All News articles – Page 1502
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News
Land Registry drops e-transfer move
The Land Registry has shelved plans to introduce electronic transfers with e-signatures, and written off nearly £11m spent developing the scheme. The Registry’s annual report, published last week, showed that it is writing off £6.4m spent developing electronic charges, signatures and transfers, and a further £4.5m ...
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Thousands of Crown court trials are 'ineffective'
Defence and prosecution lawyers are to blame for more than a third of ‘ineffective’ trials in the Crown court, according to data published by the Ministry of Justice. The Judicial and Court Statistics 2010 show that, of the 977,000 ...
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Contempt of court
Committal - Allegations of contempt made against defendant - Whether allegations to be heard before main trial JSC BTA Bank v Ablyazov: Queen’s Bench Division, Commercial Court: Mr Justice Teare: 21 June 2011 ...
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Insurer confusion
The tedious discussions regarding whether referral fees are right in principle or unacceptably distort the market will undoubtedly continue ad nauseam. The views of the various parties are so entrenched that it seems unlikely an acceptable common ground will ever be reached. If the situation ...
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Should more law firms plan their clients’ engagement with the media?
The recent controversy around privacy injunctions almost provoked a constitutional crisis. Yet many still regard it as an issue of concern only to media lawyers, or wealthy celebrities with the means to cover up their misdemeanours in court. ...
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Solicitors and others remain divided over desirability of the government’s civil justice reforms
In The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill, the government conceded remarkably little following extensive - though hardly protracted - periods of consultation. As reported in the Gazette, 5,000 submissions on the legal aid proposals made hardly any difference to the bill’s contents. ...
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Choosing the right judges
There are many mysterious features of the legal world that baffle clients. But there is perhaps none quite so surprising as when they discover that the judge about to hear their case has little experience in the field of law with which their case is ...
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Motorist offered a replacement car
What could be more straightforward? A negligent motorist damages your car and their insurer offers a suitable replacement while your car is being repaired. Is it reasonable to refuse the car and then to hire one from the credit hire ...
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Insurance lawyers call for lower fixed-fee rates
Insurance lawyers are pressing the Ministry of Justice to reduce the fixed-fee rates payable to claimant lawyers under the Road Traffic Accident portal. Responding to a government consultation on speeding up county court cases, which closed last week, the Forum of Insurance Lawyers said the ...
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Taking the cake
As a veteran of British politics, justice secretary Kenneth Clarke is used to having his picture in the papers, but last week his face appeared more often than usual. Supporters of the Law Society’s Sound Off For Justice campaign held a ‘let them eat cake’ ...
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Leading insurance broker predicts late entries in indemnity market
A leading insurance broker has predicted that there may still be late entrants to the solicitors’ professional indemnity market. Martin Ellis, director of Prime Professions, told the Gazette that some insurers had been interested in opening books for law firms until very recently. ...
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Civil litigation reforms give carte blanche to exploit developing nations
You know, I have a lot of sympathy for you ambulance-chasing solicitors. There you are, hurtling down busy streets in pursuit of the big white van - without a siren or flashing lights but still expected to keep up. Perhaps we should ...
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Extradition bias
Joshua Rozenberg appears not to have read the extradition treaty between the UK and US. He endorses the contention of Amy Jeffress, US department of justice attaché to the American Embassy in London, that the treaty is balanced by stating that the UK can demand ...
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LGBT lawyers believe judicial selection process is discriminatory
Some 70% of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) lawyers believe that the judicial selection process discriminates against them, while the same proportion say they would be likely to apply for a judicial role themselves if there were more existing judges who were openly gay, according to a report published ...
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Will signed on behalf of testator
The case of Barrett v Bem [2011] EWHC 1247 Ch is interesting because of the comments on the nature of probate jurisdiction, and for the guidance it gives on signatures on behalf of a testator. The testator, Martin, made a will in hospital three hours before ...
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High Court backs children's guardian independence
A High Court ruling has reasserted the independence of children’s guardians from state control. In a landmark judgment, Sir Nicholas Wall said the court-appointed guardians were a vital element in protecting children. He told the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support ...
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The News of The World’s attack on lawyers in the Bellfield case is breathtaking
The alleged hacking of Milly Dowler’s phone by the News of the World is a story that has shocked many journalists; and we tend to be pretty hard-boiled. Appallingly, it seems that journalists from that paper deleted messages in the days after Milly’s disappearance, raising ...