Latest news – Page 736
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News
Pressure prompts review of ‘domestic violence’ legal aid definition
The government has delayed its plans to respond to the legal aid and civil costs consultations until after Easter, and will ‘review’ the definition of domestic violence, the legal aid minister said last week. Jonathan Djanogly had previously said the government would respond before Easter, but ...
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Pressure prompts review of ‘domestic violence’ legal aid definition
The government has delayed its plans to respond to the legal aid and civil costs consultations until after Easter, and will ‘review’ the definition of domestic violence, the legal aid minister said last week. Jonathan Djanogly had previously said the government would respond before Easter, but ...
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Televise Supreme and Appeal Court hearings, says Neuberger
Some court hearings should be televised to increase public confidence in the justice system, the master of the rolls said this week. Giving the Judicial Studies Board annual lecture, Lord Neuberger suggested Supreme Court hearings and some Court of Appeal hearings should be televised on an ...
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Court strikes out filesharing actions
The Patents County Court struck out 27 alleged unlawful filesharing actions brought by London firm ACS:Law on behalf of its clients Media CAT yesterday. His Honour Judge Birss is now considering how much ACS:Law and Media CAT should pay in wasted costs, after accepting the submission ...
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Government publishes Defamation Bill
The Law Society has welcomed the debate over libel law reform following publication of the government’s draft Defamation Bill today. The bill, which is intended to bring libel law up-to-date, includes a new ‘public interest’ defence, and introduces the requirement for claimants to demonstrate ‘substantial ...
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Grown-up debate on mediation
Mediation is not an alternative to litigation, though it has a place in the whole process. Mediators make all sorts of claims for mediation – that it is cheaper, quicker and better than litigation. Where is the research evidence for this? Collaborative ...
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Taking offence at the aggressive LSC
Solicitors who allege that their clients are suffering ‘aggressive enforcement’ by the Legal Services Commission’s debt collectors should refer to section 40 of the Administration of Justice Act 1970. A person commits an offence if, with the object of coercing another person to pay money claimed, they harass him with ...
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‘Head in the sand’ approach is costly
I find the Legal Services Commission’s assertions that defendants have been assessed as able to pay and that delays are caused by forms having to be returned disingenuous. Just because the LSC has assessed that defendants should contribute 90% of their income does not mean ...
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Solicitors warned about website clones
Lawyers are being warned by the Solicitors Regulation Authority to keep a regular watch on their websites in order to foil 'cloning' criminals. With just minor changes to a solicitor’s website – such as an almost unnoticeable change of name or contact details – internet fraudsters ...
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New sentencing guidance for assault
The Sentencing Council has today published new guidance to judges and magistrates for assault offences. It aims to ensure a more consistent and proportionate approach to sentencing, with offenders receiving a sentence that reflects the harm they have caused to their victim and their culpability. ...
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Labour gains
Lamentable though it is that women are not remunerated equally with men in the legal profession, I fear the reason for the indefatigable ‘gender gap’ is one of nature and economics rather than any sinister motive.
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Making our voices heard on legal aid
As we await the government’s response to submissions received on its legal aid green paper, I would like to express my thanks to all of you who took the time to write to government to express your views on this important issue. I know that not ...
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Legal aid cuts 'to hit 150,000 more'
The government has underestimated the number of people who will be denied legal aid funding because of its reforms by more than 150,000, according to research published today by campaign body the Legal Action Group. LAG said the government’s prediction that 502,000 people would lose access ...
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Magistrates fight planned court closures
The first two judicial review actions seeking to prevent magistrates’ court closures were issued last week, the Gazette has learned. The proceedings seek to challenge the planned closure of Sedgemoor Magistrates’ Court in Somerset and Barry Magistrates’ Court in the Vale of Glamorgan. ...
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Consumers want clarity over law firm charges
Consumers want to see charges that are easy to understand, and a ‘solicitor who remembers their name’ when they use a law firm, according to research commissioned by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. A study based on interviews with 40 recent purchasers of legal services found that ...
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Motor insurers 'should reveal referral fee arrangements'
Motor insurers should publish on their websites the names of law firms with which they have referral fee arrangements, and indicate the level of fees paid, a House of Commons inquiry recommended last week. Policyholders should be sent this information with their insurance documents, and when ...
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Judge slashes success fee in Trafigura dispute
A senior costs judge has cut the £105m costs claimed by London firm Leigh Day & Co following its action against oil company Trafigura. In a preliminary judgment last month, Master Hurst reduced the success fee that the firm can claim under the conditional fee agreement ...
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High Court dismisses LSC bid to recoup £100,000
The High Court has dismissed an attempt by the Legal Services Commission to recover more than £100,000 of payments on account (PoA) to a barrister, ruling that the LSC’s delay of almost 20 years in starting the action was an abuse of process. The LSC had ...
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Compliance rules may hit sole practitioners
Proposed changes to the way sole practitioner firms are authorised could see many forced to stop practising due to the ‘unique problem’ they will face meeting new compliance requirements, the Sole Practitioners Group (SPG) has warned.
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Hudson issues warning on ABS crime risk
The Solicitors Regulation Authority must ensure that solicitors do not end up picking up the bill for inappropriate claims on the compensation fund made by alternative business structures, the Law Society chief executive said this week. Desmond Hudson (pictured) also warned that the SRA’s proposed rules ...