Latest news – Page 710
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News
Asbestos victims forum urges reforms veto
Campaigners for sufferers of asbestos-related disease have urged MPs to vote down civil litigation reforms. The Asbestos Victims Support Groups’ Forum said its members’ compensation will be ‘wiped out’ if claimants have to pay legal costs from their damages. Currently, claimants must ...
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News focus: Lord Justice Leveson's large remit
There has been a close focus in the press on the main actors in the judicial inquiry that David Cameron announced into the phone-hacking scandal on 20 July. The abilities of Lord Justice Leveson (pictured) and the panel of experts who will advise him do of course matter. As Joshua ...
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Is News International ‘fit and proper’ to own law firms?
There seems an extraordinary official silence as to the potential relationship of the scandal of News International with the forthcoming implementation of alternative business structures. News International, if it passed the fitness-to-own test, and indeed until the scandal it surely would have, could own a considerable number of legal firms. ...
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Hurting tenants
The recent Benchmarks article by Richard Pates exposes the fact that the Court of Appeal has driven a coach and horses through the tenant deposit scheme inserted into the Housing Act 2004, which protects tenants against the widespread abuse by landlords of the rental deposit system. ...
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Lay conspiracy
While solicitors spend millions of hours getting to grips with the new Solicitors Regulation Authority code (only four years after the last major revision) in the runup to October, they might care to look up the composition of the members of the SRA and the Legal Services Board. ...
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Better odds
Martin Comport explains that ‘sometimes, cynical me thinks that [legal aid] certificates are given on the basis of "let’s say the chances are 50/50 or less but then they will be much greater when the opposition know that we have a certificate"’.
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Forming a queue
Am I first in the queue to respond to Martin Comport’s letter ‘Not in my name’ to say that I feel he is: (i) Out of touch with those who need legal representation; (ii) Some sort of right-wing reactionary; and ...
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Not very Appy
No doubt when the accountants at the LSC read about the I Jail App, they will quickly calculate that it is more cost-effective to give the accused an iPhone, than to supply a defence lawyer. Alan England, self-employed locum, ...
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ICO looks into private detective report obtained by Djanogly
The Information Commissioner’s Office has confirmed that it is looking into a complaint concerning information obtained by private detectives instructed by justice minister Jonathan Djanogly. However, a spokeswoman for the ICO said press reports that the minister had been reported to the commission, or that he ...
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Linklaters publishes its diversity data
Magic circle firm Linklaters has published anonymised diversity statistics revealing the gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity and educational background of its UK lawyers. The statistics come ahead of the Legal Services Board’s requirement that all firms publish this type of research from next year. ...
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LSB to review ‘reserved activities’
The Legal Services Board has outlined plans to modernise regulation and create a consistent approach to ‘reserved’ activities. In a discussion paper launched today, the LSB says the list of legal services that only a qualified lawyer can undertake, including conveyancing, litigation and advocacy, has grown ...
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Bar Council to examine Bribery Act action on referral fees
Bar Council leaders have condemned the Legal Services Board for refusing to ban referral fees, and will look into whether the fees break the terms of the Bribery Act. Writing in an update to members, chair Peter Lodder and vice-chair Michael Todd said they were ‘surprised ...
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News
Legal aid firm Law For All in administration
London and regional not-for-profit advice service Law For All went in administration today, the Gazette can confirm. The organisation provides legal services in the London boroughs of Ealing, Hillingdon, Hounslow and Richmond, as well as in East Anglia and the Midlands. Law ...
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MoJ concession on immigration domestic violence cases
Lawyers have welcomed the justice minister’s concession to put some immigration domestic violence cases back within the scope of legal aid. Jonathan Djanogly told the public bill committee that the government would table an amendment to the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill to ...
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Supreme Court rules on arbitration
The Supreme Court has ruled that arbitrators are not employees for the purposes of employment equality legislation. Handing down judgment in the case of Hashwani v Jivraj, the court reversed the Court of Appeal’s landmark decision, which held that an arbitration agreement that required all arbitrators ...
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Lay judges agree draft charter for European decision-making
Lay judges from across Europe have agreed a draft charter and a declaration seeking to protect and extend lay involvement in judicial decision-making across the continent. At a meeting of the European Lay Judges Forum held over the weekend, 50 lay judges signed the London Declaration, ...
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Lord Judge announces senior appointments
The Lord Chief Justice Lord Judge (pictured) has today announced two senior judicial appointments. Lady Justice Hallett has been appointed vice president of the High Court Queen's Bench Division for a period of four years from 3 October 2011. Her appointment follows ...
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Committee to examine Ministry of Justice
The House of Commons’ justice committee is to undertake an inquiry into the structure and budget of the Ministry of Justice and its associated public bodies. The inquiry will focus on the potential contribution of further structural changes to future efficiency savings and improved performance. ...
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Boris Johnson criticises legal aid proposals on domestic violence
The mayor of London has warned that the majority of women who have suffered domestic violence will find it ‘impossible’ to get legal aid to help divorce their abusive partners, because of the ‘restrictive’ evidence required to prove it. In written evidence to the public bill ...
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LSA changes ‘flying under the radar’ of law firms
Provisions of the Legal Services Act permitting law firms to take on external investment are ‘flying under the radar’ of most small and medium-sized firms, research has suggested. A survey of 75 firms with turnover between £5m and £25m by accountants HW Fisher & Company found ...