All News articles – Page 1387
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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% ...
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Solicitors warned off SDLT avoidance schemes after landmark judgment
Schemes designed to dodge stamp duty land tax (SDLT), which cost the public purse £170m a year, will face tough scrutiny from HM Revenue & Customs after a landmark tribunal judgment this week. Regulations have also been laid that will force users of avoidance schemes to disclose them to the ...
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How digital age strengthens in-house professionals
I am delighted to be writing for the Law Society Gazette as an in-house lawyer in industry. The Law Society represents and services the interests of 126,000 solicitors. Some 33% of these lawyers are working in house.
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News
PI specialist is thirtieth alternative business structure
The former president of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers has steered his firm to alternative business structure status. David Bott, who stood down as president in April, will bring practice manager Paul Hinchcliffe and finance manager Gary Froggatt, both non-solicitors, into equity partner status at ...
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LSB calls for ‘open debate’ on cost of regulation
The legal profession’s umbrella watchdog today calls for an ‘open debate’ on the cost of regulation which would encompass all the levies lawyers must pay in order to practise. In its response to the government’s first triennial review of its activities, the Legal Services Board ...
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Chief coroner sets out new regime in first speech
Only lawyers will be appointed as coroners from next June, the first holder of the new post of chief coroner for England and Wales has announced in his first public speech. Judge Peter Thornton QC told the annual conference of coroners today that new appointments ...
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News
Don't get mad, get advice
Provocative posters are being deployed by the Law Society in an advertising campaign urging people to ‘Ask A Solicitor’ when dealing with a crisis. Examples of such incidents include: relationship breakdown (illustrated with a car vandalised by a disgruntled partner); disputed inheritance (an antique sideboard ...
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Family lawyers face turbulent year ahead
Family law’s commercial and legal landscape is changing dramatically with the legal aid reforms, the continuing impact of the recession, competition from ABSs and potential legislative changes affecting everyone from the richest to the poorest. ‘I hate the phrase,’ says Andrew Newbury, head of Pannone’s family ...
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Calling all motorheads
Obiter had a driving lesson this week – first time behind the wheel since a small mishap with a driving test somewhere in south Cambridge (1993). One incentive to start over – on a hill, in London rush hour – comes with the news that the ...
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You'll never walk alone
Never content to be bested by their Mancunian colleagues, lawyers in Liverpool have got together to organise the first Liverpool Legal Walk, on Thursday 4 October.
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Analysis of budgets can be useful in implementation of rights
Work in a charity like Justice can get a trifle unremitting. But, just often enough to keep your spirits up, an invitation arrives out of the blue to something that looks worthwhile, or is at least set in an irresistible location (the combination of both is particularly cheering). Would I, ...
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Intolerant attitudes
The view expressed by Simon Williams in his letter has worrying consequences. He effectively said that Lillian Ladele should have lost her job. Does he want a civil service in which no one is allowed to have any religious convictions? Because such a situation is not far off. What kind ...
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News
Intolerant attitudes
The view expressed by Simon Williams in his letter has worrying consequences. He effectively said that Lillian Ladele should have lost her job. Does he want a civil service in which no one is allowed to have any religious convictions? Because such a situation is not far off. What kind ...
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News
Make that axe weep
Lawyers and staff at national firm Weightmans swapped the courtroom and office for the stage last week, as they rocked out at the firm’s first music gig. The event, dubbed ‘Weightstock’, saw staff from the firm’s Birmingham, Manchester and Dartford offices pack the Liverpool O2 ...
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News
Costs belong to the client
Fact or fiction? Solicitors are retained by a client. They issue and prosecute a judicial review of the decision of the secretary of state for the home department (SSHD). They settle the action on terms that include payment of their reasonable costs. Within six months, their client has diverted the ...
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Executors of Bernard Matthews v Matthews
As paragraph 2 of the judgment (September 5 2012, see link to the law report below) says: ‘Mr Matthews was the founder of a very successful turkey farming and food production business which grew into a household name. His memorable advertisements of its products can still be seen on YouTube.’
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Chancery Lane hits out at ‘potentially misleading’ complaints statistics
The Law Society has described as ‘partial and potentially misleading’ new data on complaints against named law firms published by the Legal Ombudsman this week. A table shows the collated names of 770 lawyers or law firms involved in complaints leading to a formal ...
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News
Turning on the charm
If brevity be the soul of wit, then the winners of the Association of Women Solicitors (AWS) excellence awards got it right in short order. At the ceremony at the Law Society last week, the acceptance speeches were sometimes just one sentence long and gave ...
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News
Surge in mis-selling claims
Small businesses are rushing to file mis-selling claims against their banks before April, when the Jackson reforms make conditional fee agreements a less viable option. Campaigning organisation Bully Banks, which has been co-ordinating information and campaigns on allegedly mis-sold interest rate hedging products, has urged ...