Latest news – Page 815
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Legal skills and careers
I am writing to respond to the author of the letter 'Hurt in the pocket' (see letters, 27 May). Accepting a pay cut of 49% is something you agreed to do, it was not an obligation. The firm is not obliged to increase your pay even if you have ...
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Law Society and Bar Council examine new funding options
The Law Society and Bar Council have set up a joint working party to look at new ways of funding cases as an alternative to legal aid. With the government poised to announce the details of public spending cuts, the two bodies said they had come ...
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‘Root-and-branch’ review of client financial protection
Solicitors’ professional indemnity insurance (PII) will be the subject of a ‘wide-ranging’ review by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, chair of the SRA board Charles Plant reveals in his Gazette column today. The PII review forms part of a ‘root-and-branch review of client financial protection’ also covering ...
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Jackson reforms ‘would benefit negligent corporations’
Negligent corporations and local authorities will have the scales of justice tipped in their favour if Lord Justice Jackson’s proposals on civil litigation costs are implemented in full, according to the firm involved in the case dubbed the ‘British Erin Brockovich’. Des Collins, senior partner at ...
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Sentencing Council begins national judicial survey
A new body with a remit to ‘demystify’ court processes and sentencing has begun the first national survey of how individual judges decide on the punishments they mete out to offenders. The Sentencing Council is to require judges to complete a questionnaire after each hearing ...
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Personal injury firms hit face new VAT threat
Changes by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) to the treatment of medical reports for VAT purposes could cause personal injury firms ‘significant’ extra expense, tax lawyers have warned. The changes have prompted the Law Society to make written submissions in a forthcoming VAT tribunal case, Barratt ...
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Surge in Antipodean recruitment at UK law firms
Recruitment of lawyers from Australia and New Zealand has surged at UK law firms following the government’s relaxation of immigration rules for highly skilled workers. Associate solicitors from both countries are flocking to London to plug gaps in mid-tier City firms’ corporate practices, recruiters Badenoch & ...
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City firms look to spread financial risk
City firms are asking banks to devise special financial instruments to protect their income from unforeseen economic fluctuations, the Gazette has learned. The top 20 law firms have begun asking for bespoke exchange rate and interest rate products to manage financial risk, bankers said.
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National grid rights issue and rail freight deal
Power play: Magic circle firm Linklaters advised National Grid on a £3.2bn rights issue, with City firm Herbert Smith advising a consortium of banks. On track: Birmingham firm Wragge & Co advised ...
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Lawyers condemn arrest of US lawyer in Rwanda
Lawyers have condemned the arrest of a US colleague who is representing a defendant before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and called for his immediate release.
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Solicitors call for an end to court recording ban
Criminal defence solicitors have called on the Courts Service to allow them to take dictation devices into court buildings. The Courts Service currently bans the devices from court premises, and they are often removed from solicitors when they enter the buildings, although the rule is not ...
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Social welfare paralysis fear in Manchester
The Law Society has warned of ‘severe disruption’ to the supply of social welfare advice in Manchester if the delayed timetable for a new Community Legal Advice Service (CLAS) slips further. The tender process for the service, jointly commissioned by the Legal Services Commission and Manchester ...
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Law Society launches risk management service
The Law Society has launched a new service which it claims will help firms navigate the increasingly complicated area of risk and compliance and put in place risk management procedures. The Risk and Compliance Service includes in-house consultancy, a newsletter and a Lawyerline ...
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Solicitor jailed for stealing £850,000 from clients
A sole practitioner from north-west London has been jailed for two years after he confessed to stealing more than £850,000 from clients. David May, 69, destroyed a 46-year unblemished reputation in the profession after dipping regularly into a £280,000 estate he was handling, and writing ...
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Partners approve US merger for Denton Wilde Sapte
City firm Denton Wilde Sapte and US firm Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal will merge to form SNR Denton this autumn, after partners approved the tie-up in a vote today. The new transatlantic firm, which will launch on 30 September, will comprise more than 1,400 lawyers spanning ...
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Coalition government to review legal services reforms
The coalition government is reviewing key reforms to legal complaints handling and the introduction of alternative business structures, as part of a wider review of regulatory measures inherited from the previous administration. Plans for a Legal Ombudsman service and ABSs have fallen under the scrutiny of ...
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New rules address ‘appalling’ child care delays
New rules for appointing guardians in care proceedings were introduced in London this week, in a bid to reduce ‘appalling’ delays which family solicitors have warned are ‘worse than ever’. Christina Blacklaws, chairwoman of the Law Society’s family law committee, said solicitors were ‘hopeful’ that ...
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Lawyers pay tribute to ‘old school’ solicitor killed in Cumbria massacre
Members of the profession have paid tribute to Kevin Commons, the Cumbrian solicitor killed by a local man who shot 12 people dead in a killing spree before shooting himself last week. Kevin Joseph Commons, 60, is thought to have been the second victim of gunman ...
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Experimental chambers BarFutures set to close
Experimental virtual chambers BarFutures is to close its doors at the end of June after two years because of a ‘lack of appetite for change within the profession’, the Gazette has learned. The alternative set was designed to meet the challenges posed by the Legal Services ...
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OFT approves 'toothless' will-writing code
A new code of practice for non-lawyer will-writers which has been approved by the Office of Fair Trading is ‘without teeth’, probate solicitors have warned. The OFT approved a new code of practice drawn up by the Institute of Professional Willwriters (IPW) last week. ...