All News articles – Page 1493

  • News

    Court workers set for strike

    2011-11-24T00:00:00Z

    Record numbers of court workers will walk out as part of nationwide public sector strikes next Wednesday, union leaders have claimed. The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) Union says around 15,000 members employed by the Ministry of Justice - most working in the courts service ...

  • News

    Freehold covenant: ‘shelf life’ needed

    2011-11-24T00:00:00Z

    Every conveyancer knows that the possibility of an old covenant imposed upon a freehold property being enforced is practically nil. Yet instead of taking a view, as was the practice 20 to 30 years ago, everyone now demands insurance to the great benefit of insurance companies, but, so far as ...

  • News

    HighStreetLawyer.com doubles in size

    2011-11-24T00:00:00Z

    Legal franchising brand HighStreetLawyer.com has doubled in size by signing up five new firms. The venture, launched in September last year, aims to have around 100 members by the end of 2012, founder Gary Yantin (pictured) told the Gazette.

  • News

    How far should the UK promote national interests?

    2011-11-24T00:00:00Z

    Keen followers of European affairs might have noticed that, though the UK’s influence over the EU might have been slipping during the play-out of the eurozone crisis, its influence has increased - for six months at least - over that other European body, the Council of Europe. That is because, ...

  • News

    Frankly speaking

    2011-11-24T00:00:00Z

    Diversity is an ‘American import’ and as a result class bias was never envisaged as a barrier to the legal profession. Or so claimed one member of the audience at last week’s launch of the Diversity League Table, the Black Solicitors Network’s annual snapshot of diversity in law firms and ...

  • News

    Litigation funding under threat?

    2011-11-24T00:00:00Z

    The launch of the new voluntary code of conduct for litigation funders at the Royal Courts of Justice last night was described as a ‘watershed moment’ by Leslie Perrin of funder Calunius Capital, who will chair the new Association set up to police the code. Another ...

  • News

    A heartfelt thanks

    2011-11-24T00:00:00Z

    All too often our profession fails to trumpet the good things we do. A fine example of worthwhile activity is the splendid, generous work of the trustees of the Law Society Charity. Since its foundation in 1974, the charity has quietly made well over 1,000 donations ...

  • News

    Landlord and tenant

    2011-11-24T00:00:00Z

    Lease - Duration - Certainty Mexfield Housing Co-operative Ltd v Berrisford: Supreme Court (Lords Hope DP, Walker, Mance, Neuberger, Clarke and Dyson, Lady Hale): 9 November 2011 The Supreme ...

  • News

    Memory lane

    2011-11-24T00:00:00Z

    Law Society’s Gazette, 6 November 1991 Bar to tackle sex bias The Bar Council has committed to a comprehensive anti-sex discrimination programme following a 102 to 19 vote in favour of a resolution by the Association of Women Barristers (AWB) at the ...

  • News

    Vicarious liability

    2011-11-24T00:00:00Z

    Roman Catholic church - Liability for tortious acts of priest GE v English Province of Our Lady of Charity and another: QB (Mr Justice Macduff): 8 November 2011 The claimant ...

  • News

    Quality marks must not ‘usurp’ regulators

    2011-11-24T00:00:00Z

    The legal sector’s consumer watchdog has today warned that voluntary quality marks should not be made mandatory to access part of the market as this could ‘usurp’ the role of regulators. In a new report, the Legal Services Consumer Panel also called for such schemes to ...

  • News

    Recruiting staff

    2011-11-24T00:00:00Z

    We recently went through the process of advertising a vacancy. No really, we had an opening for another member of staff. We advertised online and in print. One of the main reasons to advertise a vacancy is really to advertise the firm. It tells people ...

  • News

    Timely union

    2011-11-24T00:00:00Z

    Obiter loves a lawyer wedding, and it’s all the sweeter when plans are based on a sound grasp of public policy and legal developments. Step forward TLT associate Peter Richards-Gaskin (pictured), who just got engaged to another City lawyer. The firm had thought it would ...

  • News

    Trademark

    2011-11-24T00:00:00Z

    Infringement - Use of similar trademark - Defendant selling angling paraphernalia through websites Fox International Group Ltd v Folly: Patents County Court (Judge Birss QC sitting as a judge of the Patents County Court): 1 November 2011 ...

  • News

    Economists say Jackson reforms will cost £70m a year

    2011-11-23T00:00:00Z

    The Jackson reforms of civil litigation will cost the taxpayer more than £70m a year in employers’ liability cases, according to a report prepared by economists. The report, published by consultancy firm London Economics, states that much-vaunted savings in damages pay-outs and insurance premiums will be ...

  • News

    Appeal court in landmark ruling on migrant removal

    2011-11-23T00:00:00Z

    Migrants are denied the right of access to the court if they are given under 72 hours’ notice of their removal from the UK, the Court of Appeal ruled yesterday. The judgment frustrates the UK Border Agency’s aim to win permission for zero-notice removals. In ...

  • News

    Targets needed for judicial diversity, peers are told

    2011-11-23T00:00:00Z

    Setting targets and raising the retirement age of judges from 70 to 75 would help achieve greater diversity in the judiciary, groups representing women and black lawyers told the Constitution Committee of the House of Lords today. It would also help if partners and other senior ...

  • News

    Transparency - lawyers have got off lightly

    2011-11-23T00:00:00Z

    Few readers will mourn the demise of the website Solicitors from Hell. But anyone who thinks its closure will mark the end of unauthorised online scrutiny of the profession is in for a shock. I'm not talking about the certainty that some rogue will sooner or ...

  • News

    New accreditation scheme for licensed conveyancers

    2011-11-22T00:00:00Z

    The Society of Licensed Conveyancers (SLC) has unveiled a quality assurance scheme, designed to ensure its members get places on mortgage lenders’ conveyancing panels at a time when these are being trimmed back. The new scheme combines the governance of the Council for Licensed Conveyancers, ...

  • News

    Lawyers must embrace case management reforms, says Jackson

    2011-11-22T00:00:00Z

    Lord Justice Jackson has stressed that lawyers need to embrace his proposed reforms of case management if the necessary ‘culture change’ he envisages is to be realised. The architect of the government’s reform of civil litigation hopes that by securing the co-operation of the Law ...