Latest news – Page 631
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Diversity checks
I was disappointed at the approach taken in your article of 21 September entitled ‘SRA planning surprise diversity swoops’ on our latest thematic supervision pilot on equality and diversity compliance.
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Kurds fight ‘flood’ of English solicitors
Lawyers in the oil-rich Kurdistan region of Iraq are threatening court action against English solicitors who they accuse of practising in the country without a licence. ‘Our members, 9,000 lawyers, have asked us to stop the flood of foreign lawyers,’ Wrya Saadi Ahmed (pictured), president of the Kurdish Bar Association, ...
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Society demands insurance reform
Law Society chief executive Desmond Hudson has called for immediate reform of the insurance industry after a damning report by the Office of Fair Trading. The consumer watchdog last week reported the industry to the Competition Commission after finding that motorists are being charged too much after an accident. ...
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Rocket Lawyer ready for UK launch
One of the US’s biggest legal brands has confirmed it will enter the UK market from next month. Rocket Lawyer, which offers a do-it-yourself online template as well as referrals to a 25-firm panel, will go live from the end of November after a digital ...
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‘Phenomenal growth’ in power of attorney registrations
Lasting powers of attorney (LPA) registrations have more than trebled over the past three years to reach 210,000 a year – a £42m market for solicitors, the Public Guardian revealed this week.
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UN call for ‘gender approach’ to bench
Countries worldwide should adopt a ‘gender-oriented approach’ to ensure women have the same rights and opportunities as men to hold high judicial office, the UN’s human rights council special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers told the Gazette this week.
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Fewer firms without PII cover set to enter pool
Almost 30 firms had applied to enter the assigned risks pool (ARP) within two days of the professional indemnity insurance deadline passing, the Solicitors Regulation Authority said on Tuesday. The regulator’s figures show 28 firms had failed to secure cover on the open market as ...
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South Korea opens billion-pound legal market
A new multi-billion pound legal market has opened for firms following the Republic of Korea’s decision to liberalise the rules around who can practise law in the country. Korean Bar Association vice-president Lee Byung-Joo (pictured) told the Gazette this week that Korea’s situation between Tokyo and ...
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IP violations revealed by EU
EU customs officers detained almost 115 million products suspected of violating intellectual property rights in 2011 compared with 103 million in 2010, the latest European Commission annual report on customs efforts to enforce IPR has revealed. The intercepted goods were valued at £1.04bn compared with £880m ...
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IBA 2012: former president of American bar dismisses 'risky' ABS model
The immediate past-president of the American Bar Association has strongly denounced alternative business structures, arguing that non-lawyer investment in law firms compromises the client's best interests and undermines professional independence. William T (Bill) Robinson III gave the strongest indication yet that the US will ...
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Criminal reaccreditation scheme on hold
The Law Society has postponed plans to reaccredit criminal solicitors every five years, following consultation with the profession. The Society consulted in April on a proposal that members of the Criminal Litigation Accreditation Scheme (CLAS) should undergo a regulatory check every five years, confirming that they ...
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IBA 2012: 'banker to the poor' calls for company law rethink
Nobel Peace laureate and anti-poverty campaigner Professor Muhammad Yunus today called for a fundamental rethink of company law in order to help the world's poor. The Bangladeshi banker and former economics professor wants to see a relaxation of the obligation on public company directors to ...
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Saga targets confused legal consumers
Over-50s holiday specialist Saga said it would target clients ‘bamboozled’ by jargon as it became the second consumer brand name to enter the legal services market. Roger Ramsden, chief executive of Saga Services, said: ‘People want legal advice and products at a price they understand, ...
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Banks agree new protocol for estate administration
New rules for the exchange of information between banks and solicitors administering an estate have been agreed by the British Bankers’ Association (BBA), the Law Society and the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP).
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We’re keeping our options open, says ABS applicant AA
Breakdown recovery and insurance business AA has insisted it is merely ‘keeping its options open’ by applying for an alternative business structure licence. The company today confirmed it has applied to the Solicitors Regulation Authority with a view to providing legal services in the future. It ...
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Khan: we’ll be tough on the causes of reoffending
A women’s justice board and a minister to tackle offenders’ mental health problems would be among a Labour government’s plans to fight crime and open a ‘war on reoffending’, the shadow justice secretary told the Labour party conference today.
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Justice names new chief
Campaign group Justice has appointed human rights lawyer Andrea Coomber (pictured) as its new director. Coomber, currently legal director of the international human rights organisation Interights, replaces Roger Smith. Smith announced his decision to step down in May after 11 years in the post. ...
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No turning back on cuts under Labour, says Khan
A future Labour government will not increase funding for criminal justice, the shadow justice secretary said today, but will look to promote ‘more effective and less expensive’ alternatives to custody and price-competitive tendering for criminal defence services.
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IBA 2012: public opinion 'immune' to torture since 9/11
People in liberal democracies have become 'immune' to the obscenity of torture since the US launched its 'war on terror', one of the world's great human rights champions told the International Bar Association conference today. Juan E Mendez, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other ...
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Austerity a challenge to rule of law says Nobel prizewinner
Nobel economics laureate Professor Joseph Stiglitz yesterday urged lawyers worldwide to help safeguard access to justice in the face of deep cuts to state aid for legal representation. 'Inequality was growing before the financial crisis and has been exacerbated by it,' he told thousands of ...