All News focus articles – Page 12
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NewsNews focus: Counsel of woe - in-house solicitors under pressure on ethics
The Solicitors Regulation Authority’s latest review of the in‑house sector explores urgent ethical questions also made topical by the Post Office Horizon Inquiry.
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NewsNews focus: Litigation funder announces social change agenda
Law for Change is a litigation funder with a difference: it has been set up to bring clarity to the laws affecting under-represented people.
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NewsNews focus: Guidance on 'mindful' litigation seeks to address mental health issues
As the law focuses on mental health, aggressive and belligerent litigators appear to be an outdated breed. New guidance from the Mindful Business Charter aims to bring the profession up to date.
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NewsNews focus: Landmark damages awarded in so-called 'revenge porn' case
In the first case of its kind in the civil courts, a woman was this week awarded £100k in damages for what counsel preferred to call ‘image-based abuse’. There are likely to be many more.
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NewsNews focus: Hillsborough families are unimpressed by public advocate plan
Critics of Dominic Raab’s proposed Independent Public Advocate say it will lack the power, authority and resources to hold the government and public bodies properly to account after a major disaster.
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NewsNews focus: Legal sector remains resistant to a four-day week
Long hours can lead to burnout, shortening careers and making for worse law. Yet legal firms remain resistant to the concept of a four-day week, despite evidence that working smarter can bring real benefits.
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NewsNews focus: Is the courts reform programme working? Nobody knows
HMCTS does not know if its £1.3bn courts reform programme is on track or achieving the efficiencies intended, according to public spending watchdogs. A dearth of routine data is a major reason.
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NewsNews focus: SIF, sanctions and SLAPPs - a busy week for the SRA
Changes to fining powers, new indemnity arrangements and another warning on SLAPPs – the SRA has rubber-stamped reforms that will have far-reaching implications for solicitors.
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NewsNews focus: Are lawyers still breaching judgment embargoes?
Despite the master of the rolls’ clarion call for lawyers to respect judgment embargoes and a warning about possible contempt proceedings, high-profile breaches continue to happen.
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NewsNews focus: Dr Bitcoin raises the stakes on cryptoassets
As Australian billionaire Dr Craig Wright’s court cases over the bitcoin digital currency continue, growing judicial expertise on cryptoassets may help to make England a forum of choice.
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NewsNews focus: Treasury coughs up for prosecutors - but solicitors still 'short-changed'
The Treasury has coughed up to address the disparity between prosecution and defence fees. But to the Law Society’s dismay, criminal legal aid solicitors continue to be ‘short-changed’.
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NewsNews focus: SRA gets tough on competence
The SRA is taking a more proactive approach to the assessment of continuing competence. Firms can expect a more onerous and intrusive process, and a knock at the door should they fall short.
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NewsNews focus: Solicitors ramp up campaign for cohabitation law reform
Despite a succession of governments being reluctant to act, family lawyers are resetting their campaign to secure reform of the rights of cohabitants when relationships break down.
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NewsNews focus: Novitas - merchant bank takes huge hit on bad litigation loan
Close Brothers shares tanked after the merchant bank announced a huge write-off on the legacy business of ill-starred litigation lender Novitas. The deal has opened a regulatory Pandora’s box too
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NewsNews focus: 'Wagner mercenary' row highlights role of lawyers in SLAPPs
Campaigners against ‘SLAPP’ legal actions have seized on the Wagner revelations to pile the pressure on legislators to tackle abusive litigation. Will this mean more powers for the SRA?
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NewsNews focus: It's time for law officers to stand up to ministers, say peers
A Lords report has berated the government for undermining the rule of law. But peers balked at changing how lord chancellors are appointed. They also stressed the special duties of law officers.
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NewsNews focus: Claims hurdles remain after landmark Covid case
In a landmark inquest ruling on the deaths of two nurses, a coroner cited for the first time the link between Covid and industrial disease. But lawyers are ruling out a flood of civil claims.
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NewsNews focus: Bar's watchdog comes under heavy fire
Annual report card marks down bar’s regulator on leadership and enforcement – but barrister representatives counter that the Legal Services Board has fallen victim to mission creep.
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NewsNews focus: Artificial intelligence debuts at the Old Bailey
First use of AI-based technology in Old Bailey murder trial is rightly regarded as a watershed moment, but after many false starts veterans of past ‘hype cycles’ are tempering their expectations.
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NewsNews focus: Metamorph - anatomy of a collapse
Metamorph Group said it was ‘revolutionising legal services’. So what went wrong?