Latest news – Page 680
-
News
LSC offers final chance for family contracts
The Legal Services Commission has fended off the threat of litigation from firms that failed to get family and housing contracts, by announcing a licence-only tender to give firms a final chance to secure a contract. The Law Society welcomed the LSC’s ‘pragmatic and sensible’ decision, ...
-
News
Abbey marriage
Fans of the award-winning television drama Downton Abbey will remember the moving scene when footman William, mortally injured in the first world war trenches, married scullery maid Daisy with his dying breath. The producers consulted the Law Society’s library on the rules around special licences ...
-
News
Ban on PI adverts in hospitals 'unworkable'
Banning leaflets advertising personal injury lawyers and claims management companies from NHS hospitals is unworkable and counter-productive, the government has been warned. Health minister Simon Burns last week told English NHS hospitals it was ‘not acceptable’ to display adverts for law firms. He said patients should ...
-
News
Call for inquiry over church child abuse 'cover-up'
Child protection lawyers have called for a public inquiry into an alleged cover-up by churches of widespread sexual and physical abuse of children in England and Wales. In a letter to The Times last week, they claimed that the implementation of new ‘safeguarding’ policies has been ...
-
News
Leading firms ponder ABS options
At least 10 of the top 100 UK law firms are considering applying to become alternative business structures, the Gazette can reveal. International firm Kennedys and Midlands firm Browne Jacobson are among those to confirm this week that discussions are ongoing about a possible application - ...
-
News
Business specialist launches franchise scheme
A south-east law firm which has won awards for its innovative approach to business advice has used its name to launch a new franchise. Acumen Business Law, based in Hove, East Sussex, will license firms to use the name Acumen Business Law Enterprise. Acumen’s managing ...
-
News
Warning over BSB's 'cab rank' plans
The Legal Services Board has formally warned the Bar Standards Board over proposed changes to the bar’s ‘cab rank’ rule. It says in a letter that the LSB is ‘considering whether to refuse’ a rule change application submitted by the BSB in October 2011. The new ...
-
News
News focus: lenders in the line of fire
A row over the effect of lenders’ conveyancing panel policies on consumer choice escalated this week, with HSBC denying a claim that it is forcing customers to use firms on its new panel. The bank, which has 10% of the UK mortgage market, prompted outrage earlier this month by announcing ...
-
News
Opponents win custody advice concession in ‘un-costed and unjust’ LASPO
The government has abandoned its controversial plan to pave the way for the means-testing of legal advice for suspects detained in police stations. The Law Society welcomed the government’s decision, announced in the latest Lords debate on the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders ...
-
News
Cost assessment scheme to go national
Lord Justice Jackson has stated that the costs provisional assessment scheme is ready to go national after a year-long pilot. District judges in three county courts were required to assess on paper any bill of costs in which the base costs claimed were £25,000 or less. ...
-
News
Law Society president: split in profession to end
The president of the Law Society expects the 180-year-old division between solicitors and barristers to wither away as a result of the reforms set in motion by the Legal Services Act. It is ‘inevitable’ the professions will ‘need to revisit the question whether [they] should continue ...
-
News
UK ‘blocking’ EU human rights accession
The UK is blocking moves to close a ‘gaping hole’ in European human rights protection, it has been claimed on the day that prime minister David Cameron is to address the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. A joint statement issued by the Council of ...
-
News
Quoted company buys PI firm in ABS first
A personal injury firm is to be bought by a listed company in a £19.3m deal to create an alternative business structure (ABS). Liverpool-based Silverbeck Rymer will be acquired by AIM-listed Quindell Portfolio for an initial £10.25m in cash, and the issue of up to 120.8m ...
-
News
Twitter ban in Redknapp trial
The judge in the trial of Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp has banned the use of Twitter from inside the courtroom. Judge Leonard ordered the ban for both the press and members of the public attending the trial of Redknapp (pictured) and former Portsmouth chairman Milan ...
-
News
Firm leaves Conveyancing Quality Scheme
A Manchester firm has withdrawn from the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS) after going into the insurance assigned risks pool (ARP). GLP Crumpsall is the first firm to leave the accreditation scheme, which opened in January 2011. It withdrew voluntarily after informing the ...
-
News
Jailing of internet contempt juror sends ‘important message’ - Grieve
A juror who carried out internet research on a defendant has been jailed for six months. The Divisional Court, headed by the lord chief justice Lord Judge, today found university lecturer Theodora Dallas (pictured) guilty of contempt of court, following a case brought by the attorney ...
-
News
Society contacts Cable over HSBC as Nationwide culls 'dormant' firms
The Law Society has today written an open letter to solicitors outlining its strategy and guidance for addressing HSBC’s highly controversial decision to introduce a conveyancing panel comprising just 43 firms. President John Wotton has already complained to business secretary Vince Cable, while talks took place on Wednesday this week ...
-
News
Jackson urges caution over contingency fee cap
Lord Justice Jackson yesterday urged caution over setting limits on the percentage of damages that lawyers will be able to take in commercial cases under his reforms. The Court of Appeal judge also acknowledged that his wide-ranging changes to civil justice may not come into force ...
-
News
Pinsent Masons in Anglo-Scottish merger talks
Top 20 London firm Pinsent Masons has confirmed it is in cross-border merger talks with Edinburgh-based McGrigors. If successful, the merger would create a business with a turnover of more than £300m, headquartered in London and with six offices across Asia. In ...
-
News
City solicitor jailed for perverting the course of justice
A former partner of City firm Macfarlanes who claimed he was the victim of a kidnap to avoid being arrested for drink driving was today sentenced to 12 months in prison. Francis Bridgeman, 43, from Wards Lane, Wadhurst, East Sussex, was found guilty of perverting the ...