News in focus – Page 14
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NewsNews focus: Pay rises and job cuts - the City’s strange case of double vision
The fluctuating fortunes of City firms amid the pandemic have given conflicting signals about their financial vigour. How well placed are the top-50 to withstand further shocks?
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NewsIn focus: Making the most of HMCTS data
In the landmark report Digital Justice, HMCTS was urged to improve the collection and sharing of data to enhance access to justice. But progress is ‘disappointingly slow’
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NewsNews focus: What explains a spate of law firm mergers?
Against a background of Covid-19, merger activity this year is not seen as a last resort.
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NewsNews focus: Challenging ingrained prejudice
Barrister Alexandra Wilson revealed that she had been mistaken for a defendant three times in a day. What is to be done?
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NewsNews focus: Impact of Covid-19 on justice system in Wales
Has the pandemic bolstered the case for further devolution?
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NewsNews focus: Searching for signs of life in our urban legal districts
Government attempts to nudge people back into the office have fallen flat.
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NewsNews focus: 'Tide turning' for holiday illness claims
Holidaymakers who issue fraudulent sickness claims have sparked negative headlines, but a pivotal court ruling means that defendants will no longer have an ‘easy ride’ picking holes in expert evidence.
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NewsNews focus: Witnessing wills in absentia
Lockdown has prompted the government to update the 183-year-old rules on witnessing wills. But some solicitors think reform is unnecessary and risks creating a contentious probate spike.
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NewsNews focus: 'Reinvigorating' commonhold
The Law Commission believes commonhold could be an attractive alternative to leasehold, dissipating the perception that ‘leaseholders don’t truly own their home’. But lenders need convincing.
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NewsNews focus: Steady improvement at complaints watchdog stalls
An increase in efficiency at the Legal Ombudsman was abruptly halted by Covid-19. A backlog of cases, high staff turnover and an already rejected budget herald tough times ahead.
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NewsNews focus: What Rishi Sunak’s economic update means for solicitors
The temporary stamp duty land tax holiday has been welcomed by many in the profession, but doubts were raised about the effectiveness of the government’s other ‘kickstart’ initiatives.
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NewsNews focus: All hands to the pump in court recovery plan
HM Courts & Tribunals Service has produced a recovery plan to resuscitate pandemic-hit courts facing a backlog of cases. But this raises as many questions as it answers.
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NewsNews focus: Client calls - check your privilege
With police stations under pressure to provide remote communication channels between solicitors and their clients, concerns have been raised that calls are being monitored.
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NewsNews focus: Bakers tribunal - Testing the boundaries
While the protracted disciplinary case involving Baker McKenzie underlined the SRA’s commitment to prosecute alleged sexual misconduct, questions remain about sanctions
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NewsNews focus: Family courts - a bumpy road ahead
Sir Andrew McFarlane’s framework for the family courts concedes that remote hearings will remain predominant for the foreseeable future. Normal business may – or may not – be resumed by the spring.
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NewsNews focus: Legal learning moves online
As the pandemic moves legal education out of the classroom and into the ether, aspiring lawyers also face an uncertain career path. But could online learning offer enduring advantages?
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NewsNews focus: McMillan Williams - a sign of the times?
Was McMillan Williams the first of many inevitable casualties of the Covid-19 pandemic, or were deeper structural problems to blame for the firm’s administration?
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NewsNews focus: Housing market reboots
Lockdown stymied the plans of 450,000 homebuyers and renters. Now the government’s plan to restart the market poses new public health challenges for conveyancers.
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NewsNews focus: no rush to return to the office
The success of home-working and lack of a Covid-19 vaccine mean many in the profession are in no hurry to get back to ‘normal’.
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NewsNews focus: Coronavirus is incubator of invention for law firms
Against a backdrop of Covid-19, law firms have come up with a plethora of client-facing instruments, encompassing wills and probate, property and insolvency. Is this the ‘new normal’?