Latest news – Page 618
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News
Salford civil claims process ‘improving’, manager claims
A senior civil servant from HM Courts & Tribunals Service has insisted that the performance of the Salford civil claims centre is improving – while admitting the IT system is still ‘rubbish’. Jonathan Wood, national business centres cluster manager, told the Law Society civil justice section ...
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Time limits mooted for pre-Jackson ATE
The glut of after-the-event insurance deals signed before 1 April to take advantage of the old rules on recoverability could have time limits imposed on them, it emerged at the Law Society’s civil justice section conference yesterday. Solicitor David Greene said he understood that Lord Justice ...
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Bar complaints-handling ‘prompt, thorough and fair’ says report
The Bar Standards Board’s handling of complaints against barristers has received a clean bill of health in an independent report published today, which praised the process as ‘prompt, thorough and fair’. The report, by independent observer Isobel Leaviss, commended the board for its fair, consistent and ...
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Courts: the US should be a warning
Unfortunately, I did not read John Hyde’s web article ‘What’s so bad about privatising our courts?’ until the comments had closed. However, as a former law student and now a researcher in criminology, I have the following thoughts to offer.
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Alternative to PCT
If Mr Grayling wants a ‘stunning’ alternative to price-competitive tendering, then why not: Charge and collect fees at all levels of legal aid, police stations and criminal courts (including court duty solicitors) on the basis of a contribution proportionate ...
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Consumer help
The chair of the Legal Services Board, David Edmonds, has written to all approved regulators urging them to do more to help consumers play a ‘more active, empowered role’ in the legal services market, by providing clear ‘performance information’. It is not appropriate for regulatory bodies ...
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Consumer help
The chair of the Legal Services Board, David Edmonds, has written to all approved regulators urging them to do more to help consumers play a ‘more active, empowered role’ in the legal services market, by providing clear ‘performance information’. It is not appropriate for regulatory bodies ...
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RTA ‘industry’
No, Mr Torr, you are wrong. I have received many telephone calls telling me that I have been involved in an accident and offering to give me advice, when there has been no accident at all. I have certainly never ticked a box on a survey that is at all ...
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Professions and industrial workers - vital distinction
It is not just a question of ‘what’s in a name’. There is a real ethical difference between professionals and industrial workers. If society does not recognise this or we, as professionals, do not defend this difference, we are in danger of sliding behind the doors of a Stalinist state.
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Criminal limit concerns
Like, I suspect, a number of my professional colleagues, I have grave concerns about the sudden emergence of historical sex crimes following the well-publicised Operation Yewtree, set up in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal.
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Crackdown on political lobbyists under fire
The legal profession has warned the government it is fixing its sights on the wrong target with plans for a register of political lobbyists. Downing Street confirmed last week that it wants to create a statutory register, with legislation published within six weeks, following allegations involving ...
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Lawyers sign up to pay workers a living wage
Lawyers are setting the standard for private employers in having more firms committed to paying workers an independently assessed ‘living wage’ than any other business sector. However, it has also emerged that solicitor practices were among hundreds of rogue employers recently penalised for not paying ...
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Backing for single PII scheme
A single professional indemnity insurance scheme and compensation scheme could cover the entire legal services sector, if a consumer watchdog proposal becomes reality. In a report published today on legal regulators’ financial protection schemes, the Legal Services Consumer Panel says that a single scheme would allow ...
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Victim review will be ‘costly and time-consuming’
Granting victims an automatic right to review Crown Prosecution Service decisions will be ‘costly, time-consuming and add little to the current process’, a prominent solicitor has claimed. Director of public prosecutions Keir Starmer last week announced plans to allow victims and bereaved relatives to review any ...
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New potential market in aviation claims
Law firms have a potential market of as many as one million claimants who may be eligible for compensation for delayed flights, it has been suggested. Personal injury specialist Bott & Co said this week it has recovered €300,000 for 600 clients in the 100 days ...
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SRA takes over 16 months to approve ABS
The Solicitors Regulation Authority took a record 16 months and 26 days to process the alternative business structure application of personal injury firm Minster Law, it has emerged. Outgoing Minster chairman Adrian Christmas told the Gazette that he applied to gain ABS status on 3 January ...
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Reformation relics fetch £900k for Law Society
The Law Society has raised more than £900,000 from the sale of anti-Catholic polemical and associated artefacts bequeathed to it in the 19th century. The Mendham Collection, assembled by Anglican clergyman Joseph Mendham (1769-1856), contained mostly 15th and 16th century books relating to the Reformation. Items ...
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IT firm offers route round referral fee ban
A legal technology firm is promoting a business plan which it says will allow solicitors to continue working with personal injury referrers. The company, Epoq, has created LegalGo, a free assistance plan that claims management companies distribute to claimants. The CMC signs ...
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Firms braced for spending squeeze
Top-100 law firms face a squeeze in client legal spending over the next 12 months, because almost all corporate clients who have not yet reviewed instructions and spend plan to do so. The result will be massive consolidation among the magic circle’s chasing pack, according ...
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Thousands take up arms over cuts
The fight against the government’s Transforming Legal Aid reforms heated up last week as a consultation on the proposals closed with more than 13,000 responses understood to have been lodged with the Ministry of Justice. Although the ministry could not confirm the figure, this would ...