All News articles – Page 1467
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News
Poetic licence
One of Australia’s great literary hoaxes was played on the intellectual magazine ...
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Practicalities of unification
In March 1995, Judge David Bentley QC sitting in Sheffield Crown Court was forced to make a public apology after stating that a defendant did not need to ‘stoop so low’ as to employ the services of a solicitor-advocate. The idea that a member of the judiciary could publicly state ...
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Something stinks
So as far as I can make out we, a solicitor’s firm, must now go cap in hand to a licensed conveyancer firm if we want to appeal to get on to the panel of a high street bank. And that licensed conveyancer firm, which is on the panel of ...
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Acting as a single joint expert
The principle of single joint experts (SJE) has been in existence for many years now but how often is it used? In a straw poll conducted amongst my colleagues, it has seldom been adopted by our clients. It may be more commonly used in the types and/or sizes of cases ...
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Three kinds of 'liberty'
It’s been a fraught and, in one instance, poignantly tragic month for three detained individuals who gained their liberty. We have had ‘fanatical hate preacher’ Abu Qatada’s release from jail after almost a decade’s detention without charge.
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Senior judge savages advocacy accreditation scheme
A senior judge has ridiculed the ‘steely gaze of the judicial viper’ that sits at the centre of the new ratings scheme for advocates. He called instead for ‘academies of advocacy’ in which judges, barristers and solicitors ‘enliven and encourage’ one another.
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LSC chair pledges to safeguard ‘high-quality’ legal aid system
The legal aid system in England and Wales ‘compares favourably’ with any in the world, despite the proposed cuts, according to the chair of the Legal Services Commission. In a speech, Sir Bill Callaghan (pictured) told Liverpool Law Society: ‘Together the LSC and legal aid ...
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Keeping up appearances
What is the test when a tenant applies to set aside a possession order made in their absence? Following Estate Acquisition and Development Ltd v Wiltshire [2006] EWCA Civ 533, [2006] All ER (D) 50 (a case of forfeiture of a lease), it seemed that the answer lay in rule ...
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Referral fee ban will trigger PI buyouts
Personal injury firms will become takeover targets as claims managers and brokers prepare for the referral fee ban, according to a report published today by Deloitte. The business advisory firm predicted that those with the most to lose from a ban will use the new rules ...
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'Big conversation' needed on social networking
A US judge denied a lawyer continuance of trial after the latter’s Facebook entry revealed he was absent from court because he was out partying and had not suffered a bereavement as claimed, an International Bar Association (IBA) report on social networking recounts. Elsewhere, the Supreme ...
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PM’s ‘summit’ on whiplash excludes legal profession
Prime Minister David Cameron has been accused of sidelining the legal profession in talks about dealing with whiplash cases. Cameron met with the Association of British Insurers (ABI) and leading insurance firms on Tuesday for a much-publicised ‘summit’ over the rising cost of car insurance. ...
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County court shake-up plans dubbed a ‘missed opportunity’
The government has come under fire from all sides of the civil litigation spectrum over its plans to reform the county court system. The Ministry of Justice last week confirmed plans to raise the limit of small claims through the county court system to £10,000 and ...
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If mediation can cure the system, why is it still voluntary?
Imagine taking a mediator out for dinner. They’d sit there weighing up every option, hearing the waiter argue the merits of the salmon and the steak, before deciding to have a little of both (and possibly doubling the bill). I’d be on my second bottle before ...
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Mesothelioma ruling opens way to higher payouts for elderly
Elderly victims of mesothelioma could be entitled to substantial compensation, following a landmark ruling on damages for pain and suffering. In the High Court last week Mrs Justice Swift awarded 92-year-old Dennis Ball £50,000 compensation for pain and suffering after he developed asbestos-related cancer following his ...
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Lawyers and Leveson – how are they doing?
A history of phone hacking and the current Leveson enquiry into the culture, practice and ethics of the press through the activities of lawyers alone is intriguing. I am a Leveson addict, and a long-time watcher of lawyers, and so it is a natural combination. I undertook an analysis some ...
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Scots join outcry against HSBC panel
The Law Society of Scotland has called on lender HSBC to suspend its new conveyancing panel system, which it claims will cause chaos for hundreds of property transactions north of the border. The Society said only ‘a handful’ of law firms in Scotland are among ...
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PC renewal deadline extended as SRA struggles
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has extended the deadline for practising certificate renewal to the end of February for all solicitors. The first renewals were due to be completed by Monday but delays caused by the new online mySRA system meant many solicitors had not been able ...
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Profits up in Scotland but small firms struggle
The Law Society of Scotland's annual Cost of Time survey has reported the first rise in profitability for law firms north of the border since 2008. Average profit per partner at Scottish firms totalled £71,000 in 2011, on a par with 2004 but well below the highs of 2005-08. ...