Latest news – Page 857
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Call for lawyers to speak plain English
A senior lecturer at City Law School has called on lawyers to abandon complex and archaic ‘legalese’ and speak clearly. David Emmet said lawyers have a habit of using words and expressions that are more complicated than they need to be. Typical ...
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Hike in TUPE litigation claims against law firms
The number of law firms facing litigation under Transfer of Undertakings, Protection of Employment (TUPE) regulations has risen sharply, the Gazette has learned. Gordon Turner (pictured), employment specialist at London firm Partners Law, said he has acted on nine cases where law firms have been ...
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500 firms to enter assigned risks pool at indemnity deadline
A record 500 firms are set to fall into the assigned risks pool (ARP) today, as the deadline expires for professional indemnity insurance (PII) renewal. This means around one in 20 law firms will be forced to spend a quarter of their fee income on emergency ...
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National bar leaders rally in defence of legal aid
More than 50 bar leaders from around the world have issued a communiqué in support of access to justice, urging governments to fulfil their duty to provide adequate legal aid funding. They gathered today at the Law Society in London at the opening of the legal ...
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BSB to decide barristers’ role in new legal structures
The Bar Standards Board will decide the role barristers will be allowed to have in new legal structures in November, it announced today. By then, it says, it will have analysed the results of research it commissioned into the benefits to consumers of the various different ...
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Support service launched for bereaved families of victims
A new national service giving one-to-one support for the bereaved families of murder and manslaughter victims is to begin work this financial year, justice secretary Jack Straw has announced. National organisation Victim Support is receiving an extra £2m from the government to fund the new ...
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Bach rejects Society’s legal aid fee cut fears
Legal aid minister Lord Bach (pictured) has rejected Chancery Lane’s demand for an extension to the consultation period on proposed criminal legal aid cuts. He also dismissed the Law Society’s allegation that the August consultation paper Legal aid: funding reforms is ‘incoherent’ and ‘deeply flawed’. ...
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Bar urges halt on contingency fees reform
The Bar Council has urged the government to halt plans to regulate contingency fees, to allow time for greater public debate. In its response to the Ministry of Justice’s consultation on regulating the damages-based agreements that are frequently used in employment cases, the council said proposed ...
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Law Society acts on ‘inflated’ indemnity premiums
The Law Society has written to every professional indemnity insurer asking for an ‘urgent response’ to its concerns over the ‘hugely inflated’ premiums being quoted ahead of this year’s renewal deadline. The Society said calls to its dedicated professional indemnity insurance helpline indicated that insurers were ...
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No man is an island
I agree with Susan Singleton that being a sole practitioner does not mean living as a hermit or having no friends (see [2009] Gazette, 10 September, 9). However, for many who are currently having a rather hellish time getting their insurance renewed, and having panel membership taken away...
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Fixed-fee concerns
I am writing following your report about the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers withdrawing from the fixed-fee mediations run by the Civil Justice Council (see [2009] Gazette, 17 September, 3).
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Why bad-mouth conveyancing?
Groan. At the end of a recent Gazette editorial, the piece described conveyancing (and probate) as private practice’s ‘more prosaic functions’ (see [2009] Gazette, 10 September, 8).
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Closing down
I am incensed after reading last week that a London firm has to shut because its professional indemnity insurance premium was quoted as £110,000 for the forthcoming year (see [2009] Gazette, 17 September, 1).
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Race to the top
I write regarding last week’s news item ‘Aspiring judges quizzed on race’ (see [2009] Gazette, 17 September, 1).
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Product placement could mean lucrative work for lawyers
Legal advice and litigation in respect of television product placement could boost City firms’ income next year, after the government said it will consider lifting an existing ban. The government’s announcement has stirred interest among law firm media and marketing practices. Stephen Groom, consultant and head ...
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Probe into amount paid to law firms on Olympic Park project
The London Development Agency (LDA) faces a probe over the amount it has paid to law firms for advice on the Olympic Park project, the Gazette has learned. ...
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Office for Legal Complaints consults on complaints
The Office for Legal Complaints (OLC) has published for consultation a revised version of its draft rules. The new rules reduce the timeframe it had originally proposed for clients to bring a complaint, in response to concerns from solicitors. Under the new ...
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FSA contemplates action on third-party capture by insurers
The Financial Services Authority will decide this month whether to launch an investigation into the insurers’ practice of acting for non-policyholders through ‘third-party capture’. Ken Hogg, director of the insurance sector at the FSA, said it was currently undertaking ‘exploratory work to gather information on the ...
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Solicitors raise confidentiality concerns in virtual court pilot
Police station interview rooms used by defendants in the virtual court pilot are not soundproof and put confidentiality at risk, criminal practitioners have warned. Bruce Reid, a freelance solicitor-advocate, represented a defendant in custody at Brixton Police Station via the videolink from Camberwell Green Magistrates’ Court. ...
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SRA board appointment call rejected by LSB
The Legal Services Board has rejected a request from the Solicitors Regulation Authority to take greater direct control of its own board appointments. In its latest consultation on legal services regulation, the umbrella body dilutes an earlier commitment toward a more discrete structure separating Chancery ...