All News articles – Page 1365
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News
Fears LETR may lead to ‘misguided reform’
A forthcoming report on the case for reforming legal education and training may be ‘unbalanced or worse’, the UK’s senior judge said in a lecture last week. According to Lord Neuberger, ‘misguided reform’ initiated by the Legal Education and Training Review (LETR) may ‘undermine the rule of law and our ...
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‘Traditional’ law firm numbers plummet
The number of sole practitioners and traditional partnerships has fallen dramatically over the past three years, according to new figures from the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Providing an insight into a profession in the midst of unprecedented change, the figures show that since October 2009, the ...
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Pilot fright
So Peter Elliott, former aviation director, was ‘utterly frightened’ when appearing in person in the High Court. We must sympathise. How would a lawyer feel if, on arriving at the airport, he was told that without any training he must fly the aeroplane himself with only ...
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Plane fury
I sit at my desk reading the latest Gazette with my blood pressure at boiling point due to the article about the former aviation director suggesting the legal profession does more to help self-represented people.
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Roll up for Stones gig
Not fade away – Obiter is old enough to remember when (pace the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974) talk of the Rolling Stones and the law would involve lurid tales of confectionery bars and butterflies broken upon wheels.
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What government legal service mergers mean
Should the merger of government legal functions – the so-called ‘shared services’ model – be of concern to the lawyers affected? It isn’t scare-mongering to say that for many it should, even though the immediate effect may be minimal. The shared services programme is separate ...
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Memory lane
The Law Society’s Gazette, November 1952The service of the law by Sir Hartley Shawcross It was one of those first-class Pullman cars they have on these trains to Eastbourne. It was a crowded carriage as first-class carriages always are in these difficult times. Why is it ...
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Merger threat to Whitehall lawyers
Government lawyers fear cost-cutting consolidation plans will lead to big job losses and attacks on their employment conditions. The merger of legal functions appears set to incorporate cuts deeper than envisaged in the 2010 Comprehensive Spending Review. Correspondence seen by the ...
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Overdue merger
The merger of Solicitors in Local Government and the Association of Council Secretaries and Solicitors is long overdue and enables local government’s top legal talent to come together in one organisation and speak with one voice. This is a positive development many years in the making and bodes well for ...
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Working for nothing
I read the Gazette front page of 8 November, ‘Pro bono hours dip as funding cuts loom’, with interest and, as an old-fashioned professional, a degree of concern. I do some pro bono even in my tiny firm but it did provoke a question. In the modern competitive world where ...
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Publicity order
Claimant submitting defendant failing to comply with publicity notice – Claimant applying for further order Samsung Electronics (UK) Ltd v Apple Inc: Court of Appeal, Civil Division (Mr Justice Longmore, Kitchin and Sir Robin Jacob): 9 November 2012 ...
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Lord chief justice to step down
Lord Judge, lord chief justice, announced today that he will retire at the end of September 2013. A Judicial Office statement said that the process to appoint his successor as senior judge of England and Wales will begin in early 2013. Igor ...
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Firms named for ‘grave failures’ in immigration disclosure
Immigration solicitors will face disciplinary action if they fail to reveal ‘all material facts’ when applying to prevent removals, the president of the Queen’s Bench Division warned, naming three firms who had not to complied with disclosure duties.
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Doomsday for personal injury solicitors
So now we know the government’s vision for the future: personal injury work almost exclusively reserved for the few claims handlers that can do it in bulk and on the cheap. RTA claims on a factory line, out of the reach of solicitors, stacking up befuddled ...
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Legal Aid Agency names new faces
Irwin Mitchell partner Andrew Lockley is among three non-executive board members appointed to the Legal Aid Agency, which replaces the Legal Services Commission from next April. Lockley (pictured) heads the public law team at Irwin Mitchell, where he has worked for the past 16 years. Lockley, ...
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Solicitors urged to ‘beat the rush’ on PC renewals
Solicitors are being encouraged not to leave practising certificate renewals to the last minute if they want them to be processed as quickly as possible. Law Society chief executive Desmond Hudson has today written to local law societies pointing out that the volume of users presently ...
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Making justice systems more restorative - a view from the bench
What might a justice system which embodied restorative principles look like? What might be the judge’s view – the view from the bench - of a more restorative justice system?
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Saving face
You know the advertisements that I mean. Whilst plenty of cash has been splashed on some strong photography and ample media space – it is a shame that the best approach they could come up with was to disparage the competition. It seems some firms are ...