All News articles – Page 1246
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NewsMother loses Euro court compensation fight
Mike Pemberton acted for Lorraine Allen, who was imprisoned after wrongly being convicted of the manslaughter of her son.
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Lawyers wary over company owners rule
Company law specialists have cautiously welcomed the government’s approach to requiring all companies to declare their beneficial owners. A discussion paper published last week by the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills proposes creating a register of beneficial owners to meet a commitment set out at last month’s G8 summit. ...
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PII renewals: just like Christmas
This week the staff asked when we are closing for Christmas. They want to make plans, and why not?
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In-house lawyers focusing more on business issues
The role of the in-house lawyer is increasingly moving away from legal work to concentrate on business issues, research has found. A survey of UK heads of legal and general counsel by resourcing consultancy FreshMinds Legal found that, on average, just 38% of the day is now spent on legal ...
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News in Brief
Old Bailey protest A demonstration to celebrate 64 years of legal aid and protest against the government’s proposed cuts will take place outside the Old Bailey on 30 July at 4.30pm. Organised by the Justice Alliance, it will hear from speakers including Liberty director Shami Chakrabarti and Shauneen Lambe from ...
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BLP, Travers Smith and Dentons post flat results
Revenue at Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) dropped 5% to £233m, as more City firms continued to post flat results for the financial year 2012-2013. Last year BLP, a key adviser for financial institutions, increased revenue by 7.4% to £246m. The firm has sought to cut staff costs by around 15% ...
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Merger talks reach record high as firms battle cuts
The number of law firms opting to merge has reached an all-time high as practices respond to the prospect of reduced income. Analysis by accountancy firm Wilkins Kennedy found 234 mergers involving UK law firms in the past year, up from 220 in the previous 12 months. The number of ...
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Healthcheck detects public unease at bar regulator 'bias'
Complainants to the Bar Standards Board have accused the regulator of bias in favour of barristers as dissatisfaction grows about transparency and openness. The BSB’s yearly healthcheck survey found increasing public unease about its complaints process, despite the number of complaints falling in the past year. At the board’s monthly ...
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CMCs ordered to show they comply with fee ban
More than 140 claims management companies (CMCs) are being asked to prove they have not breached the referral fee ban since April, the government has revealed. The Claims Management Regulation Unit, managed by the Ministry of Justice, has visited more than 450 companies across England and Wales since the ban ...
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MoJ proposes online scheme for asbestos victims
Victims of asbestos-related disease are to be offered a process for out-of-court compensation
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APIL chief joins call for ban on incentives
The leader of the UK's biggest claimant representative group has said it is a 'mystery' why regulators have opted not to ban inducements for personal injury claims.
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NewsLaw graduate venture aims to help LiPs
A former law student who graduated this month has set up a business guiding litigants in person through the court process.
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Challinors confirms appointment of administrator
Midlands firm Challinors has confirmed it has filed a notice of intention to appoint an administrator. The multi-service firm, with offices across the west and east Midlands, said in a statement today the move will protect its position pending a sale of the business. ‘This will allow an orderly transfer ...
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Bribery Act lying dormant, SFO admits
The Serious Fraud Office is investigating just two cases relating to the Bribery Act more than two years after the new law came into force, the Gazette has learned. A freedom of information request has revealed the SFO has yet to bring any prosecutions under the new legislation and has ...
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Lambeth eyes ABS to save legal spend
The London Borough of Lambeth’s in-house legal department is considering forming an alternative business structure to help reduce its £3m annual external legal spend. Lambeth has to slash costs by 45% but cannot cut the size of its already-stretched legal team, said Mark Hynes (pictured), Lambeth director of governance and ...
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Private equity investor in £4m probate deal
Private equity investor Smedvig Capital has confirmed it has pumped £4m into probate company Kings Court Trust..
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SRA approves £50-£350 charge scale for advocacy accreditation
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has approved the fees that solicitors will be required to pay for accreditation under the controversial Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates (QASA). Fees are set for the four accreditation levels and solicitors will have to make payment on registration, on progression and when seeking reaccreditation. To ...
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Austen’s £10 fine for lawyers
Obiter is concerned at the choice of author Jane Austen for the token woman decorating the ‘B’ side of our banknotes. What’s wrong with that? Surely the intricacies of estates, settlements, trusts and wills - grist to her novels - provide a compelling record of private client work at the ...
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Exclusive: 400,000 personal files stolen in court closure
Computer equipment storing more than 400,000 confidential court files was stolen from a court - and the theft only discovered months later when it appeared for sale on eBay, the Gazette can exclusively reveal. The network server, which contained personal details of victims and witnesses, was apparently stolen by a ...
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Nothing for Nothing
The news that more solicitors are turning to crime to keep their practices afloat is indeed terrible, writes James Morton. For far too long solicitors have neglected their businesses at the expense of clients and this altruism has clearly gone too far. But what can be done to reverse what ...