All News articles – Page 1504
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News
Society formally urges Clarke to ban referral fees
The Law Society has written to justice secretary Kenneth Clarke urging him to act immediately to ban referral fees, after he revealed last week that he is ‘considering’ the issue. Society president Linda Lee said she had met with Clarke and minister for employment Chris Grayling ...
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Human rights lawyers warn against CFA reform
High-profile cases against multinational corporations may have to be scrapped under the government’s new litigation regime, lawyers suggested today. Human rights lawyers warned they will not be able to afford to take on as many cases in the world’s poorest countries without the Conditional Fee Arrangement ...
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Government will not remove police station advice, Djanogly pledges
The government has no intention of removing legal help from people detained at police stations, justice minister Jonathan Djanogly confirmed today. Speaking at the Legal Action Group’s conference in London, he said that although the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill would enable the ...
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Solicitors join London Pride march
The Law Society has called on solicitors to join it in marching at London Pride 2011 this Saturday to celebrate diversity in the legal profession. The Law Society, Bar Council, Institute of Legal Executives, Junior Lawyers Division, Bar Lesbian and Gay Group, Lesbian and Gay Lawyers ...
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Our analysis of the legal aid and sentencing bill
A close reading of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill has left many lawyers, campaign groups and politicians who support the legal aid system more worried than ever about future provision. Even though the government decided to rush to a second reading ...
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Companies warned over Bribery Act
Companies have been warned there will be no ‘grace period’ after the Bribery Act comes into force from today. Strict new rules will reform the antiquated UK laws and clamp down on the bribery of public officials and corporate executives. Individuals found ...
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The Bribery Act: were businesses ready?
The Bribery Act is a significant piece of legislation in the UK’s battle against corruption both at home and abroad, and has potential implications for all businesses, across all sectors in the UK. The Act came into force today, the 1 July 2011. ...
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Conveyancing Quality Scheme applications pass 1,000
The Law Society has received more than 1,000 applications for its Conveyancing Quality Scheme, it said today. Some 1,034 applications have been submitted since the scheme opened in January, and 317 have been accredited so far. Law Society president Linda Lee ...
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School trip
A-level students at Longslade Community College in Leicester were treated to a ‘brief visit’ recently, as Justine Flack (pictured, right), family solicitor at Howes Percival, and Imogen Cox (left), director at Cartwright King, went back to school for the day. The pair led a series ...
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Are we at saturation point with rights?
The European Commission - or at any rate its justice arm - is big on rights. Justice commissioner Viviane Reding has recently published two important packages covering, first, suspects’ and defendants’ rights (the so-called Measure C, which will give the right to a lawyer anywhere ...
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Lenders vet solicitors on Google
Credit checking law firms and monitoring the timeliness with which they register charges are among measures being considered and in some cases adopted by lenders seeking to clamp down on mortgage fraud. One large lender is also demanding the introduction of a compulsory scheme under ...
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Get it right
When I saw the caption beneath the photograph illustrating my article ‘Getting a Get’, which you kindly published on 16 June, I was somewhat perplexed, as I was not aware that a wife would display her rings in her hands in the rabbinical court, meaning she’s succeeded in having her ...
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Tweeter fix
Obiter is always keen to hear from Jonathan Djanogly, notwithstanding the rather sour taste left by his recent communications on legal aid. And we smelt a gold-plated scoop last week when the Twitter feed from @JonDjanogly offered up evidence of a leadership plot at the ...
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Face up to fraud
I could not agree more with Mr Borman’s letter of 23 June. Clients do ‘want something tangible’ to hold and be able to take pride in property ownership. However I feel there is a bigger issue. ...
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Opening Dors
Sometimes I wonder how I ever managed to qualify. In those days the Law Society’s College of Law (or was it school in the 1950s?) was in Lancaster Gate. Even in the early morning, the pavement from Lancaster Gate tube ...
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Shaggy dog story
A Cumbrian solicitor is taking on a different type of trial as he leads a world competition later this year. Nigel Davis (pictured) is the chair of the organising committee for the 2011 World Sheepdog Trials being held in September. The event ...
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Paper deeds hope
Further to Mr Haworth’s letter of 16 June, I concur entirely with his view. I wrote to the Weymouth Land Registry in March on the topical subject of property fraud and in response to my plea for the return of the humble Land Certificate I ...
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Student debt mountain a powerful deterrent to university
A survey of qualified lawyers has found that under half would have gone to university today, when aspiring solicitors can expect to wrack up massive debts. Legal recruitment firm Laurence Simons found that the majority of 224 respondents would have baulked at the total cost of ...