All News articles – Page 1337
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EU online training
The European Commission has begun work on an online service to help train EU lawyers in cross-border European law or the law of another member state. The European Training Platform will cost £177,000, including a contribution of £35,400 from the Council of Bars and Law Societies ...
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Europe versus the internet monsters
Although we are distracted by daily news of crime (for instance, Oscar Pistorius) or sex (Jimmy Savile and others), we all know that there are more important developments changing our world. An example is the way the huge internet barons – Amazon, Google, Facebook – are altering our physical and ...
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Facebook - not for the faint-hearted
The subject of Facebook has cropped up quite a lot recently in enquiries I’ve had from law firms. I don’t know why, Facebook has been running for many years so it’s hardly new. Maybe Spring is in the air and firms feel they need to ...
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Scottish firm fails
Scottish commercial firm Semple Fraser has announced it intends to appoint administrators. In a statement released today, the firm said it had been ‘severely affected’ by the downturn and contraction in parts of the corporate, property and construction sectors. It added that ...
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Grayling puts price tendering in the fast lane
Price-competitive tendering for criminal defence services will be introduced this autumn under accelerated plans revealed by the justice secretary this morning. In a written ministerial statement, Chris Grayling (pictured) announced an eight-week consultation on the plans will begin in April – but said that the tender ...
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Flexible working needs rebrand, says president
The president of the Law Society will today call for a rethink of flexible working to make law firms and other businesses more attractive to women - and men. Delivering the keynote speech at an International Women's Day event to a London audience of lawyers, ...
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Jackson gets green light from McNally
Justice minister Lord McNally has confirmed that Jackson reforms of civil justice funding will come into force on 1 April. The peer had come under pressure during a Lords debate to delay implementation of conditional fee agreements and damages-based agreements to allow parties to prepare ...
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Why is government so keen to kill the PI sector?
When the Ford Transit plant in Southampton was at risk of closure last year, with 500 jobs under threat, David Cameron’s government offered a £10m grant. Yet when it comes to the personal injury sector, Cameron has not just stood aside and let it happen, he’s ...
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Grayling sets out payment-by-results vision
Payment by results will be the norm for government departments in the future, the justice secretary said today as he explained his ‘vision’ to reduce the ‘endless spiral of reoffending’. Speaking at a conference on rehabilitation, organised by the thinktank Policy Exchange, Chris Grayling said his ...
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Selecting the judiciary on merit
I recently received an email on behalf of the Judicial Appointments Commission, inviting me to complete a survey because ‘they would like to know your views on what motivates lawyers to apply – or not to apply – for judicial office... One of its statutory responsibilities is to reach and ...
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Memory lane
The Law Society’s Gazette, March 1913Departmental Committee on Industrial Diseases A letter was read from the Home Office, enquiring whether the Council wished to give evidence before the Departmental Committee on the desirability or otherwise of including writer’s cramp as a qualification for compensation under the ...
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Minding your language
‘It is with great respect... It is with grave concern that we note... It is disappointing to say the least... With all due respect...’ What is it about our profession that practitioners feel the need to use these hackneyed and mostly meaningless phrases? I speak from the perspective of a ...
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Scroll with it
Plenty of firms are currently weighing up the pros and cons of ABS status – but many more would surely take the plunge if they knew of this extra benefit.
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Lawyer jailed for £20m sham marriage scam
A London solicitor has been jailed for 10 years for running a £20m sham marriage scam. Tevfick Souleiman (pictured), partner at north London firm Souleiman GA Solicitors, and immigration advisers Cenk Guclu and Furrah Kosimov, were found guilty at the Central Criminal Court of conspiracy to ...
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MP accuses QCs on tax avoidance
MPs have turned their attention to lawyers who advise promoters of tax avoidance schemes. In a report examining marketed tax avoidance schemes, the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) identifies ‘leading lawyers’, along with banks and accountancy firms, as supporting and advising on tax avoidance ...
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Another PI firm goes into administration
Personal injury firm Calibre Solicitors has been placed into administration resulting in 14 people being made redundant.
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Up against it
Conspiracy theorists may want to take a seat for this one. The Association of British Insurers hosts its annual motor conference next month, with some eye-catching people on the agenda. Chair of the event is Susanna Reid, co-presenter of BBC Breakfast. No doubt she will recuse ...
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Coats gets key role at new Legal Aid Agency
Matthew Coats, chief executive of the Legal Services Commission, has been appointed to a key role at the new agency that will bring legal aid under the wing of the Ministry of Justice, the lord chancellor has announced.