Latest news – Page 708
-
News
SPs eligible to become Judicial Appointments Commissioners
Sole practitioners are eligible to apply for a position as a Judicial Appointments Commissioner, the recruitment agency acting for the Ministry of Justice has confirmed, despite confusion over the wording of the job specification. The specification for the role states that candidates seeking to become a ...
-
News
Wotton stresses ‘opportunity’ presented by ABSs
Law Society president John Wotton will today spell out his belief that alternative business structures can present a significant opportunity for the legal sector.
-
News
ITV clarifies Holden’s comments on QS
ITV’s This Morning has today clarified comments which were made by Amanda Holden in relation to QualitySolicitors. Following representations from the Law Society, QualitySolicitors agreed to ask the show to correct some comments made by the television presenter when she appeared as a guest of the ...
-
News
One in three law centres set to shut down
At least a third of law centres will close if government plans to cut legal aid funding go ahead this autumn, solicitors have predicted. The warning came after the UK’s largest not-for-profit social welfare law firm, Law for All, went into administration, weeks after the Immigration ...
-
News
Claimant solicitors to pay half of RTA portal costs
Claimant solicitors are to fund half of the cost of the Road Traffic Accident Portal, the Gazette has learned, in a move that claimant lawyers believe will give them more say in how the system operates. The portal, which launched last year as an information exchange ...
-
News
London firm offers 'divorce insurance'
London law firm Prolegal is to offer ‘divorce insurance’ to clients, in conjunction with a legal expenses insurer. The policy, which will be offered to clients when they make a pre-nuptial agreement, will cover the costs of challenging the pre-nup or adopting it into a ...
-
News
Law firm mergers trend ‘to accelerate’
A high proportion of small and medium-sized firms have completed mergers in the first half of 2011, new research by the Law Consultancy Network suggests. The third set of six-monthly statistics compiled by consultant Andrew Otterburn showed that one in three of the 31 firms surveyed ...
-
News
Big firms coy on external investment talks
Most leading law firms are discussing the potential for external investment ahead of the Legal Services Act coming fully into force – but they are not admitting to it, according to a financial advisory group. Few of the larger firms have shown any public interest in ...
-
News
Diversity boss calls for 'inclusive culture' at legal firms
The incoming global head of diversity and inclusion at City giant Herbert Smith has warned that some law firms still need to do much more to create an ‘inclusive culture’. David Shields, a former director at gay rights organisation Stonewall, said some practices were more concerned ...
-
News
Report highlights dire plight of Syrian lawyers
Human rights lawyers in Syria suffer surveillance and harassment by security officials, and are banned from holding meetings or travelling abroad, according to a report by the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI). The report said the international community had ‘great concerns’ over the treatment ...
-
News
1,000 wills-related files found on pavement
More than 1,000 files containing wills and other confidential information were recently found dumped on the pavement outside a will-writing company in Doncaster, the Society of Will Writers (SWW) revealed this week. The files were left by staff at another will-writing company, Gainsborough-based Minster Legal Services ...
-
News
Human rights breakthrough in Mexico
Mexico’s Supreme Court has ruled that military personnel accused of human rights violations against lawyers and others should be tried in civilian courts instead of military courts, where violations have historically gone unpunished. The ruling follows the publication in March of a Law Society human rights ...
-
News
Misinformed view that legal aid is too easily available
I write in response to Mr Comport’s letter. I do not think he is ‘reactionary’ in respect of legal aid – he voices the legitimately held view of many people in the UK. I do however think he is misinformed.
-
News
More form filling
How gratifying that the Legal Services Board has decided that solicitors have so little to do and such a profitable business model that they should spend money, time and effort in keeping records of the diversity of their workforce. At a time when government is ...
-
News
Comforting thought
Thank you for Roger Smith’s report on the International Legal Aid Group’s meeting in Helsinki. It is so comforting to see that those of us in England and Wales who are supportive of legal aid here are not totally misguided. Thanks to Roger also for ...
-
News
Spot the difference
The letter from Timothy Simkins is timely, apt and hopefully will focus minds. As an extension to the debate, can anyone differentiate between the payment of referral fees to motor insurance companies and similar payments to estate agents? Gordon ...
-
News
Advertise the halo
Regarding Mr Simkins' letter, my firm does not pay referral fees either. But I doubt you can go about banning things just because you disagree with them. Besides, a referral fee is just outsourced marketing with payment by results. Is it just the marketing you want ...
-
News
No complaints
I was very pleased to read the comments of Dianne Hayter about client complaints in the article 'Hayter: solicitors "in denial"'. She says that if the person running Sainsbury's was told the customers were complaining they would take it very seriously.She is entirely correct. I ...
-
News
Clyde & Co and BLG give merger details
Management at City firms Clyde & Co and Barlow Lyde & Gilbert have revealed details of their forthcoming merger after partners gave their backing last week. The combined firm will be called Clyde & Co, and will have 270 partners, more than 1,250 fee earners and ...
-
News
CJC to set up working party on civil costs reforms
A working party is being put together by the Civil Justice Council (CJC) to examine the technicalities of civil litigation reform. Experts will attempt to thrash out practical proposals to follow up on measures planned by the government following the review of litigation costs by Lord ...