Latest news – Page 661
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News
Russell Jones & Walker approved as ABS
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has cleared the Australian takeover of top-100 firm Russell Jones & Walker by licensing it as an alternative business structure (ABS), it announced today. RJW, acquired by Slater & Gordon earlier this year, is the fifth ABS firm to be ...
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Solicitor judges get their own network
The Law Society is to create a new membership section - the Solicitor Judges Division - to create a community of solicitor judges. The division, which will be launched at Chancery Lane on 9 May, is intended to provide opportunities for networking and supporting solicitors in their judicial careers, through ...
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UK right not to adopt EU justice measure, Lords committee says
European Union laws setting minimum rights for defendants and victims are in the interests of British citizens, but the government was right not to sign up to a Lisbon treaty proposal guaranteeing suspects access to a lawyer, a committee of peers has said. The Lords Justice ...
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‘Raise cap’ on crime victims’ compensation
Personal injury lawyers have called on the government to raise the cap on compensation for victims of crime. A Ministry of Justice consultation, ‘Getting it right for victims and witnesses’, closed this week after three months. The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers responded to the consultation ...
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Competition reform could boost collective litigation
Government proposals to reform competition law, making it easier to bring class actions against firms in breach, could ‘fuel’ claims and ‘create a new business in collective litigation’, the Confederation of British Industry has warned. A consultation published this week by the Department for Business, Innovation ...
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LASPO bound for statute book after cliffhanger final vote
The government’s controversial legal aid reforms are set to become law after it won its final battle over the bill in the House of Lords yesterday. Peers had inflicted 14 defeats on the government in votes on proposed amendments to the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment ...
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Firm offers £1,500 advance for PI victims
A personal injury firm with ambitions to open 50 outlets this year is offering a £1,500 cash advance for accident victims who make a claim. GT Law, which has also applied to be an alternative business structure, will require a medical report and insurer’s admission of ...
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Strasbourg reform ‘watered down’
The coalition’s blueprint for the reform of Europe’s human rights court in Strasbourg achieved only limited changes after proposals to help clear the backlog of more than 150,000 cases were watered down or removed during negotiations.
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SRA costs plan 'a burden' says Society
The Law Society has told regulators that solicitors should not be expected to pay for losses incurred by uninsured firms. The Solicitors Regulation Authority proposed last week that payments would be taken out of the Compensation Fund from later this year. The fund, paid for by ...
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Court interpreter situation 'improving'
Large numbers of court hearings are still being hit by interpreter problems nearly three months after new contracting arrangements began - but the situation has improved, new figures indicate.
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Private prosecution pioneer opens
A firm thought to be the first private prosecution specialist in Britain opened in London last week to ‘fill a gap in the tackling of economic crime’. Edmonds Marshall McMahon, established as a legal disciplinary practice, will specialise in fraud, counterfeiting, regulatory offences, corporate crime and ...
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Chancery Lane slams ‘flawed’ BSB report
The Law Society has condemned as ‘flawed and self-serving’ a Bar Standards Board survey alleging a decline in the quality of advocacy. The report, Perceptions of Criminal Advocacy, found that a majority of barristers responding to an online survey blamed pressure on criminal legal aid ...
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Solicitor rapped for ‘frustrating’ tribunal
The president of the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has backed an employment tribunal’s finding of ‘appalling’ behaviour by a solicitor in a strongly worded judgment.
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Move to close criminal advice loophole
A legal loophole that has allowed police to deny suspects their right to consult a solicitor could be closed by a change in the law. Home Office officials have agreed to propose an amendment to the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) 1984, imposing a ...
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Difficult to comprehend
I have followed with interest and mounting concern the Gazette’s coverage of fears about the declining standards of interpretation in UK criminal courts, most recently ‘Interpreter mistake causes trial to collapse'.
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Why the overlap?
I note the debate about the future of the Legal Services Board. I remain intrigued and confused. I thought that the Law Society and the Solicitors Regulation Authority represented our professional and regulatory body respectively. Alas, it would seem that this is not the case, ...
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‘Light touch’ OFR?
In her speech on 19 April announcing the delayed dates for the submission of nominations for the appointment of COLPs and COFAs, SRA executive director Samantha Barrass is reported to have said that in support of the nomination ‘a senior manager from the firm must confirm that the firm has ...
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Outmoded example
I do not seek to comment on the broad issues raised by the author of the letter ‘Smelling a rat', but I do take strong issue with the facts set out in the two cases he cites in his argument. In each case he mentions that ...
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PI lawyers rule out ‘deal or no deal’
Personal injury lawyers are refusing to play ‘deal or no deal games’ with the government over fixed fees for smaller cases. The government has written to all stakeholders asking them to suggest a limit for the value of claim that solicitors should be able to charge ...
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MoJ: ‘up to solicitors’ to police damages
A Ministry of Justice official has said it will be up to solicitors to police a key aspect of the civil litigation reforms. Robert Wright, head of civil litigation and funding at the MoJ, admitted last week there is no way for the government to ensure ...