All News articles – Page 1450
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News
Customer is wrong
I assume that if 120,000 solicitors told chief legal ombudsman Adam Sampson and the Law Society to strike out the use of the words ‘customers’ and, worse still, ‘consumers’ from usage, they will oblige? The use of the words customer and consumer is inaccurate in a professional context and ultimately ...
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Formula won
I applaud David Enright’s attempt to define justice with a formula. He could be on to something. Could there be a formula to calculate profitability (P) in a bank’s mortgage lending? Take a hypothetical, completely made-up bank (call it BHSC). Include total funds lent (M); maybe the size of BHSC’s ...
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No to HSBC
Having received the 13 pages of instructions from Countrywide Conveyancing Services in connection with a HSBC mortgage it is providing to my purchasing clients, it is obvious that this new procedure is doubling the work for conveyancing solicitors not on the HSBC panel while leaving all the liability and risk ...
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Immigration
Appeal - Evidence - Use of linguistic analysis reports RB (Somalia) v Secretary of State for the Home Department: Court of Appeal, Civil Division (Lords Justice Rix, Moses and Mr Justice Briggs): 13 March 2012 ...
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Immigration
Asylum seeker - Child - Best interests of child HK (Afghanistan) and others (by their litigation friend) v Secretary of State for the Home Department: Court of Appeal, Civil Division (Lords Justice Pill, Rimer and Elias): 16 March 2012 ...
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Political split on Welsh jurisdiction
Welsh secretary Cheryl Gillan (pictured) has said there is ‘no need’ for a distinct Welsh legal jurisdiction as the country begins a debate on separation from England. The Welsh government began a consultation this week on creating a new legal system. First minister Carwyn Jones is ...
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News
Poetic justice
On the subject of songs, Caroline Goorney, collaborative family lawyer and mediator from Gosforth, Newcastle, has brightened Obiter’s day with a ditty: A COLP and a COFA waited all dayto download their forms from the SRA.They yearned to enter ...
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Waxing lyrical
Our news team gave themselves an earworm the other day by headlining a report about the US with a line from New York, New York. The only cure was to think what songs might be appropriate for other stories on the news agenda. For example, ...
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A prototype Magwitch?
The philosophy behind Australia as a penal colony was very much ‘out of sight, out of mind’, writes James Morton. If the convicts did escape they were not likely to make it back to England. Probably only one escapee managed it. A petty thief at the age of 18, Charles ...
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On the money
Journalists love stories about civil servants living the life of Riley. So we were looking forward to reading what the National Audit Office had to say about Ministry of Justice officials spending £36.9m last year through their procurement cards, aka Sir Humphrey’s flexible friend. The sum was second only to ...
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Smily, unhappy people
Being ‘disappointed’ and having people ‘fail to heed’ us is something Obiter can fairly reliably get at home. But, thanks to last week’s budget, we know we are not alone. Starting on Wednesday and on into Thursday, Obiter’s BlackBerry was fairly buzzing with the ups and downs being enjoyed by ...
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News
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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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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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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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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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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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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‘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 ...