All News articles – Page 1552
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News
Bar Council cautions against ‘DIY litigants’
The government’s ‘crude and brutal’ legal aid cuts will trigger a surge in ‘DIY litigants’ that risks ‘gridlock’ in the courts, the Bar Council has warned. Responding to the government’s consultation on legal aid, which closes today, the bar’s representative body said the cuts, which are ...
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Jackson’s proposals can’t deliver access to justice at proportionate cost
by Helen Smith, senior broker at TheJudge, a litigation risk transfer broker The legal press has been consumed in recent months with commentary on the imminent doom that will befall the ATE insurance market together with the eradication of recoverability of success fees, should Lord ...
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Pro bono figures are a credit to the profession
Last week’s report by the Law Society on pro bono activity by solicitors was a real credit to the profession. The study showed that private practice lawyers performed a whopping £475m of pro bono work in 2009/10, up 19% on the previous year. ...
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Stoke personal injury firm launches iPhone app
Stoke-on-Trent personal injury firm Attwood has launched an iPhone app that allows users to upload images of their injuries prior to launching a claim. Launching the app today, which allows users to value and make a claim, the firm said that uploaded information can be downloaded ...
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Law academics slam Jackson’s civil justice proposals
An independent panel of law academics has branded Lord Justice Jackson’s proposals to reform civil litigation costs as ‘misleading and ‘inconsistent with a fundamental principle of civil justice’, as it published a report today. The 11-strong panel, chaired by Bristol University tort law professor Ken Oliphant, ...
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Memory lane
Law Society’s Gazette, February 1981 Counsel’s Opinion: In Defence of WomankindHow I wish all the painters, scrawlers, slogan writers and scribblers would stop it. One of the least attractive social phenomena of our time ...
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Local government
Legal advice and funding – Champerty – Conditional fee agreements – Indemnity clauses Danri Morris and Anor v Southwark London Borough Council: CA (Civ Div) (Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury MR, Lords Justices Lloyd, Gross): 25 January 2011 ...
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Glam-tastic
It’s official; solicitors are glamorous. Confirmation, if ever we needed it, came last week when Glamour magazine named solicitor Lisa Morgan (pictured) alongside the likes of Cheryl Cole and Kate Middleton as one of the most influential women in Britain. Morgan was named junior lawyer of the year at the ...
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ProcureCo fears
Thirteen police station cases create 12 charged to court, 11 representation orders in magistrates’ court and one Crown court case. A ProcureCo would have to capture all duty work, and generate its own clients overnight (as that is where most work is) in several courts, not to mention covering police ...
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Research highlights gender differences in legal profession
An in-depth study by the Law Society’s strategic research unit has revealed a picture of a profession in which there is a high level of disparity between the sexes; a tendency to remain in the same job; and a high value placed on flexible working. The ...
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Will the profession follow the Supreme Court's endorsement of Twitter?
Twitter is either an indispensable communications tool, perfectly suited to a breathless and urgent age, or akin to ethereal bindweed, adding little or nothing of value and banal in its ubiquity. Take your pick. What seems clear, though, is that lawyers are going to have ...
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Supreme Court gives green light for courtroom tweeting
The Supreme Court gave the go-ahead for people to ‘tweet’ from inside the courtroom last week. The court issued guidance on the use of live text-based communication from the courtroom by legal teams, journalists and members of the public. Since the guidance ...
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Legal services comparison website launched
The latest legal services comparison website to enter the market was launched by a Hertfordshire solicitor last week. Michael Welsh has launched fixed costs comparison site comparelegalcosts.com, which offers consumers a choice of three firms based on their postcode.
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Redefining the defence of fair comment
Most parents have experienced the plaintive cry of ‘it’s not fair!’ hurled from the mouths of offspring made to tidy their rooms or deprived of the must-have of the moment. But the words have also recently sprung from the lips of our judiciary and government ...
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Jackson and clinical negligence claims
by Roger Wicks, partner at Gadsby Wicks in Chelmsford As the deadline approaches for responses to the Jackson review, many continue to ask why Lord Justice Jackson and those around him appear so keen to withhold justice from thousands of deserving people.
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CPS consults over guidance on retracted rape claims
The Crown Prosecution Service has issued a 12-week consultation on its new guidance over when to prosecute people who retract allegations of rape or domestic violence. The interim guidance, which is effective from today, applies in cases where a complainant of rape or domestic violence retracts ...
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Civil procedure
Civil evidence – Affidavits – Case management – Committal for contempt (1) Consolidated Contractors International Co SAL (2) Consolidated Contractors (OIL and GAS) Co SAL v Munib Masri: CA (Civ Div) (Sir Anthony May (president QB), Lords Justices Smith, ...