All News articles – Page 1409
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News
Not even £2.60 an hour (unless you’re a mum or dad)
Last week brought excellent news for job hunters in the legal sector – but only if you happen to be a school leaver or a high-achieving lawyer mum or dad.
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Lawyers welcome planning policy reform
The government’s announcement of simplified planning rules has received a warm welcome from lawyers in the sector. The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), published yesterday, replaces more than 1,000 pages of national policy with around 50 pages of guidance, aimed at ‘allowing people and communities back into planning’. ...
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Set judicial diversity target unless significant improvement in five years, Lords say
The government should set diversity targets for judicial appointments unless in five years’ time there is a ‘significant increase’ in the numbers of women and black and Asian minority ethnic lawyers sitting on the bench, the House of Lords constitution committee urges today. The report ...
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MPs back simplified legal regulation
MPs would back moves to simplify the way legal services are regulated, according to research from the Solicitors Regulation Authority. The SRA polled MPs for their views on the regulation of legal services, the experience of their constituents in purchasing legal services, and the quality and ...
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Supreme Court opens the way to thousands of employee asbestos claims
Campaigners were today celebrating a UK Supreme Court ruling that insurance policies cover asbestos-related disease even after employees have left their job. Insurance companies had sought to limit their obligations to indemnify employers against liabilities towards staff who contracted mesothelioma. In effect, ...
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Two more legal aid defeats as LASPO completes Lords
The government suffered two further defeats over its planned legal aid reforms last night after peers voted in favour of amendments to retain funding for children and young people. At the third reading stage of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders bill, the House ...
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ABS trailblazers revealed
The Solicitors Regulation Authority today announced the identities of the first three alternative business structures. The Co-operative Legal Services, John Welch & Stammers and Lawbridge Solicitors are the first to have their applications approved. They can now provide reserved legal activities while owned and managed by ...
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ABS day: who?
So how was it for you? The announcement we’ve all been waiting for, the culmination of near-on a decade of debate and argument. The moment when the Solicitors Regulation Authority finally told us who the first alternative business structures (ABSs) will be. Drum roll please… Co-op, ...
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Consultation opens on jurisdiction for Wales
A public debate begins today on whether Wales should be a separate legal jurisdiction. The Welsh government will ask the judiciary, lawyers and members of the public whether they want a jurisdiction along the lines of those found in Scotland and Northern Ireland. ...
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Lawyer shelling: lies, damned lies and collective wisdom
In a legal world flush with lies, damned lies and frightening statistics in relation to ‘lawyer shelling’ (my crude terminology for expulsion and even possible extinction of our treasured profession and the comfortable roles we once enjoyed) I reckon we can find great wisdom in a variety of books beyond ...
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Britons will suffer from Clarke’s opt-out, says Brussels
Brussels officials have reacted with surprise and sadness after the UK government formally opted out of a six-year European Commission justice programme. Justice minister Kenneth Clarke confirmed last week that the UK would not take part in the €803m scheme. Clarke admitted that charities and organisations ...
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‘Difficult’ year ahead for ABS hopeful
One of the UK’s leading legal expenses insurers has predicted a ‘difficult’ coming year despite an impending move into the legal profession. Abbey Protection today reported 2011 pre-tax profits of £10.1m - 5% up on the previous year. The company had expected by now to have ...
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News
Lessons from Egypt
I have just come back from a short business trip to Cairo. ‘Don’t go! You must be mad!’ I received worried messages while I was there, and was advised not to venture out on my own.
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Watchdog plans hefty rise in compensation maximum
The Legal Ombudsman is planning a 66% rise - to £50,000 - in the maximum amount of compensation it can force lawyers to pay clients who receive poor service. It also plans a six-fold increase - to six years - in the time limit within ...
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Jackson says one-third of his clinical negligence proposals at risk
The architect of the government’s civil justice reforms has admitted the ‘jury is still out’ on a third of his proposals for clinical negligence. Lord Justice Jackson said there had been little progress on three of the nine recommendations made when his report on costs was ...
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Banks make quality scheme a must for new panel firms
The Law Society claimed further success for its Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS) today after two banks announced that membership will be compulsory for firms joining their lender panels and two Top 100 firms signed up. Clydesdale Bank and Yorkshire Bank, both part of the National Australia ...
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Advocate quality deal leaves plea-only question unsettled
An agreement reached last week over accreditation for advocates has failed to settle a key point of difference between barristers and solicitors. In a joint briefing published on Friday, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), Bar Standards Board (BSB) and Ilex Professional Standards announced that they had reached an agreement on ...
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No time to waste on adoption reform
Until the government announced its plans to speed up adoptions this month, I confess I knew very little about the process. When I looked into it, I was shocked both by how fragmented the system is and how long it takes. ...
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Lord Young shuns meeting with profession’s regulator
Lord Young of Graffham turned down an offer to meet with the solicitors' regulator in advance of his report on health and safety and the ‘compensation culture’, the Solicitors Regulation Authority has said. The SRA said it had ‘offered to engage’ with Young during the research ...
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Where should lawyers go to meet the public?
This morning I bought my newspaper from a branch of a national chain of newsagents. As has been well reported, other branches sometimes include a stall run by lawyers whose firm has joined a national franchise. It is one of the supposedly big scary initiatives that will enable this franchise, ...