All News articles – Page 1486
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News
Intellectual property
European Union - Patent - Supplementary protection certificate Medeva BV v Comptroller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks: Court of Justice of the European Communities (Fourth Chamber) (Judges Bonichet (President of Chamber), Prechal, Bay Larsen, Toader (Rapporteur) and ...
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Jurisdiction
Conflict of laws - Challenge to jurisdiction - Pre-trial or post-judgment relief - Freezing order Madoff Securities International Ltd and another v Raven and others: QBD (Comm) (Mr Justice Flaux): 25 November 2011 ...
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Keep an open mind
Edward Foster has assumed that in all mediations, or perhaps in most of them, the result is a 50/50 settlement. From 35 years’ experience of mediations as a solicitor, and 12 years’ experience as a mediator, I have to say that is simply not the case.
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Wrong presumption
Criminal practitioners should be aware that in January the Stop Delaying Justice Scheme will take effect. The aim of this apparently is to achieve disposal of criminal trials in two hearings - first appearance and trial date. In a letter to practitioners in London, the chief ...
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Sentencing
Principles of sentencing - Mandatory life sentence - Murder - Minimum term R v Gill; R v Eccles; R v Abu-Neigh: CA (Crim Div) (Lord Chief Justice Lord Judge, Mr Justice Henriques and Mr Justice Irwin): 1 December 2011 ...
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Zero support
Jonathan David tells an all too familiar story about criminal legal aid in 2011. It gets more demoralising every day. Last week we represented a vulnerable client for child abduction. Two visits to the police station - over seven hours in all - for £180. That was the high point.
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A Christmas carol for solicitors
It was Christmas eve and I had invited the staff to have a festive drink with me. Sadly those who were still left in the office seemed to want to go as soon as possible so I decided not to waste the cooking sherry, and instead had value packets of ...
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Society condemns out-of-court sentencing plan
The Law Society has criticised Nick Herbert’s proposal to give magistrates power to issue summary sentences outside of court, which it says could leave defendants without access to proper advice. Speaking to the Magistrates’ Association last week, the justice minister (pictured) mooted the idea of giving ...
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Employment tribunal fees could run into thousands
Justice minister Jonathan Djanogly today launched a consultation on introducing fees in employment tribunal cases, with the aim of saving taxpayers £84m. Two charging options are mooted in the consultation paper. In option one, a claimant will pay an initial fee of £150-£250 to begin ...
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Why law graduates give up on the law
Louise - and that’s not her real name - is not going to become a solicitor after all. She gave it a good try, the law undergraduate says, but it wasn’t to be. Louise says that when she started her law degree, she really wanted to ...
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Number of CQS firms reaches 1,000
The Law Society has awarded Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS) accreditation to the 1,000th firm to enter the scheme. Less than a year after applications opened, nine-partner Coventry firm Penmans today became the 1,000th accredited CQS firm, bringing the total number of law firm branches with the ...
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Stamp duty land tax and the chancellor's autumn statement
The advice 'never believe everything you read in the papers' was as true as ever recently when it came to what used to be called Fleet Street’s powers of prediction of the contents of the chancellor’s autumn statement. In particular, what the press, in the context of property transactions, still ...
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Government snubs call for further bans on referral fees
The government has rejected a recommendation from a commons committee to extend the ban on referral fees. A ban on receiving or paying fees for personal injury cases features in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders bill. It is set to come into law ...
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OFT probes impact of PI claims on motor insurance premiums
The Office of Fair Trading has launched an inquiry focusing on the effect of personal injury claims on steep rises in motor insurance premiums. Evidence gathered by the OFT and published today suggests that premium costs rose by 12% between 2009 and 2010, with a further 9% increase in the ...
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Lord Judge clarifies Twitter stance
The lord chief justice today told media and members of the public they can ‘tweet as much as they please’ in court as he clarified the use of text-based communication. Lord Judge said the use of laptops and hand-held devices was an important part of open ...
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US funder buys up Firstassist in ‘aggressive push’
US dispute financier Burford Capital is to acquire UK legal expenses insurer Firstassist in a £10.3m deal to create a firm offering both after-the-event (ATE) insurance and litigation funding. Burford is one of the world’s leading financiers of litigation and arbitration and listed on the ...
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EU life goes on regardless – and at a pace
I know bigger issues are being discussed in the EU, particularly in relation to the UK’s place in it. But that doesn’t stop important lawyer-related topics making progress at the same time. This week’s blog is the ultimate seasonal treat – like a plum pudding or Christmas stocking, it is ...
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Will Jackson reforms be placed on hold?
The first day of December brought an early Christmas present for legal aid lawyers as justice secretary Kenneth Clarke announced that he would be delaying the legal aid reforms contained in his Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill.
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Lenders urged to set up one-stop shop for panel vetting
Mortgage lenders should create a single body to vet law firm applications for conveyancing panel membership, the head of mortgage fraud at Lloyds Banking Group has said. Paul Collins, who is also manager of the group’s conveyancing panel, said that lenders should develop a unified approach ...