All News articles – Page 1471
-
News
Morale low among Ministry of Justice staff
Evidence of poor morale among staff at the Ministry of Justice has emerged from the civil service’s annual ‘people survey’. Among its findings is that staff at the ministry and its agencies have no confidence in decisions made by senior managers. Only 32% of respondents would recommend the MoJ as ...
-
News
Mirror wills invalidated by signature mix-up, appeal judges rule
A simple mix-up when a husband and wife signed mirror wills 13 years ago means they have no value in law, the Court of Appeal ruled today. The ruling disinherits the couple’s intended heir and has left lawyers calling for a more flexible approach to probate law. ...
-
News
Compensation awards restored to solicitors
The body that pays compensation to victims of violent crime has backed down in the face of a judicial review challenge and restored its policy of paying awards directly to solicitors. In a related development, it is also to allow legal fees to be paid out ...
-
News
Bailiffs beware
Thank goodness for Jonathan Djanogly. The justice minister may look as if he has his name and job title sown on to his underpants, but under it all he is a tough guy. Djanogly’s latest ministerial statement fearlessly takes on a formidable target - bailiffs - by issuing an update ...
-
News
McNally unmoved as he rejects third-party capture ban
Justice minister Lord McNally has reiterated that the government has no intention of banning insurers from third-party capture. Speaking during Wednesday’s House of Lords debate on civil litigation reform, McNally said there was no proof that accident victims were harmed by a direct approach from insurance ...
-
News
Moving banks
In his article on HSBC and conveyancing, Jonathan Smithers rightly says that solicitors may take steps to steer clients away from HSBC.
-
News
Deech: barristers and solicitors should share training
Barristers and solicitors should share most of their training, the chair of the Bar Standards Board has proposed. Lady Deech (pictured) told students at Oxford University last week that the new structures in which lawyers can practise, and the severe shortage of pupillages, have called into question the way both ...
-
News
National Civil Business Centre and county court claims
Normally changes to the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) made in December come into force the following April. However, the Civil Procedure (Amendment No 4) Rules 2011 (SI 2011/3103) made on 21 December 2011, come into force on 19 March. They deal with one topic only, namely the establishment of the ...
-
News
Fury over ‘chaos’ in central civil claims processing
A ‘totally chaotic’ scheme to slash costs and processing times for civil claims has prompted around 100 individual complaints to the Law Society’s council member for civil litigation. The complaints concern Salford Business Centre (SBC), also known as the National Civil Business Centre, which is HM ...
-
News
Online confusion
Feeling in masochistic mood, I filed my tax return on a recent Sunday morning and applied online for the new SRA practising certificate in the afternoon.
-
News
Top Lib Dem was given the task of taking the pain for Conservative-led reforms
The Scots don’t play much cricket. But Lord Wallace of Tankerness, former Lib Dem leader north of the border and now advocate general for Scotland, showed he can wield the straightest of bats during the lords debate on part 2 of LASPO. The courtliness of ...
-
News
Court swapping
John Edwards, who wrote in January, will be reassured to know that the common occurrence of cases swapping between courts is one the Crown Prosecution Service has planned for in the new digital world.
-
News
Sound defence
I write in defence of advocates representing mentally ill clients. I am concerned that your article promulgates the common perception that lawyers see mental health advocacy as an ‘easy ride’ in comparison with advocacy in other fields.
-
News
SRA sorry for online delays
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has apologised for further delays to online renewals of practising certificates as it starts to clear a backlog of applications. The SRA’s new mySRA system, which replaces paper forms and cheques, has been the subject of widespread criticism in the profession.
-
News
Dressing down
Somehow West London Magistrates’ Court in Southcombe Street near Barons Court tube station seemed more informal than Bow Street and Marlborough Street, certainly so far as dress code was concerned. I remember at Marlborough Street seeing my friend, the giant Irishman David Sarch, appearing one morning in a Prince of ...
-
News
Trial and error
The impression given by Masood Ahmed in his commentary on the 2011 case of Rolf v De Guerin is that any small builder who attempts to resist an entirely unmeritorious claim by defending it in court rather than submitting to mediation will find himself penalised in costs.
-
News
Restrict title to fight fraud, Land Registry urges
Property owners are being encouraged to register a restriction requiring a solicitor to certify their identity as homeowner before their property can be sold, in the Land Registry’s latest move against property fraud. From this month, the Registry’s Form LL restriction will be free for absent ...
-
News
Is the legal profession looking at fission or fusion?
Last week I gave the President’s Oxford lecture at the Saïd Business School. It was a great privilege to be able to address a very distinguished audience on the long-term future of our profession. I felt compelled to ask what implications the freedom of barristers and solicitors to practise together ...
-
News
Rearranged fixtures
April 2012 will see HM Revenue & Customs’ (HMRC) new rules come into effect regarding the availability of capital allowances for purchasers of fixtures. This article considers the changes made to the existing rules and the impact such changes will have for solicitors involved in commercial property conveyancing. ...