All News articles – Page 1439
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News
McNally brushes off LASPO criticism as ‘report fatigue’
Justice minister Lord McNally (pictured) has dismissed a wave of criticism of the impact of legal aid cuts by saying the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill is starting to suffer from ‘report fatigue’.
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Bottoms and broomsticks
Surveying the dismal content of Berezovsky v Abramovich, Obiter can’t help feeling a little nostalgic for great court cases of the past. Our favourite, of course, is the 1961 ‘Lady Chatterley trial’, R v Penguin Books Ltd. What’s not to like about a trial where ...
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LSC blamed by Jewels for closure
A West Midlands family legal aid firm has blamed delays in payment by the Legal Services Commission for forcing it into administration. Jewels, founded in 1980 by sole director Mark Jewels (pictured), ceased trading on 28 December. The Lexcel-accredited firm, ...
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Bar chair counsels cooperation
An independent referral bar is in the public interest and has an ‘assured future’, despite increasing competition and changing working practices, according to its new chair. In an interview with Gazette Online, Michael Todd QC said solicitors see value in the continuation of the independent bar. ‘The bar doesn’t want ...
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PI firms inundated over banned implants
Personal injury firms say they are receiving hundreds of enquiries every week from women treated with now banned PIP breast implants. Up to 40,000 women in the UK have been fitted with implants made by French company Poly Implant Prothese. The Department of Health has offered ...
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Commission's conclusions should return assisted dying debate to moral realms
by Eduardo Reyes, Gazette features editor The report on assisted dying, produced by a ‘commission’ formed by thinktank Demos, and part-funded by author and campaigner Terry Pratchett, made headlines last week for stating that there were practical ways that the existing law on suicide could be ...
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Firms in ARP given April deadline
Firms remaining in the insurance Assigned Risks Pool have been given until April to secure cover or to shut down. The Solicitors Regulation Authority has contacted each of the 31 firms which, of 3 January, were still open and covered by the ARP, and will make ...
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Co-op Legal has ‘ambitious’ growth plan
Co-operative Legal Services (CLS) has launched a recruitment drive as part of ‘ambitious plans’ to expand in the consumer legal services market. The move follows CLS’s submission, at the start of the year, of its application to become an alternative business structure. It is seeking ...
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No ‘hidden agenda’ in Irish legal reforms
Ireland’s government has denied the existence of any ‘hidden agenda’ behind sweeping reforms to the legal system imposed following the country’s bailout by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The minister for justice, equality and defence, Alan Shatter (pictured), was responding to growing international concerns, first ...
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Asbestos fund still on agenda, says government
The government has assured people suffering from asbestos-related disease that a ‘fund of last resort’ is still on the agenda, nearly two years after a report called for its creation. Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) minister Lord Freud is understood to be in ...
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LSC faces action on family law contracts
The Legal Services Commission faces the threat of litigation from legal aid firms refused new family law contracts. Between 30 and 40 firms that made technical or clerical errors in the submission of their applications for contracts in the October 2011 bid round are taking advice ...
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ABSs - unsettling times?
The new year begins (as 2011 ended) with a discussion of the impact of alternative business structures (ABSs) on the profession. At last, the Solicitors Regulation Authority is authorised to accept applications and license ABSs. It is reported that 10 firms have submitted applications so far. ...
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NewLaw makes ABS move
Cardiff-based firm NewLaw has confirmed it is among 44 organisations that have so far applied for alternative business structure status through the Solicitors Regulation Authority. The personal injury firm, established in 2004, submitted its application last week when the SRA became a licensing authority. ...
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2011 was a transformational year for regulation
In my column a year ago, I described the year ahead as pivotal for legal services. In the last 12 months we have introduced a radically new way of regulating legal services, including publication of a new Handbook. We prepared intensively for the licensing of alternative business structures (ABSs). And ...
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An obscene waste of money?
You might not want your wife and servants to watch them, but a jury at Southwark Crown Court has just decided that DVDs showing fisting and other hard core male-on-male sex action are not obscene under the Obscene Publications Act 1959. The failed prosecution arose in ...
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'Gang of Five' in late bid to halt civil litigation reforms
An alliance of lawyer pressure groups will this week make a last-ditch bid to halt the government’s civil litigation reforms.
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Merger expectations grow among small firms
A third of small and medium sized firms expect to merge in the coming year as the trend to join forces continues, according to research by the Law Consultancy Network. The fourth set of six-monthly statistics complied by consultant Andrew Otterburn showed that 21 of the ...
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LeO should handle all complaints, says watchdog
The Legal Ombudsman should be given powers to handle complaints about all providers of legal services, the profession’s consumer watchdog said today. In the meantime, the scheme should be extended on a voluntary, 'stop-gap’ basis, to cover activities such as will-writing - an avenue that the ...
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Satellite jobs to go as Pannone aims south
National firm Pannone has announced that 12 jobs will be lost through the shutting of two satellite offices. The cuts will be a mixture of secretarial and fee-earning roles at offices in the Cheshire villages of Hale and Alderley Edge. Managing partner ...
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Can CFAs replace legal aid?
As housing and other social welfare lawyers face the prospect of legal aid being withdrawn from their sector under the government’s reforms, many are looking at whether their practice could adapt to operate under ‘no win, no fee’ agreements instead.