All News articles – Page 1303
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News
Claims management ‘list of shame’ to go online
Claims management companies that are under investigation will be named online, the Ministry of Justice said today. The list, which goes live next Thursday, will include details of what action is being taken and the reason for it. The MoJ, which runs ...
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Client spending squeeze forcing firms to merge
Large commercial law firms face a squeeze in client legal spending in the next 12 months, as virtually all corporate clients who have not yet reviewed instructions and spend plan to do so. The result will be massive consolidation among firms. That is the conclusion ...
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Cocts management: unintended consequences
Recent changes to the Civil Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2013 are affecting the way solicitors and litigants approach cases concerning the management of costs. The recent changes include the small claims track limit being increased from claims valued up to £5,000 to claims valued up to ...
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No law recruits for college
The National College of Legal Training (NCLT) has blamed ‘poor market conditions’ and a slump in student numbers for its decision not to recruit for its Legal Practice Course (LPC) and Graduate Diploma in Law for 2013/14. However, the universities of Derby and the West ...
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Competition law
The coalition government was just six months old when it announced a ‘bonfire’ of 192 quangos, among them the Competition Commission and the Office of Fair Trading. Fast forward to 2013 and, albeit without much ministerial fanfare, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has a CEO-designate, Alex Chisholm. He is ...
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Treasury counsel condemn reforms to judicial review
Treasury counsel have joined the wave of concern over the government’s legal aid reforms, warning they will ‘undermine the accountability of public bodies’ and create an ‘underclass’ who will be denied access to the courts. In a letter to the attorney general Dominic Grieve QC, 145 ...
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Conspicuous consultation
I don’t expect outpourings of sympathy, but spare a thought today for the Ministry of Justice officials charged with reading responses to the department’s consultation ‘Transforming Legal Aid: delivering a more credible and efficient system’. (Yes, that’s the title of Chris Grayling’s proposals to chop £220m by introducing price-competitive tendering ...
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Slackness over prisoner votes shows contempt
Parliament can move very quickly when it needs to. Laws can be passed within days if necessary - even hours. But the legislative process can move extremely slowly when political needs dictate. And that is what has happened to the issue of votes for prisoners.
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Return magistrates’ courts to local control
by Penelope Gibbs, director of Transform Justice, a charity working for an effective justice system Recent news that the courts might be privatised was the first time the management of the courts had hit the headlines for years.
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News
Streaming the Supreme Court
Television has for a number of years been a reason why people ultimately decide to become lawyers. From fictional characters, programmes such as Rumpole, Judge Deed, LA Law and Silks, we are offered a creative window into the world of the legal profession. But what about real lawyers?
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Courts: going private is no panacea
by Francesca Kaye, president of the London Solicitors Litigation Association The government is right to be thorough in its determination to cut waste and excess in public services, and achieve greater efficiency, particularly in the current economic climate. However, the news that this quest may lead ...
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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 ...
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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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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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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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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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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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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 ...