All News articles – Page 1573
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News
India will liberalise ‘in time’
The Law Society remains optimistic that sustained trade negotiations with the Indian government will eventually open the country’s legal market to English law firms, its vice-president John Wotton said this week. Wotton’s comments came after Veerappa Moily, Indian government minister for law and justice, told the ...
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Why Young is wrong on health and safety
Lord Young has resigned from his post as adviser to the prime minister following his ill-conceived statement that ‘the vast majority of people in the country today... have never had it so good ever since this... so-called recession started’. Of course, Lord Young has also ...
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Have a gander
In Bury St Edmunds, local firm Gross & Co has graciously given up its front window to advertise this year’s Theatre Royal Christmas pantomime production of Mother Goose. The firm’s window displays have been catching the eye on Guildhall Street for many years, but Gross is particularly proud of this ...
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A fairer test for students
The online news item ‘Research reveals widening social divide in the profession’ stated that more than one in seven lawyers went to a private school, despite just one in 50 of the population receiving private education. This comes as no surprise.
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Real estate litigation to rise
Next year will see a ‘significant’ rise in litigation within the real estate market, providing more work for some lawyers but putting others at risk of legal action, according to research by City firm Hogan Lovells seen by the Gazette. A survey of 160 senior executives ...
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Suitability of personal protective equipment
I have previously written that ‘suitability’ under the Personal Protective Equipment Regulations 1992 is a question of fact, but in terms of these regulations and their application in the context of health and safety, it must be interpreted in the widest sense. One has to look at the risk of ...
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Electoral process
Election rules – Freedom of expression – Proportionality Robert Elwyn James Watkins v Philip James Woolas EWHC 2702 (QB) DC (Mr Justice Teare, Mr Justice Griffith Williams): 5 November 2010 ...
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Why the legal profession needs an effective opposition
Politics is a brutal business. One day it is all red boxes, Newsnight, and Yes Minister. The next, no one recognises you. This may seem an odd time to consider the position of the Labour party, particularly as we gear up for a major debate on the future of legal ...
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Djanogly in mediation push
Individuals should play a greater role in solving their problems rather than turning to the courts, justice minister Jonathan Djanogly said last week as he outlined government plans to support mediation in the wake of proposals to slash legal aid. Speaking at the Centre for Effective ...
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Online law degree launched in Scotland
A Scottish university will next year launch what is believed to be the first online law undergraduate degree. The online LLB from the department of law at Robert Gordon University’s Aberdeen Business School will run from September 2011. The university already runs online law masters courses. ...
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Stolen data used for email scams
Employees at foreign call centres that were engaged by claims management companies have stolen customer data that was later used to launch email scams in the UK, the Gazette has learned. The Ministry of Justice claims management regulator said this week that, after some claims management ...
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Where the real unfairness lies in our ‘compensation culture’
I came across a court case the other day that throws an interesting light on the unfairness of our ‘compensation culture’. It involved a supermarket customer who tripped over a basket which had been discarded near the checkout counter. She fell and injured her shoulder. ...
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Lord chief justice fears new threats to jury trial
There must have been sighs of relief at the Ministry of Justice last week when officials realised that they would not be required to abolish trial by jury. The threat this time was not from the department’s grandly titled Commissioner for Victims and Witnesses. Louise Casey’s absurd demand this month ...
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Class ceiling
Obiter was intrigued by a recent study on cuts to first-class travel, which are costing the legal profession a whopping £15,500 in lost productivity per employee per year, apparently.
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Food merger, coal deal, children's car seat sale, and petroleum loan
Food for thought: City firm Herbert Smith advised food group Northern Foods on its merger with Irish food company Greencore Group, advised by magic circle firm Slaughter and May, to create £500m FTSE 250 company Essenta Foods. ...
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Immigration cap unveiled
The Home Office has announced a 21,700 annual cap on the number of skilled immigrants from outside the EU allowed into the UK, in a move that will disappoint those in the legal profession concerned that the limit will prevent them from employing the foreign lawyers needed to service clients. ...
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Calls for major reform to law training
Pressure mounted for sweeping reform of the education and training of lawyers this week, as regulators announced a root-and-branch review of the current framework. The review was unveiled as research seen by the Gazette suggested that there are currently three times more final-year law students who ...
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Call to reshape criminal justice system
by Dru Sharpling, HM Inspector of Constabulary There are swingeing budget reductions ahead for the network of agencies that make up the criminal justice system (CJS). By 2014/15 the Ministry of Justice budget will drop by 23% in real terms and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) funding ...
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QualitySolicitors take fight to big-brand competitors
The government’s legal aid proposals gave rise to a new traffic record for an item on the Gazette’s website. But that record didn’t last long, you might be surprised to learn.
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BME firms told to embrace alternative business structures
BME firms should embrace alternative business structures to stay in business, the new chair of the Black Solicitors Network told the Gazette this week. Nwabueze Nwokolo, who is also the Law Society council member for ethnic minorities, said: ‘Most black lawyers work in small firms, but ...