All News articles – Page 1259
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News
An advocate and an avocado
No barricades ablaze at the ‘Save Legal Aid’ demo outside the Ministry of Justice last Tuesday, even if the road was entirely blocked by protesters. But Obiter noticed that lawyers are getting more accustomed to the etiquette of protest. Invited by a megaphone firebrand to ‘not be so polite’, at ...
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Abu Qatada treaty a triumph for human rights
Omar Othman or Abu Qatada (‘The Palestinian’) is destined to hit the headlines at least a couple more times. Once will be when the Jordanian parliament ratifies a newly negotiated mutual legal assistance treaty with the UK (said to be imminent). And then again when he departs of his own ...
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SRA approves first barrister-led ABS
A London chambers specialising in immigration law has become the first barrister-led practice to apply successfully for ABS status. The Solicitors Regulation Authority said Richmond Chambers was the first of its 152 alternative business structures to be headed by barristers. Although members ...
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Out and about with MW
Obiter recalls when you weren’t allowed to see an advert for a solicitor – in Croydon these days you can’t move for one. South-east full-service firm McMillan Williams has agreed a sponsorship deal to put its logo on every public transport vehicle in town. ...
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Reformation relics fetch £900k for Law Society
The Law Society has raised more than £900,000 from the sale of anti-Catholic polemical and associated artefacts bequeathed to it in the 19th century. The Mendham Collection, assembled by Anglican clergyman Joseph Mendham (1769-1856), contained mostly 15th and 16th century books relating to the Reformation. Items ...
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30 high-impact firms in ‘serious financial difficulty’
More than 30 of the top 200 UK firms are in serious financial difficulty, the Solicitors Regulation Authority revealed today. The regulator is in what it calls ‘intense engagement’ with 160 firms at risk of failure, of which eight are in immediate danger. ...
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Former solicitor convicted in £20m fraud case
A former solicitor was among five people convicted in a £20m mortgage fraud at Mold Crown Court last week. Nicholas John Jones, 53, who at the time worked at Ravencourt Legal Services in Flint, was convicted along with two property speculators, a surveyor and a financial ...
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SRA takes over 16 months to approve ABS
The Solicitors Regulation Authority took a record 16 months and 26 days to process the alternative business structure application of personal injury firm Minster Law, it has emerged. Outgoing Minster chairman Adrian Christmas told the Gazette that he applied to gain ABS status on 3 January ...
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News
Juniors ‘on £14 a day’ after legal aid cuts, MPs hear
Junior barristers will be paid as little as £14 a day – well below the minimum wage – under the government’s proposed criminal legal aid cuts, the House of Commons justice committee heard today.
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Starmer offers victims ‘right to review’
Victims of crime, including bereaved family members, will have the right to ask prosecutors to look again at a case following a decision not to charge or to discontinue proceedings. The government will today set out plans to allow appeals against decisions taken by the Crown ...
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‘No limits’ to regulation review
The Ministry of Justice has said there will be no limits to a far-reaching review of the regulation of legal services. Justice minister Helen Grant (pictured) today called on regulators and providers of legal services to show how the burden of regulation can be reduced. ...
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News
Mental health therapy is part of the support from a growing number of law firms
The legal profession is not alone in dealing imperfectly with the mental health of its members. As comedian and writer Ruby Wax (pictured) noted, speaking at Herbert Smith Freehills last week to mark mental health awareness month, depression carries a stigma that can lose someone a job. In law it ...
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Legal firms struggling with new pensions scheme
A third of law firms are unsure how to handle the ‘tricky issues’ of compliance and administration surrounding auto-enrolment, the government scheme requiring employers to move workers into a pension plan, according to a survey. Failure to introduce a compliant scheme by your staging date ...
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News
Review of regulation? Let’s fire the LSB for a start
In a former life I was an entertainment writer. I interviewed Steve Coogan and Sir Cliff – I even went to a Justin Bieber concert (my hearing is still suffering from the screaming – not my own I should add). I was great fun at dinner ...
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Financial management
As the economy sputters along and the 'green shoots' of growth remain just that, many legal firms are struggling to stay afloat, let alone grow. Even for those finding opportunities to expand, the persistent issue of cash management remains a constant challenge and irrespective of your trading position, it remains ...
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Referral fees – a true picture
A recent Gazette article titled Referral guidance made a number of surprising claims. We felt they should not pass unchallenged, as they will undoubtedly have caused concern to some practising solicitors who are seeking to come to terms with the referral fee ban now that it is in place. ...
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Takeover fever lifts fast-rising DWF
A spate of acquisitions - including that of defunct Cobbetts - boosted income at business law firm DWF by 84% in the latest financial year, while profit per equity partner rose by a comparatively modest 4%. For the year to 30 April, the firm today ...
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Money laundering still dogs us
There is plenty of backstage manoeuvring in the development of legal policy. Often the most interesting work cannot be written about, to protect the confidentiality of our members’ views or our interaction with outside bodies. At the same time, I think: ‘But the wider legal profession should know about this!’
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Wax works to tame depression
To Herbert Smith Freehills on London’s Exchange Square, where comedian Ruby Wax (pictured) added some showbiz glamour to a relaunch of the firm’s mental health programme. Wax, who publishes a book on ‘mindfulness’ this summer (Sane New World: How to Tame the Mind), mixed candour with humour as she spoke ...