All News articles – Page 1344
-
News
BarCo escrow scheme ‘levels the playing field’
The Bar Council has developed a scheme to allow barristers to hold client money through a third party, a move that its chair says will create a ‘level playing field’ with solicitors. Today it launches BarCo, a third-party escrow account which holds client money, allowing barristers ...
-
News
There's a limit to how challenged anyone can feel by a closely related professional
As the legal services sector liberalises, often-daily announcements confirm increased competition from unfamiliar sources. As we report today, the Bar Council’s launch of ‘BarCo’, a third-party escrow account to hold client money is the latest – allowing as it will, barristers to offer a full range of legal services without ...
-
News
Family lawyers call for more ADR support
A leading family lawyer has called for more government and judicial support to encourage separating couples to resolve disputes out of court. Jo Edwards, vice-chair of family lawyers’ group Resolution, made the plea following a survey that showed a lack of awareness among the public of ...
-
News
Jackson’s 10% increase in general damages
On 1 April 2013, the reforms to civil costs contained in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 will come into force. Part 2 of the act provides for the implementation of recommendations 7, 9, 14 and 94 of the final report on civil litigation costs by ...
-
News
Court privacy ruling on divorce
Divorcing couples have been given reassurance that their private financial affairs will remain confidential even when the media attend court, following a recent judgment from the family court. In the anonymised case ...
-
News
Costs? What the devil is going on?
The principles of the Code of Conduct require solicitors to: 'Uphold the rule of law and the proper administration of justice.' And to 'act in the best interests of each client'. Where the two are in conflict, the proper administration of justice takes precedence.
-
News
SRA talks tough on COLPs and COFAs
Six hundred law firms had failed to nominate compliance officers by mid-September, the Solicitors Regulation Authority has revealed. The organisation this week warned firms they could have their licences revoked if their officers for legal practice, and finance and administration (COLPs and COFAs) are not in ...
-
News
Black History Month set to launch
Law firms seeking to grow their business in emerging markets should ‘tap into the cultural acumen’ of the UK’s black and minority ethnic (BAME) communities, the organisers of a month-long event to celebrate black achievement said today. The Law Society’s Black History Month starts on 3 ...
-
News
Whose justice system is Europe’s best?
There are legions of fat-cat legal aid lawyers living off the cream of the land in Britain, or so certain newspapers have been telling us for years. And those papers may be right: as recently as 2010 the UK genuinely did pay out more in legal aid than any other ...
-
News
Three rings or you’re out?
Promising levels of service seems an easy thing to do. The Co-operative announced that a caller 'will receive a response from a trained lawyer within three rings'. QualitySolicitors promised a number of things including direct lawyer contact, first consultation free, no hidden costs, same-day response and Saturday office opening.
-
News
Iraq executions heighten justice fears
A spate of executions in Iraq has raised new fears about the conduct of justice in the strife-torn country. The country’s justice ministry has announced nearly 100 hangings so far in 2012, including 26 in two days in August alone. According to campaigners Human Rights Watch, all the executed were ...
-
News
Let’s have a legal complaints mash-up
Think the Legal Services Ombudsman is going too far by publishing figures of complaints against named law firms? Think again. What if the information was linked to data showing each firm’s geographical location together with that of named solicitors subjected to Solicitors Regulation Authority sanctions?
-
News
‘Clear risk’ of negligence claims if IFA referral is liberalised
Solicitors will be vulnerable to negligence claims if they are allowed to refer clients to financial advisers who are not wholly independent, the Law Society has warned. In its response to the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s consultation on financial advice, the society pointed to the danger of ...
-
News
Met upgrades cell security to ensure safety of solicitors
Concerns raised by the Law Society about the safety of solicitors in police custody cells have led the Metropolitan police to implement changes. Wimbledon firm Burnley-Jones Bate & Co raised the issue of the personal safety of solicitors conducting interviews with clients in locked custody rooms ...
-
News
Judicial appointment reforms ‘sideline’ Wales
Coalition plans to abolish permanent Welsh representation in the judicial appointments process will lead to an even more ‘England-centric judiciary’, Wales’ top lawyer has warned. The government proposes scrapping the requirement for a Welsh commissioner on the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) as part of a drive ...
-
News
Damages uplift ‘will cost defendants £300m’
Insurers told the High Court today that defendants stand to lose more than £300m if claimants are given the ‘windfall’ of a risk-free rise in damages.
-
News
Separating couples ignorant of dispute resolution options
Nearly half of British adults think they have to go to court to get divorced, according to a survey that shows a lack of awareness of non-court options for family law matters. A poll of 2,018 adults by family lawyers’ group Resolution today reveals that 45% ...
-
News
When human rights and clients’ rights conflict
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a fashionable concept. Big firms flaunt their CSR credentials, and no one knows whether it is a marketing strategy to make us buy their goods and services, or a serious attempt to promote a better society. It was only a matter of time before law ...
-
News
Banking reforms would ‘damage English legal system’
The Law Society has warned of dire consequences for the English legal system if the government presses ahead with ‘protectionist’ measures contained in its banking reform plans. In a 54-page response to the Treasury’s June white paper on banking reform, Chancery Lane focuses on ...