All News articles – Page 1550

  • News

    Lloyds backs down on client account information

    2011-02-18T00:00:00Z

    Lloyds Banking Group will no longer ask its conveyancing panel members to provide client account information, after the Law Society raised concerns with the lender over the risk of breaches of client confidentiality. The Society has advised firms that if any lender asks them for client ...

  • News

    Government cannot afford to ignore £1.3bn in uncollected fines

    2011-02-18T00:00:00Z

    Amid the last fortnight’s coverage of the government’s planned legal aid cuts, one potential alternative area of savings didn’t get any column inches: the millions of pounds that remain uncollected by the courts system every year. Some £1.33bn currently floats in this pool of outstanding ...

  • News

    Sentencing

    2011-02-17T00:00:00Z

    Criminal procedure - Antisocial behaviour orders - Sentence length - Supply of drugs R v (1) Kirk Jordan Barclay (2) Noah Ntuve (3) Francis Cowan (4) Trevor Junior Prince Campbell: CA (Crim Div) (Lord Justice Pitchford, Mr Justice Cranston, ...

  • News

    Sentencing

    2011-02-17T00:00:00Z

    Criminal law - Cultivation of cannabis - Sentence length R v (1) John Auton (2) Lawrence Hindle (3) Glen Vincent (4) Stephen Willis: CA (Crim Div) (Lord Justice Hughes LJ (vice-president), Mrs Justice Eady, Mr Justice Rafferty DBE): 3 ...

  • News

    Personal injury

    2011-02-17T00:00:00Z

    Armed forces - Employment - Health and safety at work - Negligence Robert Lee Uren v (1) Corporate Leisure (UK) Ltd (2) Ministry Of Defence: CA (Civ Div) (Lady Justice Smith, Lords Justices Aikens, Pitchford): 2 February 2011 ...

  • News

    Immigration

    2011-02-17T00:00:00Z

    Local government - Age assessment - Asylum seekers - Unaccompanied minors R (on the application of FZ) v Croydon London Borough Council: CA (Civ Div) (Sir Anthony May (president QB), Lady Justice Smith, Lord Justice Aikens): 1 February 2011 ...

  • News

    Immigration

    2011-02-17T00:00:00Z

    Human rights - Best interests - Children - Deportation ZH (Tanzania) V Secretary of State for the Home Department: SC (Lords Justices Hope, Brown, Mance, Kerr, Lady Justice Hale): 1 February 2011 ...

  • News

    OAPs tackle high seas

    2011-02-17T00:00:00Z

    Obiter doffs his sailor’s cap to 61-year-old Stroud solicitor John Russell, one of a four-strong team currently crossing the Atlantic on An-Tiki, a vessel built from 12-metre water and gas pipes, in a bid to raise £50,000 for charity WaterAid. The team, made ...

  • News

    Pitching for a game

    2011-02-17T00:00:00Z

    Obiter thanks London firm Howard Kennedy and their super-efficient PR Giselle Daverat for organising a recent five-a-side footie match with the Gazette – from which this magazine’s team was ungracious enough to emerge victorious. Any other firms brave enough to take on the ...

  • News

    Poorly drafted wills

    2011-02-17T00:00:00Z

    I read (online) the Gazette article about the benefits of Will Aid (and the comments posted on that article). Friends of mine had their wills prepared by a small firm of solicitors under the Will Aid scheme. I offered to check the wills for them before ...

  • News

    Real reason for cuts

    2011-02-17T00:00:00Z

    Has it occurred to anyone that the motivation behind cuts (begun by New Labour remember) in legal aid – particularly in the civil arena – may be a good deal more sinister than the coalition would have us believe? Any first-year law student should spot that ...

  • News

    Noise control

    2011-02-17T00:00:00Z

    The Law Society brought the might of celebrity behind its legal aid publicity campaign last week, receiving a ringing endorsement from actress Joanna Lumley (Lumley noted that without legal aid, cases like the gurkha justice campaign could never have been fought), and gathering a host of gurkhas for a photo ...

  • News

    Injured parties deserve full compensation, says Law Society

    2011-02-17T00:00:00Z

    Individuals should be compensated in full for the wrongdoing or negligence of others, the Law Society said this week as it submitted its response to the government’s consultation on civil litigation costs. The Society said that conditional fee agreements (CFAs) have provided ‘important access to justice ...

  • News

    European Commission targets collective redress system

    2011-02-17T00:00:00Z

    The European Commission has relaunched its bid to introduce a coherent system for collective redress in Europe. Publishing a consultation on 4 February, the EC said it wanted to identify common legal principles on collective actions among European states. However, it ‘firmly opposes’ introducing US-style class ...

  • News

    Magistrates consider judicial review over court closures

    2011-02-17T00:00:00Z

    Magistrates’ courts earmarked for closure are considering legal action against the Ministry of Justice, the Gazette has learned. The Magistrates Association (MA) has taken legal advice regarding a potential judicial review of the lord chancellor’s proposals for court closures. The controversial plans, ...

  • News

    Client confidentiality fears over Lloyds request

    2011-02-17T00:00:00Z

    A request by Lloyds Banking Group for members of its conveyancing panel to provide client account information has sparked fears that firms could be in breach of confidentiality rules. Law Society chief executive Desmond Hudson said he was ‘urgently liaising’ with the group to clarify the ...

  • News

    Defendant delays driving up claims costs

    2011-02-17T00:00:00Z

    Delays by defendants are driving up the costs of personal injury and clinical negligence claims, an academic report has suggested. The study, carried out by the University of Lincoln and commissioned by claims referrer National Accident Helpline (NAH), suggested that the average daily cost of defendant ...

  • News

    Civil procedure

    2011-02-17T00:00:00Z

    Human rights - Media and entertainment - Sport - Anonymity JIH v News Group Newspapers Ltd: CA (Civ Div) (Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury MR, Lord Justice Maurice Kay, Lady Justice Smith): 31 January 2011 ...

  • News

    Local government and mayoral chief executives

    2011-02-17T00:00:00Z

    The mother of parliaments has irreverently been described as a ‘palace of varieties’. For, despite the seriousness of the business before MPs, the House of Commons can often look like pantomime knockabout. The ‘oh no it isn’t, oh yes it is’ of prime minister’s questions ...

  • News

    Consumer conference challenged perceptions of legal sector

    2011-02-17T00:00:00Z

    As president of the Law Society, I see it as my job to ensure that we solicitors are well equipped for the legal services market of the future. Like you, I have long been worried by the unwarranted negative perception that surrounds the profession. Lazy ...