All News articles – Page 1387
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News
Arbitration
Claim form - Service - Service out of the jurisdiction Bitumex (HK) Company Ltd v IRPC Public Company Ltd: Queen's Bench Division, Commercial Court (Judge Mackie QC): 2 May 2012 ...
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Official statistics reveal ALS performance shortfall
Three months into its contract to provide court interpreters Applied Language Solutions (ALS) was not meeting its performance targets, statistics published today reveal. Data provided to the Ministry of Justice by ALS, showed that from 30 January to 30 April 2012, ALS provided an interpreter in 81% of the cases ...
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Co-op targets family legal aid - with loyalty points
Co-operative Legal Services (CLS) has a family legal aid contract and is already working on cases, ahead of the launch of its family law service in July, it revealed today. The news followed the announcement of the mutual’s plans to recruit 3,000 staff and expand its ...
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Solicitors must 'wake up and smell coffee' over advocacy scheme
All solicitors will need to sign up to the quality assurance scheme for advocates (QASA) to ensure their practices are not restricted, a leading solicitor-advocate warned this week as the Solicitors Regulation Authority approved the timetable for the controversial accreditation scheme.
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Call for ‘maturity of young adult' test in prosecution
Prosecutors should consider the maturity of a young adult as part of their public-interest test for prosecution, a report by lobbying coalition the Transition to Adulthood Alliance has suggested. The report, published this week, says that police and the Crown Prosecution Service should consider the ‘lack ...
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Going ‘no comment’: a delicate balancing act
Sam Hallam’s conviction for the murder of Essayas Kassahun was overturned last week by the Court of Appeal, after he had spent seven years in jail. Barrister Henry Blaxland QC said Hallam, who was 18 when sentenced, had been the victim of a miscarriage of justice ...
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City firm must defend whistleblower accusations
A City firm is to face whistleblowing and sexual discrimination claims brought by a sacked east Africa-based equity partner following her successful appeal to the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT). The EAT has told Clyde & Co that it cannot rely upon its previous defence that the overseas-based partner was not ...
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Regulators apply for ABS licence
Two aspiring regulators of the legal profession this week detailed their plans to be approved to license alternative business structures. The Intellectual Property Regulation Board (IPReg) said it expects a decision from the Legal Services Board on its application within a year. The Institute of Chartered ...
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Co-op goes nationwide with 3,000 new hires
The Co-operative Legal Services (CLS) today announced plans to recruit 3,000 staff and extend its legal services to all 330 of its high street banks, creating the largest consumer law business in the country. CLS, which in March became one of the first alternative business structures, ...
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The Jackson review - where are we now?
Now that the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders (LASPO) Act has entered the statute book, I'm looking at where the government is up to in terms of the overall Jackson package of reforms for personal injury compensation.
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Judicial diversity must start with lawyers, says Goldring
Senior judges will reach out to the legal profession by mentoring those who feel excluded from high office. Speaking at a conference yesterday, Senior Presiding Judge Lord Justice Goldring revealed members of the profession previously put off because of their gender, race or sexuality will be ...
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Six months to end 'indiscriminate' prisoner voting ban
Britain has six months to draft new laws to end its blanket ban on prisoners voting in elections or face penalties totalling millions of pounds, it has emerged following a ruling from Europe’s human rights court. The court ruled that Britain’s ‘automatic and indiscriminate’ disqualification of ...
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Social exclusivity ‘rife’ in profession
Social exclusivity is increasing in the legal profession, according to a new analysis of lawyers’ schooling published today. Legal recruiter Laurence Simons studied almost 50,000 professionals working in London using the networking site LinkedIn. It found that more than 15% of lawyers - more than 7,000 ...
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Making the law work for deaf people
Until I started working with the team at the Royal Association for Deaf People’s Deaf Law Centre (RAD DLC) I wasn’t aware of the difficulties that so many D/deaf** and hard of hearing people face when accessing legal services. When I met Rob Wilks, head of RAD’s legal team, in ...
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Tomlinson judge appointed first chief coroner
The judge who presided at the 2011 inquest that returned a verdict of unlawful killing on newspaper seller Ian Tomlinson was today named as the first Chief Coroner of England & Wales. The Ministry of Justice said that Peter Thornton QC will improve the coronial system ...
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Lawyers’ right to strike
As social ties are stretched to breaking point by the economic crisis, an interesting question arises: do lawyers have the right to strike, and if so in what circumstances? The focus here is not on the legal right granted to citizens, including lawyers, by the law of a particular country, ...
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General training ‘failing’, consumer watchdog tells review
Regular re-accreditation and an end to the ‘general practitioner model’ of training are among the reforms called for by the Legal Services Consumer Panel in its submission to the Legal Education and Training Review (LETR) today. The consumer watchdog tells the review that the current system ...
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Trainee minimum abolition ‘will hit women’
Women will be disproportionately affected by the scrapping of the minimum salary for trainees, the Association of Women Solicitors (AWS) said today. The AWS has added its voice to mounting opposition to the decision taken last week by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. From August 2014, firms ...
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Trainee minimum dumped in 'partial deregulation'
Regulators have voted to partially deregulate the trainee solicitor minimum wage 30 years after it was introduced. The board of the Solicitors Regulation Authority made the decision to change the terms of the salary at its meeting today - with the change coming into effect in ...
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Criminal bar unfurls strike banner
Nine out of 10 criminal barristers are prepared to take direct action in protest against low and late payments, a survey by the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) has revealed as their leader for the first time sanctions ‘strike’ action. CBA chair Max Hill QC will ...