All News articles – Page 1576
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News
Solicitors from Hell ‘abusing court process’, judge finds
The owner of Solicitors from Hell, the website that blacklists law firms and solicitors, has been accused by a High Court judge of abusing the process of the court. In his judgment in the latest decided case against Rick Kordowski, published today, Mr Justice Tugendhat said ...
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APIL launches court action over compensation discount rate
The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) 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 on the issue yesterday, APIL said that ...
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Extend social care to prisoners, report suggests
There is overwhelming support to extend adult social care services to prisoners and the mentally ill, but concerns remain about the resource implications for local authorities, responses to a Law Commission consultation have shown. The Law Commission yesterday published a report analysing the 231 responses it ...
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The current child maintenance system does not work
by Maria Miller MP, minister for work and pensions Thursday 7 April sees the end of our three month consultation period on our green paper reforms ‘Strengthening families, promoting parental responsibility: the future of child maintenance’.
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Insurers are delighted by civil justice reforms
Our online report on the government’s decision to implement Lord Justice Jackson’s headline civil costs recommendations has nourished a little resentment in our readers – mainly aimed at our old friends in the insurance industry. ‘The premise that a "compensation culture" exists has been exposed as ...
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Report shows drop in training contract places
The number of training contracts offered by law firms fell by 18% last year, Law Society figures have shown. The Society’s annual statistical report reveals that only 4,784 training contract places were offered in 2010, compared to 5,809 in 2009. The ...
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Criminal defence teams in Merseyside merger
Two well-known Liverpool firms have merged to create one of the largest criminal defence teams on Merseyside. Criminal law firm RM Broudie and the criminal law team at Jackson & Canter have joined forces to become RM Broudie Jackson & Canter – The Justice Partnership. ...
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International document management
In a globalised environment where legal and regulatory matters can involve corporate subsidiaries spanning multiple jurisdictions, moving data from one country to another in order to respond to these matters can lead to significant legal, political and social challenges. The need to collect, review and produce ...
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Fraudsters jailed for £140,000 injury law scam
Six fraudsters were jailed last week for fronting a fake claims company that defrauded 19 personal injury law firms of almost £140,000. The company, North West Claims, which was run from an apartment in the Beetham Tower, Manchester, referred fictitious road traffic accident claims to solicitors ...
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Wragge & Co advises Phones 4u, Unilever's Sanex sale and JJB Sports stock exchange switch
It’s for you: Birmingham firm Wragge & Co advised the management of mobile phone retailer Phones 4u on its sale to private equity house BC Partners, for an undisclosed sum. US firm Weil Gotshal & Manges advised private ...
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Making the grade: examining accreditation schemes
A campaign to raise public awareness of the Law Society’s accreditation schemes and their value in helping people choose firms or specialist practitioners in increasingly competitive markets will be launched shortly. There is growing interest within the profession about the schemes.
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Accreditation schemes give consumers more choice
The Oxford Dictionary defines ‘accreditation’ thus: ‘Give authority or sanction to someone or something when recognised standards have been met.’ Which is precisely what happens when someone qualifies to be a practising solicitor, a point not lost on those who are ambivalent about the development of ...
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Proposals address ‘scandalous’ delays in family proceedings
The Family Justice System is ‘not working’ with ‘scandalous’ delays which are harmful to vulnerable children and adults, according to the independent Family Justice Review panel. The panel’s interim report, published today, said the system needs significant reform to tackle delays and ensure the 500,000 children ...
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Time to adopt US libel model
Lawsuits fought by foreigners who often have no link with Britain should soon be an historical anomaly if Kenneth Clarke has his way. But putting an end to ‘libel tourism’ is only part of the problem. Defendants can already put forward the defence of fair ...
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Age-old problem
How many firms of solicitors are complying with equality legislation, with particular regard to age discrimination? Time and time again (indeed it is the norm) I see jobs advertised for staff who are, for example, ‘1-3 years qualified’, or ‘5-10 years qualified’. ...
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MPs call for rethink on legal aid
An influential committee of MPs has criticised the government’s ‘dramatic’ legal aid reforms and called on ministers to ‘refine’ their proposals. In a report published this week, the House of Commons Justice Committee recommended that the Ministry of Justice look at other ways to make the ...
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Legal aid firm merger to ‘embrace new opportunities'
Two high-profile legal aid firms are to merge this week to create one of the largest publicly funded criminal defence practices in the country, the Gazette can reveal. Noble, with offices in Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Northamptonshire, will merge with Wembley and Watford firm Tank Jowett on ...
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Lawyers ‘sound off’ for legal aid
Hundreds of lawyers took to the streets of central London on Saturday to protest against the government’s proposed legal aid cuts. Under the banners of the Law Society’s ‘Sound off for justice’ campaign, Justice for All and Young Legal Aid Lawyers, they joined the TUC’s ...
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Police cuts force Tesco Law announcement
Controversial amendments being considered to the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill are aimed at giving interested businesses a role in front line policing. Supermarket giant Tesco is known to be among the credible companies actively looking to diversify into this area. ...
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QC appointment system outdated
I write with reference to the article ‘Excellence comes with experience’ by Lucy Scott-Moncrieff (see [2011] Gazette, 10 March, 10). Ms Scott-Moncrieff says that ‘the QC appointments system, both now and in the past, is intended to identify excellence in higher court advocacy, which excludes the ...