All News articles – Page 1495
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News
How far should the UK promote national interests?
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, ...
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Frankly speaking
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 ...
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Litigation funding under threat?
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 ...
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A heartfelt thanks
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 ...
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Landlord and tenant
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 ...
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Memory lane
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 ...
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Vicarious liability
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 ...
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Quality marks must not ‘usurp’ regulators
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 ...
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Recruiting staff
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 ...
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Timely union
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 ...
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Economists say Jackson reforms will cost £70m a year
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 ...
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Appeal court in landmark ruling on migrant removal
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 ...
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Targets needed for judicial diversity, peers are told
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 ...
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Transparency - lawyers have got off lightly
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 ...
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New accreditation scheme for licensed conveyancers
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, ...
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Lawyers must embrace case management reforms, says Jackson
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 ...
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Troika forces ABSs on Italy
Just as with the Second World War, so the current economic crisis - which Chancellor Merkel says is Europe’s most challenging period since the war - had its phoney period, which has now ended. For a long while, nothing seemed to happen, and no consequences were felt. But, from a ...
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Would judges jump in the hot-tub?
In his most recent lecture on the implementation aspects of his Final Report, Lord Justice Jackson turned the spotlight on the costs associated with expert witnesses. Particularly interesting were his comments in relation to the ‘concurrent evidence procedure’, or ‘hot-tubbing’, as it is wryly termed by lawyers.
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SRA to phase in online PC renewals
The Solicitors Regulation Authority is to phase in its new online practising certificate registration and renewal system, following delays caused by implementation problems. Selected firms will begin using the new system this week, after the regulator decided that it does not plan to revert to paper-based renewals for 2011/12. A ...