Latest news – Page 674
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News
10% damages uplift ‘still fair’ says Jackson
The architect of the government’s civil litigation reforms today rejected calls for a bigger uplift in damages payouts. Lord Justice Jackson said his original proposal of a 10% uplift on all settlements is still fair, despite claimants having to spend up to 25% of their ...
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HSBC hits back at panel criticism
Banking giant HSBC has denied that its conveyancing panel is closed to new firms following criticism from lawyers. In a prepared statement, the bank today rebutted the Law Society’s claim it had gone back on a promise to offer an appeals process to firms denied entry ...
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Six firms would make FTSE100, says survey
Six of the top 10 UK law firms are large enough to be included in the FTSE100 index of blue chip companies if they were stock-exchange listed, according to a new study. Corporate advisory firm Europa Partners said value-per-equity partner in the biggest four firms now ...
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Sale reports ‘speculation’ says College of Law
The College of Law today dismissed as 'speculation' newspaper reports of its imminent sale to a private equity firm. According to The Sunday Times, the UK’s largest law school has accepted a £200m offer from Montagu Private Equity. News of a sale had been long ...
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Chinese giant to open office in London
Leading Chinese firm Zhong Lun will open its first London office in May, the firm has announced. A team of five solicitors and nine legal professionals will move into the Square Mile after the move was formally approved at a meeting of the firm’s partners last ...
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Interpreter problems ‘unacceptable’ says ministry
The Ministry of Justice has criticised the ‘unacceptable’ number of problems in the first weeks of a controversial new contract to run court interpreting services. It has emerged this week that a trial hearing at Leeds Crown Court had to be called off because no one ...
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SRA sets ‘final deadline’
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has added two extra days to the time allowed for renewing practising certificates - but stated this will be the last extension. The renewals process, due to finish the end of this month, will now close at 5pm on 2 March. The ...
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Firm in interpreter storm offers better deal
The firm at the centre of the row over courtroom interpreters says it has taken on more staff and offered cash incentives to improve the service offered under its Ministry of Justice contract. Gavin Wheeldon, chief executive of Applied Language Solutions (ALS), contacted staff members ...
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Millions spent on empty court buildings
The government is spending £2.5m a year maintaining dozens of redundant courts across England and Wales, the Gazette can reveal. A reply to a freedom of information request shows 69 former court buildings remain vacant, with no imminent chance of them being sold. Justice minister Jonathan ...
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Troika bid to cut judicial holidays
The time-honoured tradition of two-month summer breaks for senior judges has become an unexpected frontline issue in international efforts to rescue troubled European economies, the Gazette has learned. The so-called troika, comprising the International Monetary Fund, European Central Bank and European Commission, has set fiscal and ...
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‘Cordial’ talks on HSBC panel
Law Society chief executive Desmond Hudson has met senior representatives of HSBC a month after the bank caused consternation by announcing a conveyancing panel containing only 39 solicitor firms. Despite a ‘cordial’ meeting, Hudson described the outcomes as ‘disappointing’ and said he did not expect ‘any voluntary change of approach ...
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New capping regime must not cost the earth
Lord Justice Jackson’s suggestion of a fixed-cost regime is an improvement on the government’s proposals, but falls short of providing ‘copper-bottomed’ compliance with the Aarhus Convention.
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Jordan’s rule of law
I write in response to the Rights & Wrongs column. It seems that some imaginary and mischievous allegations are being made that give the impression that there is use of torture in Jordan, not only against Abu Qatada but others as well. As a former minister ...
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System failure
I write regarding the recent announcement by the Ministry of Justice to increase the financial limit in the small-claims track from the present £5,000 limit to £10,000, diverting some 80,000 cases each year from the fast-track claims route to the small-track claims route. This is ...
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Money talks
Last week I spoke at length to a friend, a commercial HSBC manager who manages the accounts of several local solicitors’ firms, about HSBC’s decision to introduce a UK panel of 43 law firms. For HSBC clients in my rural area this means a choice between the additional cost of ...
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Captured market
In Today’s Conveyancer a Mr Pete Dockar, head of mortgages at HSBC, purports to deal with some questions about the new panel arrangements. As might be expected, the response is bland to the point of being useless, making vague and unsupported assertions about fraud. No doubt the answers given were ...
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Blame game
The letter from Peter Connolly hits home with this firm of solicitors, which has achieved admission to the Conveyancing Quality Scheme. We have already applied to the licensed conveyancers to join the HSBC panel, only to be told that there were no vacancies in our area.
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MoJ to consult on PI discount rate
The Ministry of Justice is to re-examine the discount rate used to calculate the amount deducted from an injured person’s compensation to account for income received from investing the damages, the Gazette has learned. The personal injury discount rate of 2.5% has not changed since 2001. ...
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Government backs single EU patent court
The government has backed controversial plans to set up a single patent court for Europe. Lady Wilcox, minister at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, told a Lords committee this week that, even after 40 years of failed negotiations, the way forward for business efficiency in Europe remains a ...
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Over 50 law firms join breast implant action
A group action on behalf of the estimated 40,000 UK women who received cosmetic breast implants made by a now-defunct French company has signed up more than 50 law firms, in what could be the final group action of its kind. One of the lawyers ...