All News articles – Page 1575
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News
Neuberger: mediation is no substitute for justice
Mediation ‘cannot be a substitute for justice’, the master of the rolls warned this week, in a view that appears sharply at odds with government proposals to replace many legal aid-funded cases with alternative dispute resolution. Unveiling the government’s legal aid reforms this week, justice secretary ...
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Unions play a key role in improving safety in the workplace
Against a background of Lord Young’s review and the ongoing debate about Jackson, unions continue to campaign for fairness and decent health and safety standards at work. These are basic social needs necessary for stable industrial relations, growth and prosperity in any workplace. Employees have ...
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Making the grade
Restrictions on the legal practice course should be based not on whether a person has obtained a training contract, but on whether or not they are likely to do so. At university, I was among high achievers who obtained training contracts before commencing the LPC. Many ...
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Local government
Environment – Human rights – Public procurement Veolia ES Nottinghamshire Ltd (appellant) v Nottinghamshire County Council (respondent) and (1) Shlomo Dowen (2) Audit Commission for Local Authorities and the National Health Service For England (interested parties): CA (Civ Div) ...
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Government rethinks TUPE stance
The coalition government has scrapped plans to reform controversial employment regulations in an apparent U-turn by the Conservatives, it has emerged. Mark Hammerton, employment partner at national firm Eversheds, said Lord Hunt, now energy minister, had suggested before the election that a Conservative government would seek ...
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Follow that dream
Obiter has been mightily amused by the stunning ‘legal musical’ plotlines submitted in our competition to win two tickets to the West End show, Legally Blonde: The Musical. Plots included a secret love child conceived during a post-deal celebration; gangs of lawyers engaging ...
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Shaggy dog stories
Given the British love of animals, the urbane barrister Patrick Back believed that if he could introduce a dog into his closing speech, he had one foot in the acquittal door, writes James Morton. His favourite was when the earl comes home and finds his child and the bed covered ...
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Deputy difficulty
I was very interested to read the letter Capacity issue by Lindsay Taylor. I have been appointed as deputy for a family friend who has all the symptoms of dementia but is living in his own house with a care package to assist him. I duly registered the deputyship order ...
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The implications of a court ruling on vague IT contract terms
In my last column I described the syndrome of IT contract blindness – the ailment that causes parties to an IT contract not to notice that the words in the agreement bear little resemblance to what they are actually planning on doing. Since writing, it has fallen to the Court ...
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Consumer shift in estate services
Consumers are increasingly shopping around for estate administration services, which has led to a fall in average administration costs despite a rise in the value of estates, a report has suggested. The survey of 1,514 consumers, commissioned by insurer Sun Life Direct, also found that ...
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When should in-house lawyers consult external counsel?
The in-house lawyer is the ultimate jack of all trades. Naturally required to know their company’s core business inside out, they are also expected to be instant experts on diverse legal fields depending on their company’s needs: employment law if an HR issue crops up; property law if the company ...
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Research reveals diversity concerns
The Law Society this week published three research papers highlighting the difficulties faced by women, black and ethnic minority (BME), and lesbian and gay lawyers in the profession.
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Civil procedure
Conflict of laws – Allocation of jurisdiction – Court fees SK Slavia Praha-Fotbal AS v (1) Debt Collection London Ltd (2) ENIC Group: CA (Civ Div) (Lords Justices Mummery, Lloyd, Stanley Burnton): 4 November 2010 ...
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Bankruptcy proceedings and debt collection
In Everitt v Budhram [2010] Ch 1070, Mrs Budhram had been made bankrupt in 2006 for non-payment of £13,130 council tax. She paid the outstanding tax and the petitioning creditor’s costs, but steadfastly failed to engage with the trustee in bankruptcy, and ultimately in 2009, the trustee sought an order ...
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Drive to raise awareness of pro bono costs
Why did the master of the rolls, the solicitor general, a former attorney general and leaders of the legal profession join forces last week? Their aim was to launch a campaign to raise awareness of pro bono costs. Although introduced two years ago by section ...
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Judicial approval for costs pilot a ‘success’
Forcing solicitors to win judicial approval of their fee budgets in civil cases has been proven to reduce the costs of litigation, according to the judge who proposed the idea. Lord Justice Jackson (pictured), author of a major report on civil litigation costs, told the Commercial ...
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Judicial Appointments Commission survives quango cull
The Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) and the Judicial Appointments and Conduct Ombudsman will not fall victim to the government’s ‘bonfire of the quangos’, the government has revealed. Justice secretary Kenneth Clarke told parliament last week that the two agencies will remain in place ‘as valued independent ...
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The very principle of legal aid is now on trial
Brutal cuts to legal aid, unlike steep hikes in tuition fees say, are perceived to be a vote-winner. They will certainly find favour with many; the tabloids will make sure of that. As ever, in wheeling out their caricatures of ‘fat cat’ lawyers and scheming, criminal immigrants, they followed the ...
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Shopping for legal advice at Quality Solicitors
Yesterday morning I visited QualitySolicitors Freeman Harris for a free consultation. For those who haven’t heard, the firm is believed to be the first to open inside a shopping centre. I visited not as a journalist, but as a customer. I have never instructed a solicitor ...