All News articles – Page 1381
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News
Heartbreak hotel
Bad news for any of Obiter’s family lawyer friends with plans for a cheap weekend away - the gain of out-of-season hotels may be their loss. We learned this week that Netherlands entrepreneur Jim Halfens intends to bring his ‘Divorce Hotel’ concept to the UK’s discreet shores (and to reality ...
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Going for gold
With shirts like these, it’s not surprising dark glasses were worn. You’re looking at the overall winners of the 22nd Manches Cup sailing regatta, a crew from City firm Banks Kelly. The event attracted over 350 solicitors and barristers for two days of yacht racing on the Solent. Magic circle ...
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New route for graduate entrepreneurs
On 6 April 2012, a number of changes to the UK Immigration Rules came into force. Among the significant reforms given effect at that time was the addition of a new scheme under the points-based system, Tier 1 (graduate entrepreneur).
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Win a dinner
Chancery Lane commercial partner Hiscox is inviting readers to enter its exclusive Law Society prize draw to win a private dinner party. The winning Society member and five guests will be treated to a four-course meal prepared by an expert chef in the winner’s home. To enter, simply obtain a ...
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Warning over digital move
Criminal firms should not invest in ‘kit’ to work electronically until all agents in the justice system are fully committed, a solicitor piloting the digital scheme with the Crown Prosecution Service has said. Liverpool firm Kirwans has been taking part in a digital working pilot with ...
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Forced marriage to be criminalised
Forcing someone to marry will become a criminal offence in England and Wales, the prime minister confirmed today. But the legislation will not be introduced until the 2013/14 parliamentary session. The maximum sentence for the offence has yet to be decided. Breach of a Forced ...
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Dismissing workers at will 'counterproductive'
A group of 6,000 employment lawyers has warned that a proposal to cut red tape by allowing micro-businesses to sack staff who have done nothing wrong will not reduce tribunal claims.
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Lawyers wary of cost-shifting plan
Claimants who win their cases could still end up with nothing under the government’s new costs rules for personal injury, lawyers warned this week. Claimant solicitors said the way government plans to implement its qualified one-way costs-shifting (QOCS) rules will ‘undoubtedly’ deter people from making valid ...
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Competition
Merger - Substantial lessening of competition - Whether tribunal erring Ryanair Holdings plc v Office of Fair Trading and another: CA (Civ Div) (Sir Andrew Morritt, Lord Justice Hughes, Lord Justice McFarlane): 22 May 2012 ...
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The unrestrained free market is now encroaching upon ‘middle class professionals’
It’s not miners and binmen this time. It’s you. Or people who look like you. In recent weeks, we have seen doctors, criminal barristers, and teachers (in an unprecedented show of solidarity) give notice of industrial action against coalition policy. Whether you sympathise is ...
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Deaf Law Centre hits out at discrimination ‘scandal’
Discrimination claims brought by deaf people climbed 37.5% in the last quarter, according to a legal charity. The ‘shocking’ increase underlines the need for more law firms to provide a service tailored to deaf people’s needs, the charity said. Society also needs to address the ‘scandal’ ...
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Lawyer trust stats to inform Society campaign
The need to build public trust will inform a forthcoming Law Society campaign to promote the solicitor brand, after a high-profile survey revealed a contrasting picture of consumer perceptions. Satisfaction with the value for money of legal services rose from 56% in 2011 to 59% ...
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Watchdog calls for Ombudsman to be opened up to third parties
Third parties should be able to complain about lawyers to the Legal Ombudsman, the Legal Services Consumer Panel has suggested. It proposes creating a general right for third parties - those which are not a lawyer’s client - to complain, except in situations where it would ...
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Call for curbs on legal lobbyists
MPs have called for tighter restrictions on law firms that act as lobbyists for their clients. Firms should be forced to sign up to a new register for lobbyists if they are acting beyond simply advising their clients, they have urged.
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Nuisance call
With the House of Commons in the middle of another well-deserved break (it is Whitsun after all) it was left to the Lords to provide last week’s memorable lines.
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Practising levy could 'pay for every law centre in Britain'
A £25 levy on each solicitor in private practice could pay for every Law Centre in Britain to retain an experienced practitioner, the Law Centres Federation chief has suggested. The levy on practising certificates was one idea mooted at the LCF’s general meeting last week, at ...
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London firms ‘boosted’ by foreign competition
A leading representative of City lawyers has said competition from foreign firms has provided a welcome boost to the London market - and he urged government to do everything possible to encourage more. Alasdair Douglas, chairman of the City of London Law Society, told the Gazette ...
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Small firms, big headaches
I am becoming deeply concerned that the greater competition which is going to challenge small firms’ very existence is being compounded by ever-increasing regulation of those that are left.
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Language barrier
There is a requirement, recently introduced, that those applying for Entry Clearance to come to the UK need to have passed an English Language Test in their own country. This is a special test designed for this purpose by the British Embassy/UK Border Agency. Unless an applicant has a certificate ...
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Avoiding conveyancing complaints
By the end of this article, at least in draft form, I fully expect a page full of red squiggles, erroneously identifying the noun ‘conveyancing’ as a misspelling. I have no idea why Word fails to recognise it, given its widespread and generally quite prolific use in legal circles. Perhaps ...