All News articles – Page 1557
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Legal aid faces threat of further cuts following rape backlash
The government is considering fresh legal aid cuts because Kenneth Clarke's politically maladroit remarks about rape sentencing have jeopardised its bid to save money by cutting the prison population, it has been suggested to the Gazette.
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The row over civil costs will not be over any time soon
The apparent banning of Marmite from Denmark’s supermarket shelves was a golden opportunity for marketing chiefs. I’m pretty certain the reverberations of losing a few Krone will be more than offset by the presence of the Marmite brand in every news outlet for the last couple ...
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The revolution behind the recent ECJ decision on notaries
The Law Society Gazette reported a few days ago that the European Court of Justice decided to open up the continental notaries’ profession to all nationalities. That is a big change. But it does not represent the real revolution behind ...
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LSB publishes final referral fees decision
The Legal Services Board has dropped plans to force law firms to publish their referral fee arrangements on their websites, in its final decision on the regulation of referral fees published today. The LSB said it would no longer seek to prescribe the precise measures that ...
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Government right to throw weight behind promoting commercial legal sector abroad
by Ted Greeno, senior litigation partner at Herbert Smith A fresh breeze is blowing through Whitehall.
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Solicitors face 'challenge' from Council for Licensed Conveyancers over ABS
The solicitors’ profession faces an ‘interesting challenge’ following the Legal Services Board’s recent stamp of approval for the Council for Licensed Conveyancers to become a regulator of alternative business structures, a leading market commentator has suggested. Stephen Mayson of the Legal Services Institute said that ...
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Administrative law
Legal advice and funding - Amendments - CLS funding - Funding code R (on the application of Evans) v Secretary of State for Justice: DC (Admin) (Lord Justice Laws, Mr Justice Stadlen): 12 May 2011 ...
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Essex legal aid firms to merge
Two established Essex firms will on 1 July become the latest legal aid firms to merge. Fisher Jones Greenwood, which has offices in Colchester, Chelmsford and Clacton-on-Sea, will join forces with Chelmsford firm Budd Martin Burrett in the fourth major legal aid firm tie-up this year. ...
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LSC big firm meetings 'unfair', small practices allege
Small legal aid firms accused the Legal Services Commission of breaching its duty of fairness this week, as it emerged that the LSC had scheduled two meetings in recent days exclusively for large firms, in the run-up to the government’s best value tendering (BVT) consultation. ...
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Lord chief justice allowed himself to be labelled 'enemy of free speech'
Taking on the media is never a good idea if you happen to be a member of the judiciary. While judges are required to be fair, logical and impartial, reporters and commentators are often inaccurate, opinionated and driven more by commercial needs than by lofty ...
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Fresh plea for asbestos victims 'fund of last resort'
Lawyers acting for people suffering from asbestos-related diseases have renewed their appeal for a ‘fund of last resort’ when insurance details cannot be found. Claimant lawyers said they had waited more than a year for the results of a consultation on setting up an Employers’ Liability ...
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Video evidence; and assessing an unsafe system of work
Disclosure of video evidence – Douglas v O’Neill. This High Court decision helpfully summarises the existing law relating to CPR 31 and (late) disclosure of video footage. The claimant (C) was badly injured when knocked over by a car driven by the ...
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Respect atheism
I am an atheist who is married to a Christian and who is the father of another Christian. While I do not share their faith, I respect it. With respect to Ian Newman (letters, 19 May), I do not recognise ...
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Solicitors Regulation Authority under attack from insurers
Insurers have criticised the Solicitors Regulation Authority for being too slow to act when law firms breach the rules. Speaking at the Law Society Property Section’s annual conference in London last week, Andrew Nickels, risk manager at Zurich Professional, claimed the SRA fails to take action ...
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‘No win, no fee’ unjustly blamed for rise in negligence claims
Your recent article reporting on the increased number of medical negligence claims in 2010 is interesting, but the Medical Defence Union reaches a highly speculative conclusion. The MDU offers no firm evidence for its suggestion that ‘no win, no fee’ arrangements are behind the increase ...
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Is English lawyers' innate pragmatism a burden or blessing?
I remember once addressing a group of German lawyers. One asked me whether having two doctorates rather than one would be more helpful in obtaining a job in the City of London. In that question lurked a world of difference ...
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Branding with hot irons?
‘Brand’ is a widely used description that covers many things in a lot of marketing areas and means many things to many people. Focusing on your firm’s brand is one way (of many ways) to manage the marketing process within your firm. ...
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Magistrates drop court closure challenge
Sedgemoor magistrates have dropped legal action seeking to prevent the closure of their court after having ‘lost faith in the system’. The decision leaves the Ministry of Justice facing three actions over its programme of court closures. Mike Dodden, former chairman of ...
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Law firms face new financial management challenges
The legal sector is increasingly focused on financial management. Contributing factors have included high-profile collapses such as Halliwells and Howreys, as well as ongoing failures and distressed mergers and acquisitions activity in the mid-markets. Common reasons cited for law firm collapses ...
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Child's play
Obiter’s recent news that Law Society president Linda Lee saw her own daughter admitted as a solicitor earlier this month sparked a rush of correspondence. Last week the Gazette heard from Charles Palmer, who recalled his embarrassment at not being able to understand Lord Denning’s ...