All News articles – Page 1307
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News
International firms call off merger
International firms Speechly Bircham and Withers today announced that they had dropped merger plans following almost two months of talks. The firms said in March they had entered ‘preliminary discussions’ over creating a joint practice with more than 600 lawyers. But in ...
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Fight PI changes, says MASS chair
A figurehead for the claimant personal injury sector has urged solicitors not to give up opposing further changes to the system. Craig Budsworth, chairman of the Motor Accident Solicitors Society (MASS), told today’s Manchester Law Society conference that the fight against increases to the small-claims limit ...
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Poor will suffer from court fee changes, MoJ warned
Government plans to means-test waivers for civil court or tribunal fees could impact the most deprived and vulnerable sections of society, the Civil Justice Council has warned. The advisory group of judges, academics and lawyers, chaired by the master of the rolls (pictured), said there were ...
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Insurers to revamp third-party code
Insurers are to rewrite a code of conduct on the practice of third-party capture of claimants, the Gazette can reveal. James Dalton, head of motor and liability at the Association of British Insurers (ABI), said he wanted the voluntary code to be more robust and ensure ...
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Regulating will-writing is simple common sense
The Gazette has been known to raise an eyebrow at the laissez-faire proselytising of the Legal Services Board – that’s not what it is (or ought to be) there for. But this week the super-regulator has been effortlessly outflanked by justice secretary Chris Grayling (pictured), seemingly in defiance of all ...
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Court interpreters reject new contract deal
Courts are being disrupted on a ‘daily basis’ as interpreters continue to boycott the private sector contract for translation services, despite a peace move by the Ministry of Justice, an interpreters group claimed this week. The ministry last month revealed that it would foot ...
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Dealing with corruption in the UK
This week, the Council of the International Bar Association (IBA) will consider Anti-Corruption Guidelines for Bar Associations. I remember when this was discussed in one of the IBA policy groups of which I am a member. The representatives from bars in the west (and from at least one other developed ...
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Privatising the courts
Last year the government fattened up the Royal Mail for privatisation by imposing a 30% hike in the cost of a first-class stamp - its biggest price rise for 37 years. Job done. Annual profits have soared, it was disclosed this week. The Queen’s head is duly on the block, ...
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HMRC proposes crackdown on LLP ‘disguised employment’
Some members of limited liability partnership (LLP) firms could face higher tax and national insurance deductions under government proposals for tackling ‘disguised employment’ published this week. The consultation follows an announcement in the budget that the government would examine removing the presumption of self employment ...
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Woolwich, crime and mental health
Murder of a soldier in south-east London – a horrid event with some further nastiness in its wider repercussions. Woolwich isn’t too far from my home, and as when Damilola Taylor was murdered (close enough to our old flat to have the home secretary interviewed ...
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European data plan labelled ‘demented’
European Commission data protection plans are the biggest threat currently facing the UK economy, a senior Downing Street figure said this week. Rohan Silva, the senior policy adviser behind the government’s Tech City initiative, described the draft European data protection plan as ‘a completely demented ...
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A sad day for the legal profession
Until this afternoon I had sympathy with colleagues who specialise in claimant personal injury work; that was until I received an unsolicited call from a north-west firm. About 18 months ago, my vehicle was involved in a collision where a car collided with my driver’s door, causing damage. I was ...
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PCT will mean the death of Welsh justice, lawyers warn
The government’s plans for price-competitive tendering (PCT) will have a ‘devastating’ impact on firms and chambers in Wales, leaving clients represented by English firms and without Welsh language provision, lawyers have warned. Their concerns come as solicitors and barristers unite today staging a demonstration in Westminster ...
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Injunction to prevent ‘defamatory’ employment tribunal evidence refused
The High Court recently refused (among other things) to grant an interim injunction in libel and harassment to a former council employee, Ayodele Adele Vaughan (the claimant) concerning evidence she anticipated being given in forthcoming employment tribunal (ET) proceedings.
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LETR ‘delayed by regulators’
The much-delayed final report of the Legal Education & Training Review (LETR) research team was completed on time and could have been published as planned in December 2012, but was stalled when the regulators insisted on a version three times the size of the original, the Gazette can exclusively reveal.
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Where was the LASPO dissent?
I thought I was dreaming when I switched on my radio this morning. Three pinches and a cold shower later and I knew it was true: a legal aid issue was the headline new story on Five Live (the baby prefers Nicky Campbell to John Humphries). ...
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Law firms: information overload?
Firms will soon be obliged to publish diversity data – perhaps on their website or in reception if they have no website. I find it hard to see how, in a firm which consists of one person only (such as mine), it can be consistent with the Data Protection Act ...
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Pannone turns to fixed-price mediation post-Jackson
Four out of five commercial disputes are capable of being resolved through fixed-priced mediation, according to a firm unveiling a two-tier service today. Manchester firm Pannone says it has responded to the Jackson reforms and the possibility of compulsory mediation with a service that settles ...