All News articles – Page 1255
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News
Plans underline PCT failings
One of the main planks of the profession’s – sorry, ‘industry’s’ – opposition to price-competitive tendering is that, if implemented, ‘if you are accused of a crime, you will have to take the solicitor allocated to you’. This is the position already.
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The EU endorses freedoms but it wants to know what people will do with them
The political orthodoxy that markets provide the best solutions has been surprisingly resilient. In reality the government and the EU have a difficult relationship with market freedoms. They endorse freedoms, with the caveat that they would like to know exactly what people do with them. ...
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Hudson questions SRA’s firm finances disclosure
Law Society chief executive Desmond Hudson has questioned the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s decision to disclose that 30 leading firms are in serious financial trouble. At the SRA board last week, it emerged that 20% of the 160 firms in ‘intensive engagement’ talks about their finances rank ...
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Defamation on social media
On 24 May Mr Justice Tugendhat handed down the judgment in McAlpine v Bercow [2013] EWHC 1342 (QB), finding that Mrs Bercow’s tweet carried a defamatory meaning. Following the judgment it was announced that Bercow had accepted an earlier settlement offer, saying that ‘today’s ruling should be seen as a ...
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Family lawyers divided over Prest decision
The Supreme Court’s decision to order an oil tycoon to hand over assets held by his companies to his former wife has been hailed as a victory for fairness and justice by lawyers. But family practitioners are divided on the implications of last week’s judgment in ...
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Neuberger defends judges’ right to speak out on cuts
Lawyers and judges have a duty to help the justice system work - and could learn from eBay’s online dispute resolution procedures, according to the president of the Supreme Court. In a wide-ranging speech at the Institute for Government thinktank last night, Lord Neuberger gave a ...
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Torn off a stipe in court
Back in the 1960s, legal aid in criminal cases was in the hands of stipendiary magistrates, in the case of lay magistrates, the clerks of the court. The stipes in particular regarded themselves as guardians of the public purse.
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Consumer panel promises ‘long game’ on will regulation
The Legal Services Consumer Panel has claimed credit for changing the climate of opinion on the regulation of will-writing – despite the government’s outright rejection of the idea last month. The quango’s annual report, published today, lists will-writing as one area where it had an ...
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News
SRA ‘wrong to pursue costs via conduct rules’
The Solicitors Regulation Authority was wrong to use professional conduct rules to pursue a former practitioner for costs, a tribunal has found. David Bellchamber had been ordered to pay fixed costs adding up to £850 in connection with a 2011 tribunal rebuke and subsequent unsuccessful appeal. ...
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European collective redress
In a week in which distressing images of Turkish lawyers being dragged by police out of a court building showed the importance of not taking the benefits of the rule of law for granted, here is some of Europe’s more traditional, everyday legal fare to distract you.
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Close down CMCs tomorrow - Desmond Hudson
The chief executive of the Law Society has publicly called for claims management companies (CMCs) to be outlawed. Giving evidence to the House of Commons transport committee, which is investigating the cost impact on motor insurance from whiplash claims, Desmond Hudson said that the government ...
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Salford civil claims process ‘improving’, manager claims
A senior civil servant from HM Courts & Tribunals Service has insisted that the performance of the Salford civil claims centre is improving – while admitting the IT system is still ‘rubbish’. Jonathan Wood, national business centres cluster manager, told the Law Society civil justice section ...
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Chris Grayling: divide and rule
I read in the Gazette of 10 June that Grayling believes there is a straight choice between saving £220m from either criminal legal aid (budget £1bn) or the NHS (budget £109bn). This is classic divide-and-rule stuff that will not fool either lobby. But even on this faulty logic, he should ...
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Mansfield’s goose chase
Tireless campaigner Michael Mansfield QC has put his finely tuned legal mind behind a new cause – ending sales of foie gras by ‘Piccadilly grocer’ Fortnum & Mason. In an article for the Huffington Post, the vegetarian barrister notes that ‘legality is no guarantee of ...
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Prison term sought for quoting Society charity report
Fiji’s attorney general has demanded jail for the Methodist minister found in contempt of court for quoting a Law Society Charity report whose contents were first revealed in the Gazette. Counsel for the attorney, Ropate Green, sought a minimum sentence of six months for Reverend Akuila ...
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Law firms and cause-related marketing
To most people CRM stands for ‘client relationship marketing’ and is a vitally important topic I have written about on a number of times. There is another lesser-known CRM, which stands for ‘cause-related marketing’, which is about connecting one organisation with a non-profit organisation or charity for the purposes of ...
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EC in cartels drive
The European Commission has adopted a proposal for a directive on how citizens and companies can claim damages when they are victims of price-fixing cartels. Under the proposal, decisions of national competition authorities finding an infringement will automatically constitute proof before national courts that the ...
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A car crash of a hearing
When insurers, lawyers and claims management companies are quizzed about who is to blame for the apparent epidemic in whiplash accident claims, it is obvious who will emerge as the culprit.
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Consumer rights boost welcomed by Society
The Law Society has welcomed a long-awaited move to consolidate consumer rights legislation and bring it into the digital age. A draft Consumer Rights Bill published last week by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills will give consumers new rights over faulty goods and ...
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Hunt begins for new SRA chief
Recruitment advertisements for a new chief executive of the Solicitors Regulation Authority appeared in yesterday’s Sunday newspapers. The successful candidate will replace Antony Townsend, who last month announced his intention to leave the regulator later this year. According to an ...