All News articles – Page 1589
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News
No support for cut-price conveyancers
I am sure all firms that undertake conveyancing will have had a fraught time with their professional indemnity insurance renewal this year, with most insurers refusing even to quote where property accounts for more than 50% of turnover. While going through my PI file, I ...
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Emerging markets continue to present obstacles to law firms
This week's Gazette has an international theme, with an exclusive account of the fascinating elite pow-wow that was the Global Managing Partners Summit 2010. And with western economies reportedly facing a new 'cold front' in the fourth quarter, we report on how the City behemoths are intensifying their efforts to ...
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CMC sector and lacking value
I note the reply of Kally Sahota of Select Claims Ltd to my letter. He appears to seek to justify his existence as a business by reference to the regulatory regime under the stewardship of Kevin Rousell. I do not accept his premise.
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Chancery Lane seeks family contracts extension
The Law Society has called on the Legal Services Commission to extend existing family contracts until April 2012, following Chancery Lane’s successful High Court challenge to the family tender process. However, some firms that did win family contracts through the tender process are now understood to ...
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Case for regulation of will-writers must rest on reliable evidence
By Dr Dianne Hayter, chair of the Legal Services Consumer Panel The Consumer Panel’s investigation into the possible need to regulate will-writing is under way. On the face of it, the case for regulation appears strong. A badly written will can have serious financial and personal ...
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'No legal case' for Iraq invasion
Human rights lawyers have claimed that the UK had no legal case for its 2003 invasion of Iraq, in a submission to the Chilcot Inquiry seen by the Gazette. The Solicitors International Human Rights Group found fault with the UK government’s two main justifications for ...
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Carry on matron
In these pre-CPS 1960s and 70s, when officers regularly prosecuted their own cases in magistrates’ courts, it was in the matron’s room next to the cells that summary justice was often administered, writes James Morton. Some were run by ex-police women, who kept the place ...
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Wills and testamentary capacity
Perrins v Holland and others [2010] EWCA Civ 840 Mr Justice Lewison had applied the principles of Parker v Felgate (1883) 8 PD 171 to declare a will valid where the testator had given instructions in April 2000 but did not execute the ...
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Welfare group opposes immigration cap
Lawyers acting for an immigrants’ welfare group are to challenge the legality of the government’s temporary cap on immigration. The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) has sent a pre-action protocol letter to the Home Office, informing it of its intention to launch judicial ...
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Lawyers hit by corruption and international bribery
Almost a third of lawyers worldwide have lost business to law firms or individual lawyers engaged in international bribery and corruption, a major study has found. More than one in five said they had been approached to take part in a possible corrupt transaction, according to ...
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Blueprint for local government revealed
Local government legal services could be delivered from just six regional centres of excellence within the next decade, it has been suggested. A roadmap unveiled by the Association of Council Secretaries and Solicitors (ACSeS) last week outlined how a national network of six legal hubs could ...
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Footing the bill for chancel repairs
I cannot accept the picture Michael Hall paints of a ‘muddle’ arising from chancel repair liability. Any conveyancing solicitor who is instructed by a purchaser identifies and investigates matters affecting a property his client wants to buy, and reports to the client (and probably a ...
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Ken Clarke predicts legal services ‘big bang’
Justice secretary Ken Clarke yesterday warned lawyers to prepare for changes as far reaching as the ‘big bang’ proved to be for the financial sector. Clarke told members of Birmingham Law Society that alternative business structures (ABSs) would herald a ‘whole new world’ for lawyers. From ...
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Lord Young attacks personal injury ‘lottery’
The peer leading the government’s review of the ‘compensation culture’ said this week that he is ‘ashamed’ of some personal injury lawyers in respect of how they advertise their services. Addressing the Conservative Party conference, Lord Young of Graffham (pictured) claimed that some personal injury advertising ...
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Chancery Lane calls for appraisal system for family judges
An appraisal system should be introduced for family judges, so that they can hear feedback on their performance and to reassure the public about the quality of the judiciary, the Law Society has suggested. In its response to the government’s family justice review, Chancery Lane said ...
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High volume of complaints against lawyers as LeO launches
The new Legal Ombudsman handled nearly 500 complaints on its launch day yesterday, taking its first call two minutes after opening at 8.30am while its chief executive was appearing on Radio 4's Today programme. Of 497 potential cases, more than 20 are already being investigated, chief ...
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Suspects at disadvantage without legal adviser, study shows
A report published by the Legal Services Commission has highlighted the crucial role played by defence solicitors in giving advice to defendants at the police station. The study by the Legal Services Research Centre (LSRC), the independent research division of the LSC, comes as the government ...
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Advice and legal expenses insurance
I read with interest the letter from Paul Asplin, the chief executive officer of DAS UK Group I agree with what Mr Asplin said concerning the judgment in Eschig not affecting the position of already-compliant legal expenses insurers.
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Firms leave ARP following tough SRA action
Nearly 50 law firms in the assigned risks pool (ARP) have closed or will soon close as a result of enforcement action by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, the regulator said today. The SRA said that 37 ARP firms have closed and 10 are in the process ...
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Courts will ‘struggle to cope’ with Equality Act caseload
Employment lawyers have warned that tribunals could be ‘submerged’ by a surge in cases stemming from the Equality Act 2010, which came into force this month. The act comes against a backdrop of increasing employment claims, with figures released by the Tribunals Service last week indicating ...