Latest news – Page 678
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News
‘Baby barrister’ threat to solicitors
Barristers with under three years’ practising experience will be able to take instructions directly from clients if the Bar Standards Board’s latest plan for the extension of public access rules is approved. The board heard last week that ‘baby barristers’ may be the only representation ...
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Law firm profit divide continues to widen
Revenue has fallen at a quarter of firms over the last year, and the gap in both profitability and growth in turnover between London and the rest of the UK continued to widen. In most firms headcount has remained static or fallen. These are the ...
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Magic circle retention rates hold up
Magic circle firm Clifford Chance has retained 48 of 62 trainees, a retention rate of 77%, it revealed this week, in a clutch of announcements of trainee retention figures at City and international firms.
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Victims face trek as violence courts shut
Court closures are forcing victims and witnesses in domestic violence cases to travel more than 50 miles to and from hearings, the ...
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Solicitors warned of divorce claims
Divorce solicitors could face thousands of compensation claims in cases where pensions were undervalued in a divorce settlement, a pensions consultant has claimed. Divorce LifeLine suggests that since pension sharing was introduced in December 2000, around 750,000 people, in half the divorces across the country, could ...
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UK ‘miscarriages’ model rejected by South Australia
South Australia is now highly unlikely to adopt a UK-style Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), following a report by the parliament’s legislative review committee. The committee also cautioned against the creation of a CCRC at a national level.
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General damages to increase by 10%
The Court of Appeal today confirmed that general damages will increase by 10% for all judgments made after 1 April 2013. Senior figures at the judiciary said the judgment was being made several months in advance to provide 'simplicity and clarity'. The ...
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PII outlook ‘positive’ as new entrant targets small firms
A new entrant has joined the solicitor professional indemnity insurance market with a strategy to target small firms. Specialist broker Prime Professions has launched a new product offering access to A-rated insurer Axis Specialty to sole practitioners or firms with up to three partners. The insurer ...
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HSBC sets date for conveyancing panel
All firms that are members of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS) will be put on HSBC’s conveyancing panel from 29 August, the Society and lender announced today. The move follows the deal agreed between the Society and HBSC in May, under which ...
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QC to be charged with failing to pay £600,000 in VAT
A QC is to face charges over an alleged £600,000 VAT fraud, the Crown Prosecution Service announced today. Rohan Anthony Pershad QC, who practises from London’s Thirty Nine Essex Street, will face one charge of cheating the public revenue. CPS central ...
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Panel identifies consumer trust shortfall
Legal services consumers are becoming less confident about protection of their rights as the market liberalises, research has found. The second consumer ‘healthcheck’ released by the Legal Services Consumer Panel today identified declining public trust in lawyers, though it pointed out that this is true of ...
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Employment lawyers slam ‘out-of-the-blue’ reform plans
A group representing 6,000 employment lawyers has savaged government plans to cut red tape for businesses, claiming that they will prolong rather than settle disputes and stretch resources ‘beyond breaking point’. The Employment Lawyers Association (ELA) says that the proposals, in the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform ...
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Insurance fund deal for mesothelioma victims
Insurers will pay £300m over the next 10 years into a scheme to support newly diagnosed victims of mesothelioma, the government confirmed today. The money will go into a new fund for the 3,000 victims across the UK who are unable to claim compensation because ...
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Supreme Court backs ‘unbeliever’ asylum right
The Supreme Court today unanimously upheld the right of asylum seekers not to be forced to hold, seem to hold or express a political opinion in order to protect themselves from persecution in their own countries. The judgment, for the first time, makes the law clear ...
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‘New litigation industry’ will deter investors, CBI warns
Government proposals for ‘opt-out’ class actions for consumers could spark a new ‘litigation industry’ around competition law and deter inward investment and growth, business lobby group the Confederation of British Industry warned today. Businesses need incentives such as reduced fines to participate in alternative dispute ...
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Medical report cost recovery in last-minute Jackson change
Concerns about impact on disabled claimants have forced a last-ditch change to the government’s civil litigation reforms. An equality impact assessment of the Jackson proposals revealed fears that claimants could be prevented from bringing a serious injury claim because of the cost of expert reports. Part ...
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Shoosmiths lets 86 go
National firm Shoosmiths has responded to a difficult financial year by announcing a total of 86 redundancies. The top 40 firm, where turnover dropped by 3% in 2011/12 to £84m, today confirmed 71 voluntary and 15 compulsory redundancies following a two-month consultation. ...
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Solicitor shot in Devizes has died
Police have confirmed that Wiltshire solicitor James Ward (pictured) has died following a shooting in his office earlier this month. The 58-year-old, principal solicitor at Morris Goddard & Ward, was shot at his desk in the firm’s Devizes office on 2 July. Wiltshire Police today confirmed ...
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Solicitors demanding referral fees could be ‘named and shamed’ by bar
Naming and shaming solicitors who seek referral fees for passing work onto barristers has been mooted by the Bar Standards Board in a bid stamp out the practice. The Bar Council has already taken advice on whether referral fees amount to bribes, though that advice has ...
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ABS offers barristers at £75 an hour
A new law firm which promises clients fixed fees and immediate face-to-face meetings with barristers has become the latest alternative business structure (ABS). Red Bar Law was formed in September last year and applied to the Solicitors Regulation Authority for ABS status in January. Today the ...