Latest news – Page 732
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News
Libel report calls for cap on hourly rates
Lawyers’ hourly rates in libel cases should be capped so that the cost of defending a libel action does not inhibit free speech or give the wealthier of the two parties an unfair advantage, the Libel Reform Campaign urges in a report published today. The report ...
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News
High Court hears LSC contracts challenge
The High Court has heard a legal challenge against the Legal Services Commission’s decision not to award a contract to a community care solicitor. Yvonne Hossack (pictured), a sole practitioner at Kettering firm Hossacks, sought a judicial review after she failed to win any contracts in ...
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News
Government proposals for openness in healthcare ignore the lessons of the past
I was interested to read Paul Sankey on proposals to introduce a duty of candour as part of the health reforms. There is nothing new in this, as those familiar with the inquiry into the management of care of children receiving complex heart surgery at ...
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SRA is not balanced
I read with great concern the article by Gregory Treverton-Jones QC and have the following observations. There should be a cause of action against the SRA for negligence in publishing unproven allegations which are subsequently shown to be unprovable (that is, where the solicitor wins the ...
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Tap on the shoulder
We note with interest the article on judicial appointments, including the list of forthcoming vacancies and the statement by the chairman of the Judicial Appointments Commission that his job is to make the process of selecting judges transparent and fair, so that the very best person is appointed to the ...
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News
Tap on the shoulder
We note with interest the article on judicial appointments, including the list of forthcoming vacancies and the statement by the chairman of the Judicial Appointments Commission that his job is to make the process of selecting judges transparent and fair, so that the very best person is appointed to the ...
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News
Tap on the shoulder
We note with interest the article on judicial appointments, including the list of forthcoming vacancies and the statement by the chairman of the Judicial Appointments Commission that his job is to make the process of selecting judges transparent and fair, so that the very best person is appointed to the ...
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News
Tap on the shoulder
We note with interest the article on judicial appointments, including the list of forthcoming vacancies and the statement by the chairman of the Judicial Appointments Commission that his job is to make the process of selecting judges transparent and fair, so that the very best person is appointed to the ...
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News
Tap on the shoulder
We note with interest the article on judicial appointments, including the list of forthcoming vacancies and the statement by the chairman of the Judicial Appointments Commission that his job is to make the process of selecting judges transparent and fair, so that the very best person is appointed to the ...
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News
Tap on the shoulder
We note with interest the article on judicial appointments, including the list of forthcoming vacancies and the statement by the chairman of the Judicial Appointments Commission that his job is to make the process of selecting judges transparent and fair, so that the very best person is appointed to the ...
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News
A new type of client
I am sure the Legal Ombudsman has lots of statistics to support his recently reported statement: ‘People seem to be largely intimidated and in awe of their lawyers and are uncomfortable about challenging them about their legal expenses, which in some cases have increased for no good reason.’ ...
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News
Mansfield takes a stand on tuition fees
If elected chancellor of Cambridge University next week, human rights lawyer Michael Mansfield QC (pictured, centre) plans to adopt a vigorously interventionist approach to the role. Mansfield told the Gazette that government policy on admission fees ‘disregards our international [convention] obligations’ as well as ...
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News
Advocacy accreditation scheme back on track
Plans to introduce the Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates (QASA) are back on track. The Ministry of Justice and Legal Services Commission yesterday confirmed that Crown court advocacy fees for publicly funded criminal cases will not be linked to the level of accreditation gained under the new scheme.
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News
Criminal justice system failing mentally ill
Some 90% of prisoners in England and Wales suffer from mental health problems and upon release are up to 36 times more likely to kill themselves than the general population, a report has revealed. The report says that opportunities to divert the mentally ill away from ...
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Number of ARP entrants slumps
Some 53 firms entered the assigned risks pool (ARP) after failing to secure professional indemnity insurance in this year’s renewal round, provisional figures have revealed. The figure is well down on the 411 which applied to enter the pool at the same stage in 2010. ...
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News
Premier Property Lawyers becomes first firm to register as an ABS
Premier Property Lawyers (PPL) has become the first firm to register as an alternative business structure, taking advantage of the new rules that came into force today. The Leicester-based firm provides the conveyancing service for myhomemove and is one of the largest conveyancing firms in the ...
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Words lose value
I refer to the letter from Samantha Barrass. How much time and money has been spent coming up with the idea of changing ‘this firm is regulated by…’ to ‘authorised and regulated by…’? I cannot see how all this ‘consultation’ and ‘regulation’ assists solicitors or the ...
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When less is more
I am told that the new SRA Handbook is over 500 pages. To quote from the Solicitors Handbook 2011 (p32): ‘The introduction of OFR will give a simplified rulebook and freedom to practise innovatively.’ My Law Society looseleaf quotes that The Professional Conduct of Solicitors from 1986, including all the ...
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Mediators win, win
Suzanne Lowe is right. Clients appreciate a swift and cheaper resolution of their dispute, in a process in which they are not just involved, but in command. I recall how delighted a middle-aged professional man was to have his fee claim entirely agreed and concluded within ...
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Paying the price
I read in the press last week that two politicians, Ed Miliband and Grant Shapps, want the ‘something for nothing’ culture in this country to end. As a duty solicitor, I wholeheartedly agree, but sadly politicians in the Ministry of Justice do not. From Monday 3 ...