the financial strength of an insurer before purchasing their next professional indemnity insurance policy. The Society said the warning is to quell the misconception that insurers on the Solicitors Regulation Authority list of ‘qualifying insurers’ are ...
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MPs condemn ‘shambolic’ court interpreter deal
The Ministry of Justice’s outsourcing of court interpreter services was ‘nothing short of shambolic’ according to a highly critical report from the House of Commons Justice Committee, which questions whether the deal is ‘financially sustainable’. The report, published today, also condemns the MoJ’s actions in seeking ...
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Lords back Leveson-style press arbitration service
Peers voted last night in favour of an amendment to the Defamation Bill to introduce a low-cost arbitration service to help ordinary citizens who feel they have been wronged by the press. The House of Lords voted in favour of the change, a key recommendation of ...
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Part-time judges win pensions battle at Supreme Court
The Supreme Court today ruled that part-time judges are entitled to the same pension, pro rata, as their full-time colleagues. The ruling will have important implications for solicitors currently working as part-time judges in courts and tribunals, as well as other part-time workers. ...
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Small-claims limit could rise above £5,000, Grayling admits
Justice secretary Chris Grayling has said the proposed new small-claims court limit of £5,000 may be ‘too low’ – despite the ongoing consultation on raising the figure from £1,000. Grayling (pictured) told parliament on Tuesday that raising the small-claims limit to £5,000 would mean ...
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EU crime and justice measures of ‘real importance’ says Starmer
Failure to opt back in to EU criminal justice measures will hamper the UK’s ability to prosecute cross-border crime, making procedures ‘uncertain, cumbersome and fragmented’, the director of public prosecutions told peers today. Keir Starmer QC also revealed that there was no formal consultation with the ...
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400 jobs saved as Cobbetts deal goes through
All training contracts will be honoured and more than 400 jobs saved at defunct firm Cobbetts, administrators today confirmed.
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Grieve alarmed by ‘trial by Google’
‘Trial by Google’ offends fundamental principles of the English legal system, undermining trials and open justice, the attorney general has warned. Dominic Grieve spoke last night highlighting the dangers posed to fair trials due to the growth of the internet, but he argued that the law ...
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Third-party funders face tougher rules
The Association of Litigation Funders (ALF) is to bolster measures to protect clients whose litigation is funded by third-party investors. Writing in the February edition of the Gazette’s sister publication Litigation Funding, the ALF’s chair, Leslie Perrin, reveals that the body will introduce tougher rules to ...
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MPs censure pre-pack deals as Cobbetts takeover goes ahead
‘Pre-pack’ deals like the one that this week saved defunct law firm Cobbetts face new scrutiny, following a critical report by MPs.
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Major CMCs win argument on MoJ fees
Large claims management companies (CMCs) have convinced the government to reinstate a cap on the fees they have to pay for regulation. The Ministry of Justice, which regulates CMCs, had planned to remove the annual cap of £30,000 for companies with contractual relationships with clients. ...
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Hitting gender targets
I write in connection with the report that says we should work more flexibly and get more women in. Here, at solicitor level, we are more than 50% women and they all work flexibly. Unfortunately we did not attend a conference, or write out a plan for any of this. ...
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Degrees of learning
Of a cohort of 2,174 who sat the Part II Qualifying Examination in February 1967, 48 passed all seven heads, in one sitting, with distinction in two or more subjects. The group comprised 25 ‘five-year men’ (they were all men!) and 23 graduates, mainly from ...
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Mediator fee cost anomaly rankles
There is a striking anomaly caused by the omission of a mediator’s fee from the list of recoverable disbursements in Civil Procedure Rule 45.10 (fixed-costs cases). It means that a receiving party must bear the costs of the mediator’s fee, which creates a disincentive for mediating. ...
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Brilliant Law heralds new era
I read that Brilliant Law ‘is founded by non-lawyers, which is a radically different scenario to other law firms'. It is indeed. I read on: ‘That brings with it innovation and a commercial appreciation but also mechanisms to market ourselves differently.’ But ...
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Defendants and principles of fairness
I would like to share my recent experience of the Criminal Procedure Rules (CrimPR) danced to the tune of Ministry of Justice training. Acting for a defendant who had no recollection of the incident, or what he had said in interview, I was faced with a single statement and a ...
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Defending strict liability for workplace safety
I write with reference to the government’s latest move in its overhaul of health and safety legislation. At the last minute, the proposal to remove strict liability in respect of duties imposed on employers under health and safety legislation has been slipped into the Enterprise Regulatory ...