All News articles – Page 1574
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News
Family lawyers welcome 'ambitious' Justice Review Panel plans
Family lawyers have welcomed the ‘ambitious’ proposals published by the Family Justice Review Panel last week, but warned that the changes will not work unless there is adequate funding. The Law Society and Family Law Bar Association supported the interim recommendations of the panel, which ...
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Anybody listening?
I took part in the recent consultation exercise concerning the Jackson proposals for the reform of civil litigation. The government has now published its response. As far as I can see, the Jackson proposals will be fully implemented. There is ...
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APIL calls for damages discount review
The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers has alleged that a failure by the justice secretary to review the damages discount rate has led to some claimants being under-compensated by ‘hundreds of thousands of pounds’. Launching a judicial review against the MoJ last week, APIL said the ...
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Solicitors Regulation Authority unveils handbook
The Solicitors Regulation Authority published the final version of its new solicitors handbook this week, as it revealed it had received ‘quite a number’ of enquiries from potential new market entrants about becoming alternative business structures. The SRA has applied to become a regulator of ...
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Conveyancing solicitors call for binding contracts
Conveyancing solicitors and estate agents have called on the property industry to develop legally binding preliminary contracts to reduce the number of house sales that fall through. At an event hosted by the president of the E-Homebuying Forum, Sir Bryan Carsberg, last week, representatives from ...
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Legal Services Board rebuffs Djanogly on ILEX rights
The Legal Services Board has dismissed a call by justice minister Jonathan Djanogly for it to consult more widely on proposals to extend the rights of legal executives to conduct litigation and appear in court. Last week, Djanogly told the House of Commons that an application ...
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Open and ready for business? Changes in immigration
A Statement of changes in Immigration Rules, detailing changes due to come into force yesterday, was laid before parliament on 16 March. The statement announced changes to the Tier 1 category of the points-based system (PBS), as expected, and in particular to the Tier 1 ...
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Luton solicitor's campaign set to change road safety law
A Luton solicitor has been instrumental in an apparently successful attempt to change road safety laws. Mark Wardrop, partner and head of litigation at Pictons in Luton, campaigned for the creation of a new offence of ‘causing death by dangerous or reckless cycling’ after acting for ...
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Outcomes-focused regulation will require cultural changes by solicitors
by Tony Guise, director of GUISE Solicitors Limited, a specialist law firm providing regulatory and compliance advice 'When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said, in a rather scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean, neither more nor less.’
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Importance of legal ethics must not be sidelined in changing market
Close to the start of my presidential year I spent a weekend in Prague with colleagues to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the re-establishment of the independence of the Czech legal profession. Out of a small Czech bar of only 8,804 members, more than 500 ...
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Definition of CHIS
Ibrahim Hasan may have misstated the position when he wrote that a witness on a housing estate who discloses information about anti-social behaviour is considered a covert human intelligence source. In his thoughtful and useful article, he states that section 29(8) of the Regulation of Investigatory ...
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Civil evidence
Police - Criminal investigations - Remuneration - Trustees in bankruptcy Andrew v Newsgroup Newspapers Ltd and Ors: Ch D (Mr Justice Vos): 18 March 2011 The claimant sports agent (X) ...
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Civil procedure
Civil Procedure Rules - Media and entertainment - Anonymity - Breach of confidence (1) Zac Goldsmith (2) Sheherazade Goldsmith v BCD: Jemima Khan v BCD: QBD (Mr Justice Tugendhat): 22 March 2011 ...
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News focus: responses to the Jackson consultation on civil costs
The Ministry of Justice consultation on the implementation of Lord Justice Jackson’s (pictured) recommendations on reforming civil litigation and funding costs closed on 14 February. Six weeks later, we have the government’s response to the 600 submissions it received. They must be speed-readers at the MoJ. ...
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European courts face workload ‘crisis’, claims House of Lords
The European Union’s two highest courts are facing a ‘crisis’ in managing their existing and ever increasing workloads, according to House of Lords report published yesterday. The report predicted ‘another crisis of workload soon’ for the Court of Justice (CJ), the supreme or constitutional court of ...
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Quality concern
Susan Humble, clerk to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, states in her letter ‘Checks and balances’ that: ‘Statistically, only a small proportion of SDT decisions are appealed and it speaks volumes for the quality of the decision-making process that its decisions are overturned in very few cases.’
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Legal Ombudsman is 'consumer-unfriendly'
The Legal Ombudsman was last week accused by a consumer watchdog of capitulating to ‘spurious objections from the legal profession’, after announcing plans for a ‘staged approach’ to publishing information about complaints against law firms. In the first part of a three-stage approach, LeO has begun ...
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Criminal procedure
Appeals - Forfeiture - Notices of hearing - Proceeds of Crime Act R (on the application of Nashika Harrison) v (1) Birmingham Magistrates’ Court (2) Chief Constable of West Midlands: CA (Civ Div) (Lords Justices Pill, Hooper, Munby): 25 ...
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Is WHSmith deal a smart move for QualitySolicitors?
Today’s news that QualitySolicitors is to put a member of staff in WHSmith stores throughout the country has provoked a strong reaction from the profession; as any regular visitor to the Gazette site would expect. Whenever the Gazette reports on the latest QS initiative, the ...
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Disclosure of expert medical evidence
If a claimant instructs expert A, but then does not wish to rely upon the content of his report, can he instruct expert B without having to disclose expert A’s report? The assumption that claimant lawyers have historically made is ‘yes’ – privilege applies.