Latest news – Page 633
-
News
SFO questioned over use of Slaughter and May
Shadow attorney general Emily Thornberry has raised questions about the Serious Fraud Office’s decision to retain a magic circle firm to defend potentially the most expensive case in its history. Attorney general Dominic Grieve confirmed earlier this month that the SFO had brought in Slaughter and ...
-
News
Watchdog may survive ‘bonfire of the quangos’
Government plans to throw a legal watchdog on to its ‘bonfire of the quangos’ have suffered a blow after the House of Commons justice committee opposed the move. The committee said there is not a strong enough case for the abolition of the Administrative Justice ...
-
News
Pathway to Law scheme boosted by £1.2m grant
An educational charity has secured a £1.2m grant to help 1,200 sixth formers from less privileged backgrounds pursue a career in the law. The Legal Education Foundation has given £1.2m to the Sutton Trust to fund its Pathways to Law programme, open to low- and middle-income ...
-
News
Ukraine eyes EU with code revision
Ukraine has announced a revised criminal procedure code centred on ‘freedom and human rights’ in what is believed to be an attempt to ease its entry into the European Union. Ukraine must meet certain conditions by May if it is to join the EU, including ridding ...
-
News
Quindell adds a software company to its portfolio
Fast-expanding alternative business structure Quindell Portfolio today announced the acquisition of a supplier of a case-management system. Quindell, which over the past year has acquired three law firms, announced the takeover of iSaaS Technology Ltd to the AIM stock exchange this morning. The company markets ...
-
News
Society sticks to joint representation for homebuyers
Joint representation provides the best value for money for clients, the Law Society of England and Wales said today following a vote by its Scottish counterpart in favour of separate representation. Jonathan Smithers, chair of the Law Society’s conveyancing and land law committee said: ‘The regulatory ...
-
News
Bar publishes plan for quicker civil justice
Better case management with all cases docketed and dealt with by a single judge are among the Bar Council’s recommendations to make civil justice quicker and more cost effective. A working party chaired by the immediate past chairman of the bar, Michael Todd QC, published its ...
-
News
Compensation culture is ‘media-created’ myth - Dyson
Master of the rolls Lord Dyson has urged the government, courts and legal profession to educate the public to address some of the media-created myths of the compensation culture. Giving the Holdsworth Club lecture earlier this month, Dyson (pictured) said there had been no developments ...
-
News
Referral fee ban: no period of grace, says SRA
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has warned firms there will be ‘no transitional period’ after the referral fee ban comes into force next Monday. The regulator today published guidance and support for personal injury firms trying to adapt their business models to get work without paying for ...
-
News
Legal executives apply for independent practice rights
Chartered legal executives will be able to provide services in probate, conveyancing, litigation and immigration if a joint application by the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx) and its regulator ILEX Professional Standards is successful. The two bodies today applied to the Legal Services Board ...
-
News
Interpreter company wins costs order appeal
The company contracted by the Ministry of Justice to provide court interpreters has won an appeal against a decision to award a third-party costs order after a sentencing hearing was adjourned due an interpreter’s non-appearance. In the Court of Appeal yesterday, the president of the Queen’ ...
-
News
International private client firms in merger talks
International firms Speechly Bircham and Withers, whose joint headcount includes more than 600 lawyers, are discussing a merger. A joint statement said that the firms are in ‘preliminary discussions’ and both see ‘exciting opportunities for growth in such a merger’. ...
-
News
Grayling looks to boost revenue from litigation
Justice secretary Chris Grayling will consult on plans to raise more money from those who litigate in courts in England and Wales. Grayling today announced he had asked his department to look at reform of the resourcing and administration of HM Courts & Tribunals Service. ...
-
News
Zimbabwe’s Mtetwa released unharmed
Zimbabwean human rights lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa has been freed on bail after more than a week in prison and a decade spent campaigning for the rule of law. She was accused of shouting at police officers and demanding to see a search warrant when police ...
-
News
Court of Appeal dismisses first ‘loss of control’ challenges
The Court of Appeal today provided its first interpretation of the new partial defence to murder, ‘loss of control’ in cases where fear of violence was claimed. Loss of control replaces the previous defence of provocation which could reduce murder to voluntary manslaughter. Following Law Commission ...
-
News
Blow to criminal bar as QCs kept in accreditation scheme
QCs will have their own discrete level of accreditation in the controversial Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates (QASA), the Joint Advocacy Group (JAG) announced today. The move will be welcomed by the Law Society, which was adamant that QCs be included in the scheme, but disappoint ...
-
News
NHS will benefit from legal duty of candour, says lawyer
A legal duty of candour will save the NHS money in the long term through more transparent clinical negligence claims, a leading specialist lawyer has predicted. Health secretary Jeremy Hunt yesterday confirmed that the NHS will have a legal duty to be honest about mistakes, following ...
-
News
Bar chiefs line up to defend cab rank rule
The Bar Council and Bar Standards Board have published separate reports staunchly defending the cab rank rule. They both respond to a January report by the Legal Services Board in which professors John Flood and Morten Hviid suggested the rule is ‘redundant’ and should be abolished. ...
-
News
Secret hearings in civil courts to be introduced in weeks
Secretive closed material procedure (CMP) hearings are to be extended into the country’s main civil courts following the House of Lords’ narrow rejection of an amendment to the controversial Justice and Security Bill. Peers yesterday voted by 174 to 158 to reject a Labour amendment to ...
-
News
Clegg urges lawyers to help employee ownership drive
The deputy prime minister today called on the legal profession to gain an understanding of employee ownership of businesses to help clients set up John-Lewis style enterprises. Delivering the first Robert Oakeshott Memorial Lecture at the Law Society this morning, Clegg backed a target ...