All News articles – Page 1288
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News
Strike disrupts courts service as another walkout is planned
Thousands of court workers across England and Wales today walked out on strike as the union began a three-month programme of action. Members of the Public and Commercial Services Union took industrial action to mark budget day after talks broke down over cuts to pay, pensions, ...
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Explosive allegation
Women who seek to be equal with men lack ambition. The words of psychedelic drug campaigner Timothy Leary (1920-96) were quoted by Bar Council chair Maura McGowan QC (pictured) at last week’s Law Society event to mark International Women’s Day. ...
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Apprenticeships ‘risk alienating international firms’
A leading City training specialist has warned that legal apprenticeships may be less appealing to the biggest corporate firms with overseas offices. Tony King, chair of the City of London Law Society training committee, said: ‘Internationally, the lack of a degree will raise issues with ...
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LSC to reconsider ‘hacked’ legal aid contract tender
A Birmingham solicitor who lost out on a family legal aid contract after her online application was hacked has won a legal challenge to the Legal Services Commission’s refusal to reconsider her application. The High Court heard that Rifat Mushtaq, owner of Mushtaq & Co, had ...
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Emergency declared after Blakemores falls
The Law Society last week set up a dedicated website to help solicitors and trainees worried about the viability of their firms, after radical changes to the legal services market claimed another high-profile casualty. On Monday, Gazette Online exclusively revealed that all 200-plus solicitors and ...
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Judicial appointments: random access
I am responding to a letter (Larissa Hutson, 4 March) concerning research being carried out to discover what attracts members of the legal profession to apply – or puts them off from applying – to be a judge. This work is being undertaken by the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) in ...
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Fast-track for ‘lower-risk’ ABS applications
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has announced it will fast-track lower-risk applications for an alternative business structure licence. The authority has responded to criticism that the authorisation process takes too long with new guidance and a fresh approach to existing law firms. The ...
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Probate work helps Co-op ABS break even in year one
Co-operative Legal Services (CLS) made a small profit in its first year as an alternative business structure on a 12.8% increase in revenue, the Co-operative Group’s financial results published today reveal. CLS, established seven years ago, became one of the first ABSs in March last year ...
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Changes to criminal law – part 2
On 1 September 2012 it became an offence under section 144 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) for a person to trespass in a residential building by living or intending to live in the building when he knew or ought to have known that ...
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Osborne imposes further £142m of cuts on MoJ
Chancellor George Osborne today imposed a further £142m of cuts on the Ministry of Justice, which will have to be implemented before the 2015 general election. The MoJ is one of the government departments required by Osborne’s budget to reduce its spending by 1% for the ...
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Swings and roundabouts
Here we go again. In classic Daily Mail-style, out come the stories – which we are expected to treat as typical – of solicitors charging £4,000 for photocopying or overcharging by £30,000. Just like the single mother with 13 children.
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MPs set to shed light on whiplash
MPs will answer whether the government is right to describe the UK as the ‘whiplash capital of the world’ in a definitive report on motor claims. The Commons Transport Select Committee today outlined the terms of reference for its inquiry into whiplash and called for evidence ...
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News
Pedal power propels lawyers to Paris
So, what did you do in February? Lawyers at JD Spicer Zeb Solicitors cycled from London to Paris to raise funds for the Free Representation Unit. Simon Maughan and Michael Situ led the ride, which covered over 200 miles in three days and has so far raised close to £2,000. ...
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Stolen identity
We have encountered a problem where this firm’s identity is being used by a potential fraudster. On one day in January, we were contacted by seven people/firms in Canada who received a letter from a potential fraudster, holding himself out as being an attorney at this firm, using this firm’s ...
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Human rights
Human Rights – Freedom of expression – Protesters The wife and children of Omar Othman v The English National Resistance and others: Queen's Bench Division: 25 February 2013 The Queen's ...
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A glass half full
Despite not wishing to be thought a grumpy old lawyer I decided to look at the Legal Ombudsman’s recent report, The price of separation: Divorce-related legal complaints and their causes. This report made the news as it features lots of stories about wicked lawyers. The ...
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News
Foreign territory
Martin Maloney responds to my response to his original letter about assumptions of guilt within criminal law procedure. In essence, Mr Maloney repeats his previous assertions which I have already answered; basically that what distinguishes us from others is that we are lawyers and that this is a legal journal. ...
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UK law firms are making headway in the tough South Korean market
North Korea’s belligerence casts a long shadow over its southern neighbour. But South Korea has shown it can develop and thrive despite the tension across the 38th parallel. It is, many insist, a good time for UK law firms to be thinking about South Korea. Although the country has ...
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Fears grow for Saudi lawyers
Concern is mounting for two lawyers, including the winner of the 2012 Olof Palme Prize for human rights, who have been targeted by the Saudi Arabian security forces. Human rights lawyer and former judge Sheikh Sulaiman Al-Rashudi, who is president of Saudi Arabia’s Civil and Political ...
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Fairness plea
Am I the only solicitor worried about the future of criminal litigation in this country? I see fewer young solicitors becoming involved in criminal work. The reasons why would seem to be simple. The remuneration and conditions of practice cannot attract new people.