Latest news – Page 854
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HIP overhaul
With a general election approaching, there is much talk about creating a genuinely sustainable alternative to home information packs (HIPs). Attention seems to be focusing on ‘building on HIPS’ and introducing a mandatory legal pack which, it is claimed, will bring about a faster and more certain homebuying process.
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Sole practitioner survivor
The extinction of the sole practitioner has been prophesied for so many years now that the prophets of doom should by now be feeling a little self-conscious. Your own pages have seen some wonderfully confident predictions of disaster in the recent tough round of PII renewals.
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Software glitch
The new lasting power of attorney forms have been made available by the Office of the Public Guardian. Unfortunately, they have specifically blocked the ability for the practitioner to save the document and thus be able to amend it after minor errors have been found.
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PII – the debate continues
I have a great idea. Lets go back to the Solicitors Indemnity Fund model. I recall a friend and council member at the time telling me that voting to go to the market and leave the SIF was like a turkey voting for Christmas. How right she was. I followed ...
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Desperate argument
Rhonwen Barraclough’s letter (8 October) complained about Lord Justice Jackson’s recent suggestion of increasing the small claims limit if a deal cannot be done on fixing legal costs in fast-track claims. Among the various reasons put forward as to why this was a bad thing, the most desperate was:
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US firm could reap benefits of UK reforms with Lovells tie-up
US firm Hogan & Hartson has remained quiet on whether it might use a tie-up with City firm Lovells to access external capital in the future, following reports this week of a merger between the two firms. The merger could potentially give Hogan & Hartson access ...
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Bank paybacks cement plant upgrades
Payback time: US firm Shearman & Sterling advised French bank Société Générale on a €4.8bn (£4.4bn) rights issue. The bank will use most of the proceeds to repay the €3.4bn (£3.1bn) of emergency funding given to it by the French state.
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UN to help developing nations negotiate with western projects lawyers
Lawyers in developing countries could be given help when negotiating investment deals with City project lawyers under a UN initiative to bolster their bargaining power when human rights are at stake.
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Collaborative law a success for divorcing couples, says judge
Collaborative law has proved a huge success for divorcing couples and could soon be extended into the commercial arena, one of the UK’s most senior judges said last week. Lord Kerr of Tonaghmore, a justice of the Supreme Court, said the number of collaborative lawyers practising ...
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Surge in unfair dismissal claims puts tribunals under strain
Lawyers are witnessing a huge surge in unfair dismissal claims which is leading them to expand their employment teams but is also placing a severe strain on the tribunal system. Figures released by the Tribunals Service last week showed that unfair dismissal claims rose 29% to ...
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SRA commissions £40,000 diversity research
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has commissioned research to find out why ethnic minority solicitors are over-represented in its regulatory decisions, the Gazette has learned. The £40,000 study, by business psychologists Pearn Kandola, will look at issues including the SRA’s processes, the career progression of ethnic minority ...
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Joint LA panel to save £1.5m
Six London boroughs have combined to slash almost £1.5m a year in legal fees. The London Boroughs Legal Alliance, which links lawyers from Harrow, Hammersmith & Fulham, Camden, Hillingdon, Hounslow and Kensington & Chelsea councils, aims to save £1.44m through a pioneering collaboration.
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Legal process outsourcing is ‘here to stay’
Legal process outsourcing (LPO) is ‘here to stay’ and attracting interest from investors, a leading practitioner claimed last week. Mark Lewis, head of outsourcing at City firm Berwin Leighton Paisner, said there are ‘a number of private equity providers knocking around the City offering quite a ...
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SRA rules out lowering premiums in assigned risks pool
The Solicitors Compensation Fund looks set to receive a £5m boost to its reserves which could ease the financial pressure on individual firms, under plans being put forward at the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s board meeting today. However, in a separate development the SRA has concluded that ...
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MoJ review on separate budgets for criminal and civil legal aid
The Ministry of Justice has announced a review of the way the £2bn legal aid budget is delivered which could see separate civil and criminal funds run by different bodies. The review came as legal aid lawyers warned that firms providing social welfare work are at ...
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Costly choice
In his Euro blog last week, Jonathan Goldsmith could barely hide his excitement following the judgment by the European Court of Justice in the Eschig case, in which it was held that a clause in an Austrian legal expenses policy did not in fact allow...
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Homme d’affaires
I suppose it is the function of influential thinktanks to take away one’s breath. The College of Law’s Legal Services Policy Institute (‘Scrap training contracts’, see [2009] Gazette, 24 September, 1) certainly does that. New entrants to the profession are overqualified? I don’t think so.
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Brussels simplifies rules on cross-border successions
The European Commission has today adopted a proposal that should greatly simplify the rules on successions with an international dimension in the EU. The aim is to make life easier for citizens by laying down common rules enabling the competent authority and law applicable ...
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Factory flaw
The newly announced Claims Process for RTA claims valued up to £10,000 is the latest attack on the rights of those injured in road traffic accidents.