All News articles – Page 1474
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News
McNally’s end of peer show
Obiter has been impressed by the dedication shown by peers sitting late into the evening to speak out on the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill. And spare a thought for justice minister Lord McNally of ...
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Entry for the Olympics
With the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games just around the corner, UK government agencies have been working in tandem with national and international Olympic committees to ensure that the much-anticipated events will run as smoothly as possible. One vital task in these preparations has been to set out the ...
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News focus: lenders in the line of fire
A row over the effect of lenders’ conveyancing panel policies on consumer choice escalated this week, with HSBC denying a claim that it is forcing customers to use firms on its new panel. The bank, which has 10% of the UK mortgage market, prompted outrage earlier this month by announcing ...
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Home truths
What with one thing and another (see the news pages) our conveyancing colleagues are having a bit of a time of it at the moment. So Obiter wasn’t too surprised to receive a survey showing that only one third of them are satisfied in their area of practice.
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The innocent suffer
The ugly shape of the post-crash world is becoming apparent as time passes. Certain structures that were primary causes of the economic crisis are still standing, with their practices more or less unchanged - banks and other financial institutions, for instance - while innocent parties are squirming and suffering. One ...
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Intellectual property
Patent - Validity - Novelty - Obviousness - Insufficiency Omnipharm Ltd v Merial: Chancery Division, Patents Court (Mr Justice Floyd): 21 December 2011 The Chancery Division, Patents Court, decided, inter ...
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Inventing problems
Robin Tilbrook’s comments have left everybody in my office thoroughly perplexed. Is he unaware that those accused of a crime are considered innocent until proven guilty? Will he, on behalf of the English Democrats, stand up and call for the repeal of this longstanding approach to criminal law? If he ...
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Let us not rush to judgement on outside investment
Many solicitors have deep-seated suspicions concerning the external finance that law firms are now allowed to seek out. This week that interest is focused on the pioneering acquisition - subject to SRA approval - of Liverpool firm Silverbeck Rymer by AIM-listed Quindell Portfolio. Some of ...
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Jurisdiction
Service out of the jurisdiction - Alternative forum available - Claimant bank alleging fraud by defendants Alliance Bank JSC v Aquanta Corporation and others: QBD (Comm) (Mr Justice Burton): 14 December 2011 ...
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At least say sorry
In the sympathetic sense of the word, I pity Jewels. The Legal Services Commission clearly does not. An LSC spokesman said: ‘We are sorry to learn that Jewels Solicitors have decided to go into administration and we are now working with the administrators to ensure the firm’s clients continue to ...
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LSC wins right to recover overpayments
The Legal Services Commission has won a test case against solicitors to recover overpayments. The High Court decision is likely to open the way to the commission recouping millions of pounds in payments made on account which were never properly accounted for. The solicitors concerned ...
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Naked populism
In discussing two recent bail decisions, Robin Tilbrook asks, rhetorically, whether racism is now worse than murder. The answer, of course, is that murder is worse, because the victim has no chance of recovery from the damage inflicted.
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Pain of rejection
I have noticed in the past six months a markedly increased level of rejections being received from the Legal Services Commission in respect of claims for payment, for what can only be described as the most petty of reasons. These include, among many: ...
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On a roll
Centenarian retired solicitor and Dunkirk veteran Neville Spencer is still on the roll - 80 years post-qualification. ‘Why not stay on the roll?’ he says, ‘I’ve done nothing wrong!’ Spencer qualified in 1932, and a few years later ‘upped sticks’ and joined the Royal Warwickshire Regiment to fight in WW2. ...
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UK ‘blocking’ EU human rights accession
The UK is blocking moves to close a ‘gaping hole’ in European human rights protection, it has been claimed on the day that prime minister David Cameron is to address the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. A joint statement issued by the Council of ...
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Law Society president: split in profession to end
The president of the Law Society expects the 180-year-old division between solicitors and barristers to wither away as a result of the reforms set in motion by the Legal Services Act. It is ‘inevitable’ the professions will ‘need to revisit the question whether [they] should continue ...
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Quoted company buys PI firm in ABS first
A personal injury firm is to be bought by a listed company in a £19.3m deal to create an alternative business structure (ABS). Liverpool-based Silverbeck Rymer will be acquired by AIM-listed Quindell Portfolio for an initial £10.25m in cash, and the issue of up to 120.8m ...