Latest news – Page 765
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News
Djanogly sticks to October 2011 timetable for ABSs
‘All lawyers’ should be preparing for the introduction of alternative business structures in October 2011, justice minister Jonathan Djanogly said last week, as the coalition government gave the first public confirmation that it will press ahead with the reforms and will stick to the timetable already in place. ...
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Five solicitors shortlisted for Gazette Legal Personality of the Year Award
Five solicitors have been shortlisted for the Gazette’s Legal Personality of the Year Award, with the winner to be announced at the Law Society’s Excellence Awards ceremony in October.
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Five firms ‘put in intensive care’ by banks
Five of the UK’s top-30 law firms have been put into ‘intensive care’ by banks, a top solicitor claimed this week. Mark Jones, chairman of national firm Addleshaw Goddard, told the second Global Managing Partners Summit conference in London that he fears another law firm failure ...
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Injury claims carry a ‘social stigma’
The public’s ignorance of the law is one of the major obstacles that is preventing people from gaining access to justice through personal injury claims, and most believe that making a claim would be ‘working the system’, according to a report by National Accident Helpline based on a poll of ...
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Law Society wins family tender challenge
The Law Society has won its High Court challenge to the Legal Services Commission’s family tender process. Lord Justice Moses said the process was ‘irrational’. He said it was ‘contrary to the LSC’s own ends’ not to have given firms the details ...
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Family contracts quashed
Family contracts have effectively been quashed following today’s judgment in the Law Society’s successful judicial review of the family tender process. Giving judgment this evening, the High Court declared the LSC’s failure to give advance notice of the requirement for panel membership as unlawful. It also ...
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PII spend predicted to hit record high
Solicitors are facing the ‘most challenging’ professional indemnity insurance market in years, commentators said this week ahead of Friday’s renewal deadline. The news came as the Law Society launched a SafetyNet scheme designed to help firms that cannot obtain cover. Brokers ...
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Counsel count cost of Halliwells collapse
The protracted demise of Halliwells was set to enter its final chapter on Tuesday as administrators awaited creditor approval for proposals that would see the defunct firm formally wound up. As the Gazette went to press, it remained unclear how much secured creditor Royal Bank of ...
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Oxford report recommends tariffs for lawyers’ fees
Governments should introduce tariffs for lawyers’ fees if they want to deliver wider access to justice, according to an Oxford University study of litigation funding systems across Europe published today. The research into the funding and costs of litigation in 35 countries, published by the Foundation ...
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Firms miss out on consumer calls
Law firms that close for lunch and only open during standard nine-to-five office hours could be missing out on up to 38% of consumer enquiries, it has been claimed. Referral service Contact Law has monitored the 60,000 telephone calls it received from consumers in the first ...
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Law Society launches scheme to deliver PII help
The Law Society’s professional indemnity insurance helpline is braced for a surge in calls from firms looking to secure cover before the 1 October renewal deadline. To assist those firms having difficulty securing renewal terms, the Law Society today launched a SafetyNet scheme. ...
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Legal Ombudsman seeks views on complaints publishing
A discussion paper issued by the Legal Ombudsman today is seeking views on whether it should publish the names of firms when it reports details of consumer complaints. The Ombudsman has been set up by the Office for Legal Complaints and begins taking complaints from consumers ...
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Surge in judges ordering parenting classes
The number of warring parents being ordered by judges to attend parenting classes has tripled to 3,000 in five months, the Gazette has learned. Figures from the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) have shown a threefold rise in the number of separating ...
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Bar regulator proposes relaxing limits on barristers’ role
The Bar Standards Board has set out its stall to become a ‘specialist regulator’ for those providing advocacy and related services – and proposes allowing barristers to carry out work currently performed by solicitors. In a consultation published today, the bar’s regulator proposes that barristers should ...
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City Law School agrees internships
The City Law School has agreed a range of international commercial law internships for students on its Master of Laws (LLM) programmes. The school has renewed an international commercial law internship with US firm Sidley Austin for the fifth year running. The successful candidate will spend ...
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Legal quangos face cull
Nine legal-related bodies are among the 177 quangos set to be axed by the coalition government, according to a leaked report obtained by the Telegraph. The nine bodies are: the Legal Services Commission; the Legal Services Ombudsman; the Legal Deposit Advisory Committee; the Magistrates Court Rule ...
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Law Society doubles Diversity Access Scheme places
A Law Society scheme that aims to improve social mobility in the legal profession is to double the number of candidates it takes on next year. The Diversity Access Scheme (DAS) supports entrants to the solicitors' profession who face exceptional social, educational, financial or personal obstacles ...
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LSC puts its case in family judicial review
On the second day of the Law Society’s judicial review of the Legal Services Commission’s tender for family legal aid work, counsel for the LSC today told the High Court that it should have been ‘obvious’ to solicitors that panel membership was going to be an important factor in the ...
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How to construct the foundations
In the article How Leeds law firms are battling the downturn, Karen Eckstein says: ‘There’s not a comprehensive handbook which tells you how to do it’ (set up a law firm). This ex-Leeds solicitor turned to the excellent Setting Up and Managing a Legal Practice by Martin Smith, published by ...
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Culture clash and compensation
Below is a brief note addressed to Lord Young in relation to a story in last Saturday’s Telegraph. Dear Lord Young I ...