Latest news – Page 796
-
News
Suspects at disadvantage without legal adviser, study shows
A report published by the Legal Services Commission has highlighted the crucial role played by defence solicitors in giving advice to defendants at the police station. The study by the Legal Services Research Centre (LSRC), the independent research division of the LSC, comes as the government ...
-
News
Courts will ‘struggle to cope’ with Equality Act caseload
Employment lawyers have warned that tribunals could be ‘submerged’ by a surge in cases stemming from the Equality Act 2010, which came into force this month. The act comes against a backdrop of increasing employment claims, with figures released by the Tribunals Service last week indicating ...
-
News
'No legal case' for Iraq invasion
Human rights lawyers have claimed that the UK had no legal case for its 2003 invasion of Iraq, in a submission to the Chilcot Inquiry seen by the Gazette. The Solicitors International Human Rights Group found fault with the UK government’s two main justifications for ...
-
News
Intestacy rules in need of updating
Nearly two-thirds of the public do not have a will, and a change in family relationships points to a need to amend the current intestacy rules, research has suggested. A report by the National Centre for Social Research, conducted to provide the Law Commission with up-to-date ...
-
News
Lawyers hit by corruption and international bribery
Almost a third of lawyers worldwide have lost business to law firms or individual lawyers engaged in international bribery and corruption, a major study has found. More than one in five said they had been approached to take part in a possible corrupt transaction, according to ...
-
News
Policestationreps sees threefold increase in lawyers using website
A website set up to connect firms doing criminal defence work with accredited police station representatives has reported a threefold increase in lawyers using the site, as solicitors face tightening profit margins. Policestationreps.com provides solicitors with the contact details of local police station representatives so that ...
-
News
Welfare group opposes immigration cap
Lawyers acting for an immigrants’ welfare group are to challenge the legality of the government’s temporary cap on immigration. The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) has sent a pre-action protocol letter to the Home Office, informing it of its intention to launch judicial ...
-
News
Blueprint for local government revealed
Local government legal services could be delivered from just six regional centres of excellence within the next decade, it has been suggested. A roadmap unveiled by the Association of Council Secretaries and Solicitors (ACSeS) last week outlined how a national network of six legal hubs could ...
-
News
Chancery Lane calls for appraisal system for family judges
An appraisal system should be introduced for family judges, so that they can hear feedback on their performance and to reassure the public about the quality of the judiciary, the Law Society has suggested. In its response to the government’s family justice review, Chancery Lane said ...
-
News
Earn CPD points with the Gazette
Today sees the launch of Gazette CPD, through which you can gain up to 10 CPD hours by answering questions about our articles. Each month (excluding August and December), an assessment consisting of 15 questions based on four articles published in the previous month’s Gazette will ...
-
News
High volume of complaints against lawyers as LeO launches
The new Legal Ombudsman handled nearly 500 complaints on its launch day yesterday, taking its first call two minutes after opening at 8.30am while its chief executive was appearing on Radio 4's Today programme. Of 497 potential cases, more than 20 are already being investigated, chief ...
-
News
Ken Clarke predicts legal services ‘big bang’
Justice secretary Ken Clarke yesterday warned lawyers to prepare for changes as far reaching as the ‘big bang’ proved to be for the financial sector. Clarke told members of Birmingham Law Society that alternative business structures (ABSs) would herald a ‘whole new world’ for lawyers. From ...
-
News
Legal profession ‘inherently masculine’, says report for LSB
Stereotyping and bias are preventing women and black and minority ethnic (BME) solicitors from furthering their careers, a report funded by the Legal Services Board has found. The report by the University of Westminster claimed that the profession is ‘segmented and stratified’ along the lines of ...
-
News
Firms leave ARP following tough SRA action
Nearly 50 law firms in the assigned risks pool (ARP) have closed or will soon close as a result of enforcement action by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, the regulator said today. The SRA said that 37 ARP firms have closed and 10 are in the process ...
-
News
LSC announces defendant legal aid sanctions
The Legal Services Commission has announced that financial sanctions will be imposed on defendants who fail to provide evidence of means when applying for criminal legal aid in the Crown court. The Crown court means-testing scheme was rolled out nationally earlier this year. The sanction for ...
-
News
3,000 high street firms could disappear - Clarke
Justice secretary Kenneth Clarke yesterday warned lawyers to prepare for changes as far reaching as the ‘big bang’ proved to be for the financial sector. Clarke told members of Birmingham Law Society that alternative business structures (ABSs) would herald a ‘whole new world’ for lawyers. From ...
-
News
LSC hit by £300,000 legal bill over tender
The Legal Services Commission faces a £300,000 bill for the Law Society’s legal costs, after losing a High Court battle over its family tender process. The LSC said it could not disclose how much it had spent on its own legal fees in defending the action, ...
-
News
Court figures show rise in FTSE 100 litigation
The number of High Court cases involving FTSE 100 companies has risen 16% in the last year, research from legal information provider Sweet & Maxwell has revealed. In the year to 30 June 2010, the study shows there were 179 cases involving the FTSE 100, ...
-
News
Firms make applications to assigned risks pool
Some 409 firms applied to enter the assigned risks pool (ARP) on 1 October, the deadline for professional indemnity insurance (PII) renewal, according to figures released by the Solicitors Regulation Authority today. The SRA said this is roughly the same number of deadline day applications as ...
-
News
Mayer Brown outsources secretarial practice
The London corporate group of US firm Mayer Brown has outsourced its entire secretarial practice, the firm announced today. Corporate administrative outsourcer TMF Group, which runs 87 corporate administration companies in 67 countries, has acquired the practice. Peter Dickinson, head of the ...