All News articles – Page 1309
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News
CILEx announces advanced legal apprenticeship
The Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx) is to introduce a new advanced apprenticeship in legal services which it says will provide a springboard to qualification as a lawyer. The Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship in Legal is being developed in partnership with Skills for Justice and ...
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Help is at hand for addiction
In 2006 I got a job with a City firm. It proved to be very stressful and within months my occasional recreational use of drugs had turned into a full-blown addiction. I found myself deeply in debt and alienating my family and my firm.
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Unpaid court fines still add up to £600m
The government failed to make any significant impression in the £600m outstanding debt from court fines during the past financial year. Justice minister Helen Grant revealed on Friday that outstanding impositions stood at £1.8bn by the end of April 2012.
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A review of the 2012 changes to criminal law
Two major cases regarding case management were decided in 2012. In R (on the application of Drinkwater) v Solihull Magistrates’ Court [2012] EWHC 765 (Admin), the court had to consider whether a trial should be adjourned or go ahead in the absence of a defendant. Following the decision in R ...
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Eversheds sheds up to 166 in strategic restructuring
Eversheds plans to axe up to 166 staff across its international network - nearly half of them lawyers - as part of a management and office restructuring. Among those leaving will be Nick Seddon, who joined Eversheds to head the Asia region in 2008 when ...
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COLP/COFA test failed by over 1,000
Convicted criminals and undeclared bankrupts were among the people nominated by law firms to be their compliance officers, it has emerged. The Solicitors Regulation Authority today revealed that more than 1,200 nominees failed an automatic verification exercise to check their suitability to be firms’ self-policing staff. ...
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Training solicitors – a qualified success
Tucked away in the new year’s press was an announcement of an apprenticeship route to qualification as a solicitor. I wondered why and when the profession abandoned the five-year article route. Over the years there have been, as there is now, a number of ...
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SRA survey is a waste of money
As I sit here at 6.30pm on 19 December wishing it was Christmas, I have just received an email from the Solicitors Regulation Authority in relation to its diversity survey carried out earlier this year. The SRA provides the report to me and ‘expect[s] you to have arrangements in place ...
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Registry posts mixed signals
The Gazette reported in December that the Land Registry has launched the web version of its electronic document registration service, allowing practitioners to lodge documents electronically, thus saving time and postage costs.
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Roundtable: market makers
A difficult economy combined with far-reaching changes in legal regulation has given the UK’s dominant legal market, England and Wales, the feel of a dramatic landscape heading into 2013. Commentators have taken to reaching for an impressive range of cliches and metaphors – from ‘perfect storm’ to ‘brave new world’, ...
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Law leads the way over living wage
City law firms are leading the way in paying low-paid workers an independently assessed ‘living wage’ rather than the minimum wage, a Gazette investigation has revealed. A ‘living wage’ is currently £8.55 an hour in London and £7.45 elsewhere. The minimum wage is £6.19. ...
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Solicitors warned on property joint ownership
Solicitors should encourage joint property purchasers to put in writing how ownership is apportioned between them to avoid disputes where relationships break down, the Law Society and Land Registry have warned. The two bodies have published a joint practice note in relation to joint property ownership, ...
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Parliament rubber-stamps increase to ombudsman’s powers
From 1 February the level of compensation the Legal Ombudsman can award to dissatisfied customers will rise from £30,000 to £50,000. The increase is one of several enhancements to the legal watchdog’s complaints-handling rules agreed by parliament. For the first time the ombudsman will be able ...
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High street super-survey paints upbeat picture
Business has increased or remained unchanged for nearly 60% of law firms over the past three years, despite the challenging economy and changing legal market, results of a unique joint survey reveal today. However nearly one-third of the 31% of participating firms undertaking legal aid said ...
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My legal life: Sarah Harman
My three sisters and I were all herded into the College of Law whether we liked it or not. Our mum was determined that her four rebellious daughters should get good professional qualifications, which she herself only managed to achieve with enormous difficulty in late middle age.
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Putting it simply: a handbook for LIPs
Last Friday, the judiciary published a special guide for ‘self-represented’ litigants to help them through the judicial process. It was a sign of the times if ever there was.
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Fraudsters - an insider story?
Lawyers should be aware of the dangers of insider fraud when advising their clients, as the damage can be catastrophic for a business - no business is immune from the danger, not even law firms themselves.
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Figuring out my future
The wheel has turned full circle. Well, at least it is turning toward the suggestion that a degree might no longer be necessary as an entry into the profession. And what help, one might ask, is a degree in macrame anyway? Thank goodness that back in the bad old days ...