All News articles – Page 1319
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News
Cutting fees already pared to the bone could be fatal to existing providers
Is it acceptable for the state to dictate who represents a criminal defendant? One cannot help but recall lurid headlines about US public defenders taking on too many cases to effectively defend their clients – or worse, falling asleep at counsel table during a death penalty trial.
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Alumni networks make sense
There have been numerous instances in recent times of employees taking to public forums and expressing less-than-glowing opinions about their former employers - and even in some cases going so far as to write a book about them. Views on working conditions are - let’s face it - fairly common ...
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APIL can celebrate survival, if little else
Given that most of the planet has been wiped out by terrifying aliens, the film Independence Day ends on a remarkably happy note. President Bill Pullman rallies his troops and assures them the future is bright. You survived, he tells them, and that’s reason enough to celebrate. Now get digging ...
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Arresting development
In the bad old days – which, for the purposes of argument, may be deemed to be the 1950s to the 1970s – justice may not have been certain but it was certainly swift. If he put his mind to it, an individual might appear and ...
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Firms still failing to ask for client feedback, survey shows
Most law firms are failing to get proper feedback from clients after carrying out work for them, new research has found. A YouGov SixthSense survey of more than 2,000 adults found just 20% of those who had used law firms and solicitors in the last three ...
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Silk quits Bar Standards Board in quality assurance protest
A senior silk has resigned from his position on the Bar Standards Board over the regulator’s support for the Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates (QASA). Jonathan Kinnear QC, who been a senior member of the BSB’s professional conduct committee for the past five years, wrote to ...
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Tendering proposals an ‘attack on justice’
Solicitors this week condemned the government’s proposed criminal legal aid reforms as impractical and an attack on the quality of justice. Richard Atkinson (pictured), chair of the Law Society’s criminal law committee, said plans to introduce price-competitive tendering for criminal defence work are ‘unworkable’ for firms ...
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Jackson reforms could take a bite out of balance sheets
by Alex Fox, a partner at Manches The Jackson reforms, which came into force on April Fools’ Day, provide that a defendant who rejects a part 36 offer is at risk of paying a penalty of up to £75,000, in addition to the usual interest and ...
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Barristers to ‘strike’ on Monday
Crown court cases face disruption on Monday as barristers on the northern circuit plan to stay away from court and attend an all-day meeting in protest against the government’s planned changes to criminal legal aid. A spokesman for the circuit said members were balloted this week ...
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Career breaks: return journey
Traditionally, practising lawyers follow a linear career path from trainee to partner. But does a career break, whether from choice (to go travelling, try something new or raise a family) or enforced (through redundancy, illness or addiction) have to break your career? A heavy emphasis on ...
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Cabinet Office to tackle ‘excessive complexity’ of legislation
The rule of law is among the victims of unnecessarily complex legislation, the government’s chief legislation-drafter warns today. In a report examining the causes of complexity, Richard Heaton, first parliamentary counsel and permanent secretary at the Cabinet Office, says the ‘current degree of difficulty’ is neither ...
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SRA moves to calm fears over indemnity insurer
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has sought to reassure hundreds of law firms using Balva for professional indemnity cover after the Latvian company was placed under new restrictions. The Financial Conduct Authority has updated its register following a decision by Latvian regulators to prohibit Balva from writing ...
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News
‘Client’ care
Adam Sampson (8 April) decries the use of the word ‘client’ in favour of ‘customer’. Despite him possibly confusing Julius Caesar with Cicero as a renowned lawyer in the Roman courts, Mr Sampson should be wary of rejecting the client relationship. In classical times there was a mutuality of obligation ...
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Chancery Lane wants voice at whiplash inquiry
The Law Society has demanded that solicitors’ voices are heard when MPs come to hear evidence on whiplash. The House of Commons transport select committee will invite witnesses to appear in parliament later this year having today closed the call for evidence. ...
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Solicitor charged with fraud and money laundering
A solicitor has been charged with conspiracy to defraud UK investors of more than £5m. Solicitor Dale Walker of Kent firm Dale R Walker is one of eight men to have been charged by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) with conspiracy to defraud contrary to common ...
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Policing football matches: charges
The core authority in this area is Glasbrook Brothers Ltd v Glamorgan County Council [1925] AC 270.
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Chris Grayling: criminal ignorance
Chris Grayling’s comments about the restriction of legal aid for prisoner complaints are either another example of political posturing from the justice secretary or, more worryingly, show an alarming ignorance of how such cases have been funded for over three years.
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News
Firm defends police officer Kelly Jones in kerb claim
The personal injury firm at the centre of a media furore over a claimant police officer has insisted its client is right to press on with the case. National firm Pattinson & Brewer said Norfolk officer PC Kelly Jones is continuing with a claim against a ...
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Europe reviews cross-border claims
The European Commission is to review the operation of a cross-border claims service, after admitting it has failed to make an impression with consumers. The European Small Claims Procedure was launched four years ago to resolve cross-border disputes worth less than €2,000. ...
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SRA promises ‘reckless trading’ clampdown
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has promised tough action against failing firms that do not wind down efficiently, including putting conditions on the practising certificates of those responsible. SRA director Samantha Barass (pictured) told a conference on compliance today that the regulator is seeing increasing numbers of ...