All News articles – Page 1524
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News
OFT probe of motor insurance welcomed by PI lawyers
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is to investigate recent sharp increases in motor insurance premiums. The competition watchdog has issued a call for evidence over the next five weeks to provide a clear picture on the hotly disputed topic. The insurance ...
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Lawyers are taking stock in preparation for PII
This year, renewal is about what is not happening in the professional indemnity insurance market - this is not the year that the assigned risks pool is closed down, nor the year that the renewal date will change, and the impact of alternative business structures has yet to be felt. ...
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This sporting life
Apart from a note at the Law Society’s School of Law about the bar being there to promote ’social intercourse’, there was also the Solicitors Articled Clerks’ Society (SACS), writes James Morton. The latter, if I recall, had a tie with a donkey’s – or probably ass’s – head ...
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Off the wall
London firm TV Edwards has commissioned this intriguing mural to celebrate the opening of its new offices in Whitechapel. The painting, on Mile End Road, stands on the Olympic Highway and was designed by artist Mychael Barratt. It is packed with famous folk with a ...
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War on words
Joining the recent crusade against verbosity within the profession is Bob Miller, associate at Fentons in Manchester. He tells Obiter that he detests it when lawyers use ‘the same’ instead of ‘it’, for example by writing, ‘We look forward to receiving the same’. ‘By return of post’ is a phrase ...
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Stephen Mayson - ABS licensing is a 'shambles'
The Solicitors Regulation Authority’s failure to meet the 6 October target date for licensing alternative business structures was branded a ‘shambles’ by a leading market commentator this week. Professor Stephen Mayson (pictured), director of the Legal Services Policy Institute, told delegates at a Westminster Legal Policy ...
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Brands and the market share land grab
As the holiday season comes to an end and we face the autumn of change in the legal services market it is worth having a brief review of the announcements that will affect how you plan your firm’s marketing. These are key moves that will ...
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News
You’re on candid camera, M’learned friend
And so it begins. Cameras will soon be allowed into court, according to justice secretary Ken Clarke, beaming judges’ verdicts into living rooms like a horror version of Jackanory. Opponents to change will mourn the announcement like Luddites watching the machines start up, raging against the ...
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Claimant lawyers blast ABI claims over compensation
Claimant solicitors have hit out at claims by insurers that consumers get more compensation when they avoid dealing with solicitors. The Association of British Insurers suggested yesterday that the number of personal injury claims received by insurers leapt by 72% between 2002 and 2010. ...
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Lawyers concerned over ABS impact, survey suggests
Solicitors expect a high number of law firm closures as a result of alternative business structures, research has suggested. A survey of 150 law firms by referral service Contact Law found that 36% thought one in five high street law firms will go out of business ...
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MoJ overturns ban on cameras in court
Justice secretary Ken Clarke has confirmed the blanket ban on filming in law courts will be overturned ‘to improve public understanding’ of the justice system. Broadcasting will initially be allowed from the Court of Appeal before expanding to include the Crown court. ...
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New provider enters PII market
A new provider has entered the professional indemnity insurance market with less than a month to go until the renewal deadline. Lloyd’s of London broker Bar Professions has secured a new insurer that will look to cover firms of between one and 25 partners of any ...
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SRA has '50 in-depth discussions’ with potential ABS applicants
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has had 'in-depth discussions’ with 50 firms and businesses looking at becoming alternative business structures, its chief executive Anthony Townsend told the Gazette last week. He also confirmed that the SRA hopes to be able to license ABSs 'at the turn of ...
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Labour tables amendments to legal aid and costs reforms
Opponents to government strategy for civil litigation and legal aid reform have launched a multi-pronged ‘victim-centric’ attack on the proposals. Labour MPs have tabled a series of amendments to the coalition government’s planned changes under the umbrella of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders ...
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Sky News: riot sentences strengthen case for cameras in court
The head of Sky News has made a renewed appeal for court proceedings to be televised in the light of the August riots. John Ryley has written to justice secretary Kenneth Clarke calling for an end to the ban on television cameras entering the courtroom.
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Cloud computing: an ethical challenge for lawyers
The European Commission is consulting widely on cloud computing. In brief, for newcomers to the topic, cloud computing is the storage of data on servers outside your personal ownership. There are mega-providers out there who will store your data for a fee which is cheaper ...
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Abbey Protection to exploit Legal Services Act
Insurance firm Abbey Protection has indicated it will take full advantage of the future deregulation of legal services. The firm, which announced its financial results this week, saw post-tax profits increase by 10% to £3.8m in the first half of 2011 – of which £1.2m was ...
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Society will fight slander claim brought by site owner
The Law Society will seek to strike out a claim for slander being sought against chief executive Desmond Hudson by the owner of the Solicitors from Hell website, it said today. Site owner Rick Kordowski has filed a claim in the High Court in relation to ...
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Solicitors voice concerns over reduction in LSC helpline hours
The reduced operating hours of the Legal Services Commission’s telephone helpline is hampering cases, the Gazette has been told. Lawyers from around the country have contacted the Gazette reporting that the LSC’s decision to cut the operation of its telephone helpline to four hours a day ...