All News articles – Page 1248
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News
Defendant lawyers ‘saddened’ by Law Society PI campaign
The Forum of Insurance Lawyers has said it is ‘profoundly saddened’ by a Law Society advertising campaign urging accident victims to seek legal advice. The campaign portrays a beaten face with the caption ‘don’t get mugged’, telling injured people to speak to a solicitor before accepting a third-party capture offer ...
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Petition calls for civil claims centre closure
An online petition is calling on the government to halt the ‘industrialisation of the judicial system’ by immediately shutting down the Salford civil claims centre. The centre, which was opened in early 2012, is the HM Courts & Tribunals Service’s (HMCTS) centralised facility for handling civil claims. It aims to ...
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Dig the new breed
Manchester criminal solicitor Nick Freeman, aka Mr Loophole, has a new breed of client: the Staffordshire bull terrier. Freeman, renowned for helping celebrities escape motoring convictions, aims to rehabilitate the image of the dog following an incident involving a Staffie suspected of biting off another dog’s head. Freeman has owned ...
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Whole life imprisonment breaches human rights, rules Strasbourg
The whole life imprisonment of murderer Jeremy Bamber and two other killers breaches their rights under article 3 of the European Convention, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in the case’s final judgment today. The three killers are subject to whole life orders, meaning they cannot be released other ...
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LawWorks warning over pro bono surge
Demand for pro bono legal advice has leapt by almost a third in the past year, pro bono ‘brokers’ LawWorks and the Bar Pro Bono Unit have revealed. But LawWorks warned that the true scale of unmet need has been masked by the ‘desperate state’ of frontline services. The monthly ...
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Women being imprisoned unnecessarily, reformers say
Magistrates’ courts are sending fewer women to prison than in previous years but some courts are four times more likely to jail women than others, according to figures obtained by the Howard League for Penal Reform. Research by the charity reveals that although the overall number of women being sent ...
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Bar’s disciplinary system on trial in High Court
The legality of the bar’s disciplinary system has been called into question this week as the High Court hears three claims for judicial review. The cases have been brought by three barristers in relation to charges of professional misconduct brought by the Bar Standards’ Board. In each case the charges ...
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Solicitors Regulation Authority shuts two firms
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has closed immigration firm Mulberry Finch Limited and Gloucestershire practice Peter Stafford Eales. The SRA said that Mulberry Finch, based in Conduit Street, London, failed to comply with the SRA Principles, the Code of Conduct and Accounts Rules. Peter Stafford Eales, of Turnpike Gate, Gloucestershire, was ...
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Claimant solicitors attack insurer’s ‘biased’ whiplash proposals
Claimant solicitors have dismissed a report into whiplash by insurer Axa as ‘highly biased’ and based on inaccurate or outdated statistics. The insurance giant yesterday put pressure on the government to impose new medical and time limits for making low-value RTA claims. The report pointed to countries such as Sweden ...
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UK will bid to rejoin watered-down European arrest warrant
The government is to exercise its opt-out of 135 European crime and justice measures pre-dating the 2007 Lisbon Treaty – but hopes to rejoin some 30, including the European arrest warrant and the law enforcement agency Europol, the home secretary said today. In a well-trailed statement to the House of ...
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Firms asked to cut rates for armed forces
A nationwide scheme to offer discounted legal fees to armed forces personnel is being set up by a solicitor in the RAF, the Gazette has learned. Armed Forces Legal Action (AFLA) is the brainchild of Wing Commander Allan Steele supported by Scottish solicitor Janet Hood. Firms across the UK will ...
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JK Rowling’s solicitor apologises for leak
A London firm has ‘apologised unreservedly’ for accidentally revealing that Harry Potter author JK Rowling (pictured) was writing under a pseudonym. Russells Solicitors, which describes itself as ‘one of the leading firms in the entertainment industry’, has admitted it was the source of the leaked information ...
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Next year's PC fees agreed today – full details
Individual solicitors will be shielded from significant fee increases next year but most firms will pay more. The Law Society today agreed that its net funding requirement for 2014 will be £116.8m, an increase from £103.5m the previous year. The funds cover the Society, Solicitors Regulation Authority and external bodies ...
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SRA set to agree major increase in fining powers
Proposals for significant increases in the fining powers of the Solicitors Regulation Authority are set to be agreed this week. The SRA regulatory risk committee will meet tomorrow to recommend new fining guidelines of between £500 and £50,000 for most firms and individuals. For firms with domestic turnover of more ...
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Society warns against jailing ‘reckless’ bankers
New criminal sanctions that would jail senior bankers for ‘reckless misconduct’ will not stop banks failing or help to promote economic growth, the Law Society said today. Chancery Lane’s warning comes as the government is accused of watering down proposals made last month by the parliamentary commission on banking standards. ...
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Insurer calls on government to look again at whiplash awards
A leading figure at Britain’s biggest car insurer has urged the government to consider looking again at compensation awards for whiplash injuries. Tom Woolgrove (pictured), managing director of personal lines at Direct Line, said it was ‘obvious’ car insurance premiums had fallen following reforms of ...
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Rehabilitation reforms treat women as ‘afterthought’ – MPs
Women offenders are an afterthought in the government’s rehabilitation reforms, the House of Commons justice committee suggested today. Six years after the Corston Report, which recommended that only the most serious female offenders be jailed, the committee said that the women’s prison population has not fallen sufficiently quickly and that ...
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Direct Line applies to set up law firm through ABS
Britain’s biggest car insurer, Direct Line Group, has applied to the Solicitors Regulation Authority to become an alternative business structure. The insurer wants to create a newly formed and wholly owned law firm, DLG Legal Services, to operate in partnership with existing law firm Parabis. Direct Line Group already provides ...
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Convey Law becomes ABS
Convey Law, which claims to be one of the country’s top 10 residential conveyancing companies, has been granted ABS status by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers. The firm’s sales and marketing director Rob Hosier told the Gazette that the firm applied to change its status because it is owned by ...
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Stobart director gains licence for solicitor ABS as ‘final piece in the jigsaw’
Trevor Howarth, legal director of Stobart Barristers, has been granted an alternative business structure licence by the Solicitors Regulation Authority for a company he set up with an employment barrister, he confirmed today. The SRA has licensed One Legal, a company set up by Howarth and employment barrister Tim Edge ...