All News articles – Page 1503
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News
Society appoints new SRA board members
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has announced the appointment of three new members to its board. They are solicitor member Moni Mannings, partner and head of City firm Olswang's finance group; lay member Shamit Sagger, professor of politics at the University of Sussex and former chair of ...
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Has the time come for a contingency legal aid fund?
The idea of CLAF (or contingency legal aid fund) is either a brilliant notion that has never had its day or an unworkable one that should have been put out of its misery years back. It has been knocking around the legal policy world since ...
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Solicitor denies legal aid fraud charges
A criminal defence solicitor accused of defrauding the legal aid fund along with two business associates this week told the court that he did not know ‘how all this has happened’. Solicitor Reuben Ewujowoh (pictured), 44, principal at Rae & Co in Southwark, London, and ...
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City firm slams Border Agency
City firm Penningtons has accused officials at the UK Border Agency (UKBA) of threatening its clients and breaking the Civil Service Code, as the government seeks to meet its commitment to reduce UK net migration to the ‘tens of thousands’. The complaints relate to action ...
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Solicitor wins right to bring age bias claim against law firm
A solicitor dismissed for failing to meet billing targets has won the right to bring an age discrimination claim against his former employer. However, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) struck out his race and sex discrimination claims. Samarasingher Methuen began working for ...
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Society protests against treatment of Chinese lawyers
The Law Society is to take part in a ‘mass intervention’ to protest at the maltreatment of human rights lawyers in China, after an Amnesty International report published last week revealed that the Beijing government has intensified its clampdown on their work. The report said the ...
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FSA finds no evidence of insurer bias against BME firms
An investigation by the Financial Services Authority has found no evidence that insurers discriminated against black and ethnic minority law firms during last year’s professional indemnity insurance renewal. Following interventions from the Solicitors Regulation Authority and Equality and Human Rights Commission, the FSA was asked to ...
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The rights of EU citizens cannot be divorced from the duties that accompany them
I read Jonathan Goldsmith’s article about the growing number of ‘rights’ with interest. Can I ask what has happened to a person’s responsibilities, which is the other side of the coin? If EU citizens expect their rights to be honoured, ...
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NHS 'above the law' in legal aid reforms
The government is putting the NHS ‘above the law’ with its proposed legal aid reforms and changes to the ‘no win, no fee’ arrangements, the Gazette has been told. Paul Rumley, clinical negligence partner at Withy King’s Swindon office, said the legal aid cuts and reform ...
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Lawyers march for London Pride 2011
More than 100 lawyers marched in support of London Pride 2011 last week. Members of the Law Society, Bar Council, Institute of Legal Executives, Junior Lawyers Division, Bar Lesbian and Gay Group, Lesbian and Gay Lawyers Association and InterLaw Diversity Forum marched together under the ...
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Olswang to draft code of conduct for News of the World owner
Media law firm Olswang has been drafted in by News International to draw up a new code of conduct, it has confirmed. The media organisation, which owns the ...
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Society calls for safeguards in bail legislation
The Law Society has urged the home secretary to consider safeguards to the emergency bail legislation about to go through parliament to prevent abuse of the bail system by police. The emergency legislation has been prompted by a High Court ruling in the case of murder ...
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News
Call for political involvement in judicial appointments
Political involvement in the appointment of judges is needed to bring about a more diverse judiciary, a leading academic told a House of Lords constitution committee inquiry into the fairness and effectiveness of the present judicial appointments system today. Experts also said suggested that widening the ...
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Top-100 firms concerned by Legal Services Act reforms
Top law firms are coming under increasing pressure from clients to reduce fees, a poll has revealed, while a growing number fear that Legal Services Act reforms will pose a risk to profits. Finance directors from the top-100 UK firms, surveyed by legal information provider Sweet ...
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Legal Ombudsman publishes complaints against firms
The Legal Ombudsman has begun publishing anonymous case studies as part of a drive to improve client service and complaints-handling by law firms. The published complaints have been broken down into areas of law. Complaints revealed so far include a criminal defendant ...
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Walmart’s class action lawsuit
In a decision favorable to employers, the US Supreme Court has held in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v Dukes that the lower court improperly certified a massive class action lawsuit. Specifically, the Court found that the plaintiffs failed to prove that their allegations of discrimination were ...
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What you don’t know about your clients
The Legal Services Board’s independent consumer panel has produced some good research in their recently published Tracker Survey 2011. These results build on the ideas about how to use research in my blog post from February, ‘Consumer research: will it tell you all?’.
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Clifford Chance partner profits top £1m
Profits per equity partner (PEP) at magic circle firm Clifford Chance have topped £1m for the first time since the recession. The end-of-year figures released today by the Canary Wharf-based firm showed revenues were up for the last financial year to £1.22bn, up just 2% on ...
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And you think you’ve got problems
If you can bear to tear yourself away from contemplation of justice cuts in the UK, here is a story of justice cuts in the richest country on earth. We are becoming poorer in the West, loaded with debts from living beyond our means, while ...