News in focus – Page 21
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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’?
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NewsNews focus: Are small firms better placed to weather Covid-19?
Smaller firms need more government support but practices that keep a tight rein on outgoings and adapt to a sea change in working methods are better placed to limit the damage of the lockdown.
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NewsNews focus: Bonzos group action sounds a bum note
As Sixties pop glamour came to the High Court, the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band won a heated battle to protect its name. Now the case has sparked calls to close a trade mark loophole.
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NewsNews focus: what Morrisons means for vicarious liability
Despite Morrisons’ victory in the Supreme Court last week over the actions of a disgruntled employee, the ruling did not entirely extinguish the threat to businesses from vicarious liability.
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NewsNews focus: Unified Patent Court impasse - what now?
A German ruling to void membership of the Unified Patent Court highlights the fragility of supranational institutions. But is the UK ready to take advantage of this window of opportunity?
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NewsNews focus: Courts move to remote control
In the face of an unprecedented pandemic, the civil courts are dispensing with face-to-face formalities as hearings move online. But is the technology robust enough to cope – and will justice suffer?
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NewsSFO on rack after Barclays blow
The acquittal of former Barclays executives was another setback for the Serious Fraud Office over its failure to secure high-profile convictions. Calls for a root-and-branch review are getting louder.
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NewsNews focus: Solicitors' role in reform proposals over housing disputes
A new disputes service is at the heart of proposals from Justice to tackle housing disputes. But it would not be a court, tribunal or ombudsman – so where do solicitors fit in?
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NewsNews focus: Clients doing it for themselves
Kennedys has unveiled an innovative legal tech startup to harness artificial intelligence and automate the claims process. But will this business deepen fears of automation replacing lawyers’ jobs?
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NewsNews focus: Campaign to create repository of court judgments
Following last year’s Digital Justice report calling for a shakeup in the publication of court judgments, there is growing awareness of how opening up the corpus of case law could facilitate justice.
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NewsNews focus: Family justice seen to be done
Sir Andrew McFarlane is undertaking a review of transparency in the family courts, but it must provide the correct balance between protecting privacy and promoting openness.