All News articles – Page 1468
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News
Banking on advice
Just as I was reading the article ‘Lenders in the line of fire’ a new client of mine rang and mentioned that she was going to get an HSBC mortgage. She was told by the HSBC branch in Belper, Derbyshire, that she had to use their panel solicitor, and only ...
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Rip it up and start again
The government’s announcement that it would prohibit referral fees may have caused initial joy among the many supporters of the Society’s policy that such fees should be banned. But a closer look at the amendments to the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill (LASPO) to achieve this policy ...
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Roger Smith: legal aid reforms ‘unsustainable’
The director of law reform and human rights organisation Justice has condemned the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill as ‘so bad’ that it will not survive if it is enacted. Roger Smith (pictured) described the package of reforms in the bill, which ...
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Andrew Grech: leading by example
When Andrew Grech joined Australian firm Slater & Gordon in 1994, the firm was a quarter of its present size. Now, with some 60 offices around Australia, it handles around 20-25% of the national personal injury legal market, and Grech’s skills earned him the title of Managing Partner of the ...
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Automatic disqualification and apparent bias
Two jurisprudential strands were brought together by the Court of Appeal on 19 October 2011 when determining a challenge brought by Darsho Kaur, a student member of the Institute of Legal Executives (ILEX).
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Arbitration
Award - Enforcement - Parties disputing responsibility for collision during voyage charter West Tankers Inc v Allianz Spa and another: CA (Civ Div) (Lord Justices Carnwath, Lloyd and Toulson): 24 January 2012 ...
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DAS back in the black
Legal expenses insurer DAS has reported a dramatic turnaround in financial performance during 2011. The UK group posted a pre-tax profit of £9.74m last year compared with a £470,000 loss in 2010, when the company was hit by increasing claims frequencies and costs. Turnover rose from ...
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Protect legal privilege, bar urges government
The Bar Council has urged the government to protect the right of citizens to hold private conversations with their lawyers. The call, supported the Law Society, comes as the proposed Protection of Freedoms Bill, intended to protect people from unwarranted state intrusion in their private lives, goes through parliament.
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Big US private equity outfits are running the rule over English law firms
Vince Cable has made worried noises about foreign takeovers of iconic British businesses, but the sell-out continues apace. This week we learned that most of our largest insurance groups are now foreign-owned.
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Painful birth
If your date of birth was 1 January 1980, you share it with US wrestler Randy Orton and Swedish model Elin Nordegren (pictured). And many thousands of English solicitors. The chief executive of the Solicitors Regulation Authority, Antony Townsend, revealed this week that one of the bugs being encountered in ...
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The Rolls Building, London's trump card
London has long been regarded as one of the most popular venues for resolving international disputes, but the government - and the legal profession - hope that the opening of the Rolls Building as the world’s biggest commercial court will help cement the UK’s reputation as the key jurisdiction in ...
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Euro patent court ‘ruinous for business’
As Britain, France and Germany haggle over which country should host a Europe-wide patent court, the professional body for UK intellectual property lawyers has warned that the proposed court would not be in the public interest - and could be ‘ruinous’ for business.
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Judicial watchdog probes Winehouse coroner case
The Office for Judicial Complaints is investigating the case of an assistant deputy coroner who was appointed by her senior coroner husband despite not having the minimum required experience.
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Change the rules
The balance of power is currently with the lenders, which are seeking to control the property market, but how many banks can we or our clients really embargo?
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Clarity needed over civil litigation
Whatever one’s views on the recommendations of Lord Justice Jackson’s Review of Civil Litigation Costs - and few litigation lawyers will find the whole report entirely to their liking - most would expect the implementation process to be well-managed and transparent.
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Clarke raises small claims limit in county court
The limit on small claims in the county court is to be doubled to £10,000 as part of government measures to speed up civil litigation. Justice secretary Kenneth Clarke today set out plans to divert up to 80,000 more cases to a small claims mediation process that can be carried ...
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Peers pillory third-party code
Justice secretary Kenneth Clarke may reconsider the case for statutory regulation of third-party litigation funding amid claims that a voluntary code has ‘manifest weaknesses’. The government, which has so far favoured self-regulation for external litigation funders, hinted at the change when it came under pressure for ...
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Loose connection
Could David Jones explain to defence solicitors how, in the new electronic age, one is supposed to let one’s client in the cells read the case against him? If this client should be remanded in custody, how does one provide the evidence to the client, electronically?
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Contingency plan
Reaction to the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill (LASPO) has primarily focused on the reduction in availability of legal aid and the proposed ban on referral fees in personal injury cases. Surprisingly little attention has to date attached to clause 44 of LASPO, which will enable contingency ...