Latest news – Page 752
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News
Trainee solicitor minimum salaries remain unchanged
The minimum salary for trainee solicitors will remain unchanged for the third successive year, at £18,590 per annum in central London and £16,650 elsewhere, the Solicitors Regulation Authority has confirmed. The rates equate to less than £9 an hour in central London and £8 elsewhere, based ...
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Keep it simple
PR 2.3(1) says a claim form is a statement of case. 22.1(1) says a statement of case must be verified by a statement of truth. Easy really. John Wilson, Wilsons Solicitors, Leeds
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Who costs most?
We have, within the last week, been consulted by a client who was persuaded as a result of a cold call to make a will incorporating trusts to protect the value of half the matrimonial home from the risk of care home charges. The cost ...
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Feel free to leave, insurers
I write with reference to the attack on the Solicitors Regulation Authority by insurers and the comment ‘Why stay in a market which has been a bloody mess?’. If insurers are forced to leave the market, we might be forced to use an insurance model ...
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Better in deed
Oh how I agree with Anthony Shuttleworth that ‘land and charge certificates should be brought back before matters get out of hand’. I suspect that matters are already out of hand, from what I have learned. I am sure details of ...
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When online fails...
We are told that from next year we must pay our VAT online. I successfully registered myself recently but ‘the system’ rejected my attempt to pay online. So, I sent a cheque! We are told cheques ...
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Solicitors guilty of misconduct
Two solicitors have been found guilty of professional misconduct by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal in relation to their handling of alleged internet file-sharing cases. The SDT found that David Gore, a partner at London firm Davenport Lyons, and former partner Brian Miller, were guilty of six ...
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New name, same faces after axe falls on agency
Bostalls, one of the providers of the Legal Services Commission’s police station telephone advice service, has been wound up after failing to pay its taxes. The LSC has responded by transferring the contract for the Criminal Defence Service (Direct) scheme to a company set up by ...
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Firm to appeal High Court immigration bid ruling
A South Yorkshire firm will appeal a High Court ruling dismissing its challenge to the outcome of the Legal Services Commission’s immigration tender. Parker Rhodes Hickmotts launched a judicial review of the process after it received less than a quarter of the number of cases ...
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Legal aid rethink urged
The Law Society this week urged the government to seek alternatives to its proposed £350m legal aid cuts, while new research concluded slashing legal aid is ‘a false economy’. In a letter to justice secretary Kenneth Clarke, Society chief executive Des Hudson also sought reassurance that ...
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DLA sees profits climb amid expansion drive
Global law firm DLA Piper saw its profitability improve sharply in 2010, though income was flat. The firm, which has over 4,200 lawyers in 30 countries, recorded a 5.9% rise in profits to £503m on income up just 1% to £1.27bn. It declined to disclose average ...
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Legal Services Commission pays out millions in redundancy
The Legal Services Commission will pay out more than £7m in redundancy payments as part of its restructuring programme to cut costs. Replying to a freedom of information act request, the LSC said it had spent £7,196,813 on voluntary and compulsory redundancies between May 2010 and ...
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Treasury to scrap money-laundering penalties
The Treasury is to abolish more than 24 criminal penalties that can currently be imposed on law firms and other businesses for failing to comply with money-laundering regulations. Civil penalties will remain however, and regulators may be given the power to impose additional penalties. ...
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Magistrates resign as courts close
Resignations from the magistracy have increased by 18% since the announcement of court closures, according to government figures. Responding to a written question tabled by Mike Wood, MP for Batley and Spen in West Yorkshire, justice minister Jonathan Djanogly revealed that 487 magistrates had resigned from ...
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Law Society in position to cut practising certificate fee
Next year’s practising certificate fee could be cut by more than 15% following a £56.9m surplus reported by the Law Society in its annual report 2009/10, published today (15 June). The four factors behind the surplus include higher than expected receipts from the first year ...
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Split juries into smaller groups, psychologists argue
Juries should be split into three groups of four to allow every member an equal chance to participate, a new study has suggested. Researchers from the psychology department at the University of Portsmouth found that in large groups, many people feel intimidated to speak out and ...
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Solicitors launch new third-party litigation funder
Two solicitors launched a new third-party litigation funder Vannin Capital today, set to invest ‘significant sums’ in litigation. The funder, founded by solicitor Nick Rowles-Davies and solicitor and barrister William Evans of Ely Place Chambers, is backed by Isle of Man-based private equity firm Bramden Investments. ...
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Society to intervene in recoupment appeal
The Law Society has been given permission to intervene in the Legal Services Commission’s appeal against a ruling that the LSC’s action to recover payments on account was an abuse of process due to the delay in bringing the claims.
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£20,000 law firm donation kickstarts head injury fund
A fund for families of people with head injuries has been kick-started by a £20,000 grant from a litigation law firm. The long-established Stewarts Law Foundation, a charity fund founded by the firm’s partners, donated the money to the Headway Emergency Fund earlier this month. ...
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New CLLS chair vows to uphold English law ‘brand’
The new head of City of London Law Society (CLLS) has vowed to uphold the English ‘brand’, already so prominent throughout the world. Alasdair Douglas has been confirmed as the new CLLS chair, representing law firms that employ 14,000 solicitors and have an annual turnover of ...