Latest news – Page 790
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News
Big brands will ‘drive small personal injury firms out’
Small ‘pure play’ personal injury law firms will become extinct once ‘big brands’ can offer legal services, Richard Langton, partner at national firm Russell Jones & Walker, told the conference. Langton predicted that personal injury firms with fewer than 30 fee-earners will be driven out of ...
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Third-party capture is ‘legitimate’ , says Association of British Insurers
Third-party capture is ‘legitimate’ and ‘in everyone’s interests’, Nick Starling, director of general insurance and health at the Association of British Insurers, told delegates at last week’s conference. In a number of heated exchanges, Starling was grilled over the practice of third-party capture – also known ...
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Rising cost of PI claims against the NHS ‘cannot continue’
The escalating cost of personal injury claims against the NHS ‘simply cannot continue’ and lawyers must advise the government on a remedy, the incoming president of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) said last week. Muiris Lyons (pictured), partner and head of clinical negligence at ...
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Firms shrug off disruption caused by Iceland’s volcanic eruption
Hundreds of City lawyers were stranded across the globe by flight disruption caused by Iceland’s volcanic eruption this month. However, firms played down disruption to clients, noting that solicitors were able to make use of remote working or overseas offices. ...
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Law Society unveils new online resource with details of CPD courses
The Law Society has launched a new online resource with details of hundreds of CPD courses from leading suppliers, and a free CPD planning and recording tool. The new CPD Centre, which aims to be the portal of choice for all CPD requirements, takes solicitors through ...
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Warning that local solicitors will become an ‘endangered species’
Support group the Lawyers Defence Group (LDG) has called on the next government to legislate to protect access to justice and high street firms by imposing marketing restrictions on alternative business structures. The group has warned that local solicitors will become ‘an endangered species’ if ...
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Bar sets out guidance on how chambers can compete with solicitors
The Bar Council has published guidance to chambers on setting up a new business model that will enable barristers to bid for work in competition with solicitors. The new concept, dubbed ProcureCo, is a separate corporate vehicle that can be formed as an adjunct to ...
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Pro rata practising certificate plea for part-timers
Solicitors who work part-time should pay a reduced, prorated practising certificate fee, the Association of Women Solicitors has said. Under the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s proposals for reform of the way the practising certificate is charged, a flat fee of around £510 will be payable per individual ...
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General counsel ‘bypass law firms’ and go directly to the bar
General counsel are increasingly bypassing law firms to go directly to the bar for legal advice, according to a report published today. A study by research company Winmark found that while commercial law firms are banking on an increase in corporate legal spend to boost their ...
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Employment Appeal Tribunal issues TUPE judgment on contract wins
The first case to reach the Employment Appeal Tribunal concerning a dispute between two law firms over the employment law implications of winning a client contract from another firm has provided ‘much-needed clarification’ on the issue, experts have said. The EAT upheld an earlier tribunal decision ...
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Advocate general advises against privilege for in-house lawyers
In-house lawyers in Europe should not have the same right to legal professional privilege as other lawyers, the advocate general in the long-running Akzo Nobel case said this morning. Giving her opinion on the case, which precedes the final decision of the European Court of Justice ...
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Legal Services Commission delays outcome of mental health tender
The Legal Services Commission has delayed the announcement of the outcome of the mental health tender. It said: ‘Following the election we will need to discuss the outcome of the tender process with any new ministers, and it is likely that notification to applicants will take ...
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Nationwide removes 300 firms from its conveyancing panel
Nationwide Group has shed around 300 firms from its conveyancing panel in what is understood to be a ‘risk-based review’. The Law Society has immediately entered into discussions with the lender. The group covers mortgages provided by Nationwide; the Mortgage Works; ...
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Surge in new laws sparked by recession, research reveals
Some 98% of new laws introduced by the government in 2009 were brought in as statutory instruments without full parliamentary debate, research has revealed today. Data from legal information provider Sweet & Maxwell showed that the number of laws introduced by the government during the last ...
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Malaysian Human Rights Commission criticises treatment of lawyers
The Law Society has welcomed a report by the Malaysian Human Rights Commission published today which finds that the arrest of five legal aid lawyers last year was unlawful. The lawyers were called to the police station to represent clients who had been arrested for attending ...
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Scottish solicitors reject ‘Tesco law’ – and raise fears of flight to England
The likelihood of Scotland’s ‘big four’ law firms defecting to England appears to have risen this afternoon, following a landmark vote against the introduction of alternative business structures (ABSs) north of the border. At a special general meeting of the Law Society of Scotland, members voted ...
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Plans to introduce consumer class actions set to be revived
Specialist litigators have expressed hope that government plans to introduce class actions will be revived after the election.Provisions to introduce consumer class actions against banks were dropped during the pre-election ‘wash-up’ procedure that ensured the Financial Services Bill became law, after the Conservatives raised a raft of concerns.
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Recession makes the trainee jobs market tougher than ever
The recession has made the trainee jobs market tougher than ever, with more than a third of graduates expecting to work more than 50 hours a week and almost 40% forced to look for jobs outside law, according to research published today.
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Don’t fall foul of Bribery Act, law firms warned
Law firms need to put risk mitigation procedures in place to avoid potential prosecutions under the new Bribery Act arising from corrupt clients, experts have warned. Eoin O’Shea, a partner at City firm LG, said: ‘As with money laundering, firms and practitioners need to be careful ...
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Child’s view holds sway in international abduction case
A six-year-old girl has become the youngest child to have her views influence a court’s decision, in an international child abduction case. In Re W (Children), the Court of Appeal last week refused a father permission to appeal against a High Court ruling which found that ...