All News articles – Page 1591
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News
Withdrawing legal aid support for disabled children lacks compassion
Looking at the categories of people from whom the Ministry of Justice proposes to remove legal aid support, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that disabled children might be the most deserving of reprieve.
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Weighing up the balance sheet
What a cheerless world is portrayed in Maureen Broderick’s article . Are we really just a ‘time and materials’ business? It is a very long time since there was any debate about the basis of our professional ethics. There are still some of us who worry ...
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Conveyancing: bigger is not better
As a firm dealing with conveyancing matters on a comparatively small scale we feel hugely threatened by the pressures on our business from the increase of indemnity premiums largely resulting from the requirements of the Council of Mortgage Lenders, who of course include all the major banks and financial institutions. ...
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Poppadoms and ‘toot’ with Billy
Following on from last month’s article on the inimitable barrister Billy Rees-Davies, some further recollections are worth sharing, writes James Morton. One problem with Billy was eating with him. It was no impediment to him that he had only one arm. The difficulty was that his ...
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Love on the cards at MoJ
Modesty prevents Obiter from revealing the number of Valentine’s cards he received this week, save to say that the postman was breathing a little more heavily than usual when he left Obiter Towers on Monday morning.
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Consumer conference challenged perceptions of legal sector
As president of the Law Society, I see it as my job to ensure that we solicitors are well equipped for the legal services market of the future. Like you, I have long been worried by the unwarranted negative perception that surrounds the profession. Lazy ...
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Local government and mayoral chief executives
The mother of parliaments has irreverently been described as a ‘palace of varieties’. For, despite the seriousness of the business before MPs, the House of Commons can often look like pantomime knockabout. The ‘oh no it isn’t, oh yes it is’ of prime minister’s questions ...
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Civil procedure
Human rights - Media and entertainment - Sport - Anonymity JIH v News Group Newspapers Ltd: CA (Civ Div) (Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury MR, Lord Justice Maurice Kay, Lady Justice Smith): 31 January 2011 ...
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Defendant delays driving up claims costs
Delays by defendants are driving up the costs of personal injury and clinical negligence claims, an academic report has suggested. The study, carried out by the University of Lincoln and commissioned by claims referrer National Accident Helpline (NAH), suggested that the average daily cost of defendant ...
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News
Client confidentiality fears over Lloyds request
A request by Lloyds Banking Group for members of its conveyancing panel to provide client account information has sparked fears that firms could be in breach of confidentiality rules. Law Society chief executive Desmond Hudson said he was ‘urgently liaising’ with the group to clarify the ...
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Magistrates consider judicial review over court closures
Magistrates’ courts earmarked for closure are considering legal action against the Ministry of Justice, the Gazette has learned. The Magistrates Association (MA) has taken legal advice regarding a potential judicial review of the lord chancellor’s proposals for court closures. The controversial plans, ...
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European Commission targets collective redress system
The European Commission has relaunched its bid to introduce a coherent system for collective redress in Europe. Publishing a consultation on 4 February, the EC said it wanted to identify common legal principles on collective actions among European states. However, it ‘firmly opposes’ introducing US-style class ...
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Injured parties deserve full compensation, says Law Society
Individuals should be compensated in full for the wrongdoing or negligence of others, the Law Society said this week as it submitted its response to the government’s consultation on civil litigation costs. The Society said that conditional fee agreements (CFAs) have provided ‘important access to justice ...
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Noise control
The Law Society brought the might of celebrity behind its legal aid publicity campaign last week, receiving a ringing endorsement from actress Joanna Lumley (Lumley noted that without legal aid, cases like the gurkha justice campaign could never have been fought), and gathering a host of gurkhas for a photo ...
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Real reason for cuts
Has it occurred to anyone that the motivation behind cuts (begun by New Labour remember) in legal aid – particularly in the civil arena – may be a good deal more sinister than the coalition would have us believe? Any first-year law student should spot that ...
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Poorly drafted wills
I read (online) the Gazette article about the benefits of Will Aid (and the comments posted on that article). Friends of mine had their wills prepared by a small firm of solicitors under the Will Aid scheme. I offered to check the wills for them before ...
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Pitching for a game
Obiter thanks London firm Howard Kennedy and their super-efficient PR Giselle Daverat for organising a recent five-a-side footie match with the Gazette – from which this magazine’s team was ungracious enough to emerge victorious. Any other firms brave enough to take on the ...
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OAPs tackle high seas
Obiter doffs his sailor’s cap to 61-year-old Stroud solicitor John Russell, one of a four-strong team currently crossing the Atlantic on An-Tiki, a vessel built from 12-metre water and gas pipes, in a bid to raise £50,000 for charity WaterAid. The team, made ...
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Immigration
Local government - Age assessment - Asylum seekers - Unaccompanied minors R (on the application of FZ) v Croydon London Borough Council: CA (Civ Div) (Sir Anthony May (president QB), Lady Justice Smith, Lord Justice Aikens): 1 February 2011 ...
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Immigration
Human rights - Best interests - Children - Deportation ZH (Tanzania) V Secretary of State for the Home Department: SC (Lords Justices Hope, Brown, Mance, Kerr, Lady Justice Hale): 1 February 2011 ...