All News articles – Page 1562

  • News

    Welcome to the family

    2011-05-18T00:00:00Z

    History is certainly not bunk as far as traditionalist Obiter is concerned. So we offer our apologies to Peter Williamson for muddling our dates when we wrote last week that he was sitting Law Society president when his daughter Catherine was admitted in 2005. ...

  • News

    Could Mary Portas help your law firm?

    2011-05-18T00:00:00Z

    Imagine if your law firm was put to the test by a secret shopper – someone like TV celebrity guru Mary Portas, otherwise known as Mary Queen of Shops. How would it fare? After a high powered career in retailing, Portas forged ...

  • News

    Immigration lawyers warn of reforms impact

    2011-05-18T00:00:00Z

    Limits on the number of professional migrants allowed into the UK are ‘politically-driven’ and risk stalling economic recovery and driving business overseas, speakers at an Alliance of Business Immigration Lawyers conference in London warned earlier this month. Delegates heard that the UK was ‘bucking the trend’ ...

  • News

    Legal Walk raises £500,000 for advice centres

    2011-05-17T00:00:00Z

    Legal workers came out in force across the country yesterday for this year’s Legal Walk. More than 5,000 people joined in the event on Monday evening to raise £500,000 for free legal advice centres in London. The Gazette acted as media ...

  • News

    MoJ publishes action plan to strengthen UK’s legal services position

    2011-05-17T00:00:00Z

    Plans to strengthen the UK’s reputation as a global leader in legal services were unveiled by the government yesterday. The new action plan sets out how the Ministry of Justice and UK Trade & Industry aim to promote the UK as a centre of legal excellence, ...

  • News

    BLG announces profits boost

    2011-05-17T00:00:00Z

    City firm Barlow Lyde & Gilbert (BLG) has this week announced significant end-of-year profits. The firm recorded a 17% increase in turnover for 2010/11, and saw profits rise by 35% across the board. That figure took into account performance in both the ...

  • News

    Onside Law advises on Ryder Cup

    2011-05-16T00:00:00Z

    Sport specialist firm Onside Law has taken a major role in the destination of one of golf’s biggest tournaments. The firm advised on all aspects of the bid process to host the 2018 Ryder Cup, with a decision expected to be announced tomorrow. ...

  • News

    Concessions expected in legal aid bill due next month

    2011-05-16T00:00:00Z

    The bill to implement the government’s legal aid reforms is to be published next month, and is likely to contain some key concessions, the Gazette has been told. Sources within Parliament have indicated that the rules for funding in private family cases, where there is an ...

  • News

    Better several months too soon for tax returns

    2011-05-16T00:00:00Z

    It’s never too early to start thinking about the 2010/11 tax year and the 31 January deadline for tax returns that seems to creep up on us faster and faster each year. Last month the government extended the penalty regime for late filing of ...

  • News

    Court upholds right to bring judicial reviews ‘in the public interest’

    2011-05-16T00:00:00Z

    A civil liberties campaigner has won a judicial review of the government’s attempt to remove legal aid for cases brought ‘in the public interest’. Maya Evans, represented by Birmingham firm Public Interest Lawyers, challenged amendments made to the Legal Services Commission’s funding code that meant ...

  • News

    One more step towards a European contract law

    2011-05-16T00:00:00Z

    Depending on the time of day at which you are reading this, you will need to take care not to spill either your cornflakes or cocktail. I am dealing with one of the topics which raises the blood pressure of any true patriot: European contract ...

  • News

    Sky News launches live Supreme Court coverage

    2011-05-16T00:00:00Z

    Sky News has today launched live coverage of proceedings in the UK’s Supreme Court. The court’s hearings and judgments can now be ...

  • News

    Families bereaved through crime face £37,000 costs

    2011-05-13T00:00:00Z

    Families bereaved through serious criminal acts face average costs of £37,000 in the wake of their loss, according to figures released this week. The commissioner for victims and witnesses, Louise Casey, published the results of a survey of 36 families who had been bereaved through murder, ...

  • News

    Where is the evidence of a need for employment law changes?

    2011-05-13T00:00:00Z

    Those nice folk who gave us the ‘bonfire of the quangos’, not to mention swingeing cuts to legal aid, social care and arts funding, are now turning their gimlet eyes to employment law. The coalition government announced on Tuesday that there is to be a ‘review ...

  • News

    Hogan Lovells facilitates deal to save fashion group

    2011-05-13T00:00:00Z

    City firm Hogan Lovells has helped to facilitate a deal to save fashion chain All Saints and secure hundreds of jobs. The firm has advised Lloyds TSB on its ongoing financing of the company, which was this week bought by private equity investors Lion Capital and ...

  • News

    Law firms and disreputable private investigators

    2011-05-13T00:00:00Z

    The legal profession is probably the most prolific source of work for private investigators, or enquiry agents, as they are more commonly known in the profession. But have you ever stopped to ask to ask yourself 'Who really is the enquiry agent that I ...

  • News

    European Union is subject to Aarhus Convention, UN rules

    2011-05-12T00:00:00Z

    Europe’s courts must stop barring citizens and non-governmental organisations (NGO) from challenging European Union decisions that affect the environment, a United Nations committee ruled last week.

  • News

    LSB recommends new powers for solicitors’ regulator ahead of ABSs

    2011-05-12T00:00:00Z

    The Solicitor’s Regulation Authority will be given new powers to operate a single compensation fund for alternative business structures and non-ABSs, if parliament follows a recommendation made by the Legal Services Board yesterday. The LSB also recommends that the SRA should be able to charge non-ABS ...

  • News

    Solicitors from Hell to face legal action

    2011-05-12T00:00:00Z

    The Law Society is set to launch legal proceedings against the owner of Solicitors from Hell, the website that blacklists law firms and solicitors. Chancery Lane will seek two injunctions against the site and its owner Rick Kordowski: one on behalf of solicitors and firms named ...

  • News

    Fixed fees could spark legal aid 'exodus', says top family lawyer

    2011-05-12T00:00:00Z

    A leading family lawyer has warned that the new fixed fees regime for private family cases, which came into force this week, could lead to a ‘significant exodus’ of firms from family legal aid. Christina Blacklaws, Law Society Council member for child care, said the ...