All News articles – Page 1612
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News
What's up, Doc?
Obiter was intrigued to learn that ‘distinguished achiever’ Lord Bach, or, as he is not-so-fondly considered in some circles, hammer of the legal aid system, is being given an honorary degree, to be conferred upon him today by the University of Leicester. Former ...
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Sharia dilemma
Howard Shelley’s letter about the potential usefulness of sharia law raises the thorny question of how sharia is to be ‘given a try’. At present sharia courts hear cases and give judgments on a voluntary basis. The only further step I could envisage being taken would be to make those ...
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Democratic mandate
May I make the following two points in response to the generous comments by Joshua Rozenberg concerning the paper Towards a codified constitution, produced by a working group chaired by Professor Vernon Bogdanor and myself, and published by Justice.
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Councils merge two legal teams
Two London councils are to merge their legal teams under a joint head of legal services in a bid to cut external legal spend and staff costs. In a six-month trial, Merton’s head of legal Helen White will also become head of legal at Richmond ...
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Identity theft victim warns solicitors of conveyancing scam
A solicitor whose firm has been the victim of identity theft has warned lawyers not to be caught out by a scam in which a bogus conveyancer has been using her firm’s name to carry out property transactions. Saydia Iqbal, a partner at Bolton firm SK ...
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CPS damages claim saga rumbles on
A judge has with a ‘heavy heart’ allowed the Crown Prosecution Service to continue defending an employment tribunal claim that has already been in court four times and cost the taxpayer more than £1m, including a record £600,000 in damages for racial discrimination. Former CPS prosecutor ...
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Duty rota system in ‘chaos’
The police station duty rotas issued last week by the Legal Services Commission will run for only three months due to problems with the allocation process, which lawyers claim has ‘descended into chaos’. The Legal Services Commission has twice reissued the rotas for police station duty ...
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Chancery Lane launches new studies on paralegals and solicitor-advocates
The Law Society has commissioned former Ministry of Justice senior civil servant Nick Smedley (pictured) to produce research papers on paralegal qualifications and on improved support for solicitor-advocates. Smedley’s first paper will be a ‘scoping study’ into whether the Law Society should develop or endorse qualifications ...
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Government plans Defamation Bill
Media lawyers have given a mixed response to the government’s announcement that it is to publish a draft Defamation Bill in the new year. Justice minister Lord McNally outlined the government’s plans to review the law on defamation to protect freedom of speech and expression during ...
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Big four buoy partner profits in face of declining revenues
The UK’s quartet of billion-pound law firms have maintained healthy profits per equity partner (PEP) in the face of declining revenues, their financial results have shown. Industry observers said the firms had adopted a sensible strategy of cutting partners to bolster average partner earnings, enabling them ...
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AWS extends awards deadline
The deadline for entering the Association of Women Solicitors awards 2010 has been extended by one week to Friday 23 July. The seven categories are: best woman solicitor retaining and developing legal talent; and best woman solicitor managing a large practice, medium-sized practice, small practice, legal aid practice, probate ...
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Family law: Barder appeals – recent developments
There has recently been a series of Barder appeals, all based upon a significant change in the value of an asset soon after the final order was made. None of them have succeeded. As Thorpe LJ stated in Myerson v Myerson [2009] EWCA Civ 282, ‘very few successful applications have ...
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Companies ‘complacent’ on anti-corruption measures
Companies have failed to invest in anti-corruption schemes ahead of legislation that will punish domestic and foreign bribery, research has shown. More than three-quarters of companies have not invested any money in anti-corruption strategies, and only 12% have spent more than £500 on preparing for the ...
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Legal aid firms suffer LSC payment blow
The Legal Services Commission has dealt a further blow to legal aid firms by reducing the financial help it gives to firms while they wait for their bills to be paid by the commission. The LSC said it has had to reduce the amount of ...
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Legal aid is under threat across Europe and it is time to fight to save it
Let’s be honest. You are not going to plough your way through the 657 pages of the newly published Effective Criminal Defence in Europe, nor even the more accessible 30-page summary. However, you should know what you have missed. These reports have important lessons relevant to the upcoming battle for ...
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Research casts doubt on notion ABSs will trigger mass closures
One day, an enterprising author will write a novel after James Herriot, chronicling the exploits of a peripatetic solicitor travelling up hill and down dale to visit immobile clients in all weathers. A fanciful notion, perhaps – but Oxera’s report for the Law Society about the impact of ABSs on ...
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Small firms will be ‘resilient’ in the face of ABSs
Small law firms are likely to be ‘resilient’ to the impact of alternative business structures, research has suggested. A report by consultants Oxera, commissioned by the Law Society, also concluded that ABSs are unlikely to be detrimental to geographic access to justice for consumers. ...
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ABI demands tougher indemnity terms
Insurers must be given better access to solicitors’ disciplinary histories before granting them indemnity cover, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) said this week. Outlining proposals for reform of the professional indemnity insurance (PII) market submitted to the Solicitors Regulation Authority, the ABI said insurers want ...
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Legal brands ‘missing out’ on social media
Top legal brands are missing out on ‘vital’ customer interaction by failing to set up social networking sites, according to research seen exclusively by the Gazette. A report on the legal sector by internet consultants Greenlight said that many of the most visible legal websites do ...
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Boom times for serial litigants
Employment law is a nice little earner for serial litigants like Mr X, who has brought 91 cases to the employment tribunal since 1996. He and others like him blackmail employers. They cheat taxpayers out of hundreds of thousands of pounds and clog up the courts. And nobody in authority, ...