All News articles – Page 1380
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News
CCRC concern over advice given to refugees
The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) is concerned that potentially hundreds of asylum seekers and refugees have been wrongly convicted after being advised to plead guilty to offences relating to their entry to the UK.
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Could 8 Out of 10 Cats help market your firm?
I quite like watching the TV comedy show 8 Out of 10 Cats. Not just because of its entertainment value but because of what it highlights about marketing – yes, even the marketing of law firms. In case anyone doesn’t know, 8 Out of 10 Cats ...
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Shared parenting presumption in law reform proposal
The government seeks to introduce a legal presumption of ‘shared parenting’ where relationships break down, under proposals outlined today. The plans to strengthen the law so children have an ongoing relationship with both parents if they separate are set out in the Ministry of Justice consulation. ...
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Referral fee ban is SRA's mission impossible
As any lazy person knows (I’m told), it’s pretty easy to get out of doing a job you hate. Just moan incessantly about having to make the tea/clean the bathroom/take a trip to Westfield, to the point where you’ll never be asked again. If all else fails, do such a ...
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Doreen Lawrence first non-lawyer to win legal aid award
Doreen Lawrence (pictured) and her 'rock’ of a solicitor Imran Khan were honoured for their contribution to justice at the Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year (LALY) awards last night. Khan, the senior partner at London firm Imran Khan & Partners, who has acted for the ...
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SRA powerless to stop ABSs circumventing referral ban
Regulators have warned they will be powerless to prevent the establishment of companies that would get around the ban on referral fees. Alternative business structures encompassing both law firms and claims management companies may not fall within the scope of any ban, the Solicitors Regulation Authority ...
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Private equity firm takes stake in ABS
Former Dragon’s Den investor James Caan (pictured) has announced that his private equity company is to invest in a regional commercial firm. Caan’s company Hamilton Bradshaw will invest an undisclosed sum in Staffordshire-based Knights as it applies to become an alternative business structure. ...
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No reprieve for Specialist Support Service
The Specialist Support Service (SSS) will be scrapped at the end of this month, the Legal Services Commission has announced following a consultation. Under the scheme, lawyers and advisers at Citizens Advice, law centres and law firms across the country can get telephone advice from ...
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Executive committee takes reins at regional firm Fosters
A regional firm has ditched the traditional partnership model after clients pressed for a more familiar management structure. Fosters Solicitors, a legal disciplinary practice operating from eight offices across East Anglia, has appointed a new executive committee to take over the day-to-day running of the business. ...
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The Church and Strasbourg
The Church of England (CoE), freshly blooded from its opposition to women vicars and gay bishops, has now turned the big guns of its ecclesiastical conservatism on Europe’s court of human rights. The canonical broadside comes a week after the home secretary decided that our judges, ...
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Pro bono work celebrated in annual awards
City firm Linklaters and national firm Shoosmiths are among those recognised tonight at the annual LawWorks pro bono awards. Linklaters won the award for the best contribution by a law firm. It was nominated by the Mary Ward Legal Centre for its ‘unwavering and substantial’ support ...
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Geeks of the world, unite
I am an e-identity geek, pale and closeted in my bedroom, unable to raise my eyes from the screen - I must be, since I write more often about this topic than any other. But the European Union has just published major new legislation, a draft regulation 'on electronic identification ...
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‘Clumsy’ regulation could thwart innovation, Chancery Lane warns
‘Clumsy’ intervention by regulators to ensure quality could stymie the development of innovative legal services, the Law Society has warned. Regulatory action should be used as a ‘tool of last resort’ in this regard, so firms are free to develop new ways of serving clients, it says. ...
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Will funders start bypassing solicitors?
There is quite a buzz about third-party funding at the moment. Media coverage has spread well beyond the legal press, with recent articles on the topic in the FT and now even the Guardian. But much as funders like to suggest every now and ...
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ABSs and the potential lock-in of individuals
The legal press is full of articles on the new alternative business structures (ABSs) and the so-called Tesco Law revolution of legal services. A number of major law firms have confirmed that they are seriously considering the option to converting to an ABS and we have already seen high-profile third-party ...
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Optimistic outlook
The accolade of being Lawyer In The News was overshadowed by the shock of reading the erroneous report that Neil Carr is ‘broken’ by the false accusations. Nothing could be further from the truth. My talented young client longs to return to the classroom and it ...
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Stolen memories
The news that a fraudster tried to steal the papers from the judge’s desk during an adjournment reminds me of a number of incidents. Not least that of one of my clients, accused of passing a worthless cheque, who seized and ate it. There was also the somewhat seedy solicitor ...
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Medics shake up regulation
An independent medical tribunal that is expected to handle some 340 doctors’ fitness-to-practise hearings a year launches today. The new Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS), which is operate separately from the General Medical Council (GMC), is to adjudicate on complaints made against any of the UK’s ...
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Local law societies will have to reassess role
During May, I welcomed the presidents and secretaries of local law societies from across England and Wales to Chancery Lane. We discussed the responsibility that flows from representing a profession that is, on the one hand, successful, diverse and adaptable and, on the other, faced with unprecedented changes.