All News articles – Page 1537
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News
Businesses fear hike in employment claims
A survey by national firm Irwin Mitchell has revealed the extent to which businesses believe government plans to scrap the default retirement age (DRA) will cause a hike in employment claims against them. Some 57% of businesses said they thought the removal of the DRA would ...
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Public law practitioners at ‘breaking point’
Public law solicitors are at ‘breaking point’ due to increased workloads and financial pressure, according to an authoritative report published this week. A study of how parents are represented in care proceedings, by academics at Bristol University’s school of law, found that solicitors acting for parents ...
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Claims farmers ban on hold
A government proposal to ban ‘claims farmers’ from offering cash inducements and other benefits to the public has been put on hold, the Ministry of Justice confirmed this week. Responding to its consultation on the proposed ban, which was triggered by Lord Young of Graffham’s report ...
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Businesses face ‘human rights audit’
Human rights lawyers could be called upon to audit big businesses for possible human rights abuses, if proposals submitted last week to the UN Human Rights Council are endorsed. A six-year UN-commissioned study on business and human rights has concluded that companies should regularly carry out ...
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Ombudsman under fire over ‘cautious’ approach to complaints publishing
The Legal Ombudsman was accused of having fallen for ‘spurious objections from the legal profession’ today as it revealed its plans for a ‘staged approach’ to publishing information about complaints against law firms. In the first part of a three-stage approach, LeO has immediately begun ...
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QC appointment system outdated
I write with reference to the article ‘Excellence comes with experience’ by Lucy Scott-Moncrieff (see [2011] Gazette, 10 March, 10). Ms Scott-Moncrieff says that ‘the QC appointments system, both now and in the past, is intended to identify excellence in higher court advocacy, which excludes the ...
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Police cuts force Tesco Law announcement
Controversial amendments being considered to the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill are aimed at giving interested businesses a role in front line policing. Supermarket giant Tesco is known to be among the credible companies actively looking to diversify into this area. ...
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MPs call for rethink on legal aid
An influential committee of MPs has criticised the government’s ‘dramatic’ legal aid reforms and called on ministers to ‘refine’ their proposals. In a report published this week, the House of Commons Justice Committee recommended that the Ministry of Justice look at other ways to make the ...
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Legal aid firm merger to ‘embrace new opportunities'
Two high-profile legal aid firms are to merge this week to create one of the largest publicly funded criminal defence practices in the country, the Gazette can reveal. Noble, with offices in Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Northamptonshire, will merge with Wembley and Watford firm Tank Jowett on ...
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Lawyers ‘sound off’ for legal aid
Hundreds of lawyers took to the streets of central London on Saturday to protest against the government’s proposed legal aid cuts. Under the banners of the Law Society’s ‘Sound off for justice’ campaign, Justice for All and Young Legal Aid Lawyers, they joined the TUC’s ...
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Age-old problem
How many firms of solicitors are complying with equality legislation, with particular regard to age discrimination? Time and time again (indeed it is the norm) I see jobs advertised for staff who are, for example, ‘1-3 years qualified’, or ‘5-10 years qualified’. ...
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Time to adopt US libel model
Lawsuits fought by foreigners who often have no link with Britain should soon be an historical anomaly if Kenneth Clarke has his way. But putting an end to ‘libel tourism’ is only part of the problem. Defendants can already put forward the defence of fair ...
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Proposals address ‘scandalous’ delays in family proceedings
The Family Justice System is ‘not working’ with ‘scandalous’ delays which are harmful to vulnerable children and adults, according to the independent Family Justice Review panel. The panel’s interim report, published today, said the system needs significant reform to tackle delays and ensure the 500,000 children ...
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Making the grade: examining accreditation schemes
A campaign to raise public awareness of the Law Society’s accreditation schemes and their value in helping people choose firms or specialist practitioners in increasingly competitive markets will be launched shortly. There is growing interest within the profession about the schemes.
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Accreditation schemes give consumers more choice
The Oxford Dictionary defines ‘accreditation’ thus: ‘Give authority or sanction to someone or something when recognised standards have been met.’ Which is precisely what happens when someone qualifies to be a practising solicitor, a point not lost on those who are ambivalent about the development of ...
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Wragge & Co advises Phones 4u, Unilever's Sanex sale and JJB Sports stock exchange switch
It’s for you: Birmingham firm Wragge & Co advised the management of mobile phone retailer Phones 4u on its sale to private equity house BC Partners, for an undisclosed sum. US firm Weil Gotshal & Manges advised private ...
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Fraudsters jailed for £140,000 injury law scam
Six fraudsters were jailed last week for fronting a fake claims company that defrauded 19 personal injury law firms of almost £140,000. The company, North West Claims, which was run from an apartment in the Beetham Tower, Manchester, referred fictitious road traffic accident claims to solicitors ...
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'Exhausted' lawyers in care cases need more support
A detailed and enlightening report on the representation of parents in care proceedings was published this week by academics at Bristol University law school. The study, by Julia Pearce and Professor Judith Masson, provides an interesting insight into the pivotal role played by lawyers in the ...
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An alternative view on litigation costs
by Seamus Smyth, senior partner in Carter Lemon Camerons LLP and President of the London Solicitors Litigation Association What’s wrong with our civil litigation? Why have we had to have Woolf and Jackson? Is there a solution to the cost-and-access problem?
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Employment law changes could ‘affect women’
Changes to employment laws announced in last week's budget are encouraging for small employers but could disproportionately affect women, solicitors have warned. Plans revealed by chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne included a three-year moratorium on new regulations for small companies and start-ups; a consultation to ...