All News articles – Page 1460
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Commentators point to an oversubscribed profession which has doubled in size in 20 years
‘Is £65,000 of debt worth it, when you have to fight for a job and your chances of being a partner/business owner are virtually nil with the introduction of ABSs?’ That was the bleak response of one web commenter to Gazette Online’s report last week of ...
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Courts for the foreign rich, not the indigenous poor
As the bill slashing civil legal aid speeds through parliament, a leading academic has exposed the ‘doublethink’ of the government, which appears to have one set of rules for the rich and another set for the poor. Dean of Laws at University College London, Professor Dame ...
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Straw’s bid to make referral fees a criminal offence fails
Conservative MPs have voted down Jack Straw’s attempt to make referral fees in personal injury cases a criminal offence. The former justice secretary tabled an amendment to the ban, included as part of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill, which was debated in ...
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Jackson: civil justice reforms are balanced
‘Lawyers leave no stone unturned when it comes to arguing about costs,’ the architect of the civil justice reforms being introduced by government said this week.
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PI lawyers hit back at media critics
Personal injury lawyers have criticised elements of the media for suggesting a multi-million pound compensation bill for councils is the fault of claimants. Press critics were quick to blame the so-called compensation culture after it was revealed that local authorities had paid out £75m to ...
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‘Pre-pack’ administrations rule changes face trouble
Businesses entering pre-packaged administrations (‘pre-packs’) have been grabbing headlines. Retailers Habitat UK, Alexon Group and Jane Norman are but a few high-profile examples. But there are examples in the legal sector too. Assets of top 50 law firm Halliwells were purchased by Hill Dickinson, HBJ Gateley Wareing and Barlow Lyde ...
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In a froth over prisoners’ voting rights
I have been following the debate about prisoners’ voting rights in the UK with growing incredulity.
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Referral fee ban will hit PI claimants - says MoJ assessment
Personal injury claimants could suffer from a ban on referral fees while insurers and lawyers would incur no extra costs, according to the government department proposing the ban. An impact assessment of the proposed ban, published today by the Ministry of Justice, admits that ‘overall claimants ...
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Sole practitioners in last stand against ABSs
The Solicitor Sole Practitioners Group (SPG) will this week stage a last-ditch attempt to block legislation allowing the creation of alternative business structures. The group, which represents 4,500 solicitors across England and Wales, claims it is still possible to prevent so-called ‘Tesco law’ from coming into force. ...
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DLA Piper invests in ABS venture
A new entrant is set to launch on the UK legal sector in 2012 with financial backing from international firm DLA Piper. The firm has become the joint largest shareholder in holding company LawVest, although the size of the investment remains secret. ...
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Tabak: without prejudice
Judging by the mood on Twitter - not to mention comments on newspaper websites - the public is seething. People are obviously appalled by Vincent Tabak’s crime, but they are equally livid at the law - and, specifically, the judge who deemed inadmissible so much of the evidence about his ...
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Trusted advisor
Judging from the reaction to my blog on the new outcomes-focused regulation the profession is not overwhelmingly optimistic about this. However, one positive thing to hang on to in troubling times is the solicitor’s traditional role as a trusted advisor and how that concept is enshrined in the new rules. ...
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Vos populi
Mr Justice Geoffrey Vos, former Bar Council chairman and one of the most esteemed lawyers of his generation, was in provocative form when delivering last week’s KPMG lecture on ‘The Role of UK Judges in the Success of UK plc’.
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Junior lawyers sitting pretty
Here’s a romantic tale that brought a tear even to Obiter’s cynical eye. Neville Takiar, commercial dispute solicitor at Newcastle firm Muckle, went to last year’s Junior Lawyers Division annual ball in London on his own. The long trip was not wasted.
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Insolvency
Company - Administrator - Restrictions on power to appoint Minmar Ltd and another v Khalatschi and another: Chancery Division (Sir Andrew Morritt): 8 April 2011 The Chancery Division of the ...
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Personal injury
Maintenance of action - Assignment of right of action - Claimant appealing Simpson v Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital NHS Trust: CA (Civ Div) (Lord Justices Maurice Kay (vice-president), Moore-Bick, Dame Janet Smith): 12 October 2011 ...
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Immigration
Leave to remain - Refusal of leave - Human rights - Right to respect for private and family life R (on the application of Aguilar Quila) v Secretary of State for the Home Department; R (on the application of ...
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Human rights
Right to peaceful enjoyment of possessions - Property - Devolution issues - Scotland AXA General Insurance Ltd and others v Lord Advocate and others (Scotland): SC (Justices of the Supreme Court - Lords Hope (deputy president), Brown, Mance, Kerr, ...