All News articles – Page 1615
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News
ARP: history repeats itself
Why does history always have to repeat itself? The comment of my professional colleague Dugald Sproull is very similar to the views I held about the Solicitors Indemnity Fund (SIF) and the position from which I challenged the SIF monopoly in the late 1990s.
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News
Legal ombudsman will take non-legal approach to complaints handling
by Adam Sampsonchief legal ombudsman for the new complaints-handling scheme In all the speculation about the consequences of a new government and its approach to managing the nation’s budget deficit, we all anticipated a period of review and reflection. Some of the certainties of the previous ...
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Surprise appointments
Many lawyers shared the surprise of Conservative MPs Dominic Grieve and Henry Bellingham when David Cameron gave neither a position in the Ministry of Justice in May. The legal profession had spent the last 12 months schmoozing the pair, who were widely expected to become justice secretary and legal aid ...
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News
Law centre to take on child asylum appeals
A law centre is to improve access to justice for asylum-seeking children by taking on and funding appeals referred to it by legal aid firms, it emerged last week. Hammersmith and Fulham Law Centre (HFLC) has invited publicly funded firms to submit cases to it that ...
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Criminal law - procedural amendments
On 5 April 2010, the Criminal Procedure Rules were consolidated into a new edition, but the opportunity was also taken to make a series of amendments. Part 29 now provides for special measures to assist defendants in relation to witness anonymity orders.
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Truth about CFAs
I was interested to see from your piece last week, ‘Urgent action’ demanded on CFA ‘scandal’ (see news), that Steven Heffer had written to the justice secretary Kenneth Clarke QC on behalf of Lawyers for Media Standards to voice its concerns about the proposal to reduce the maximum success fee ...
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News
Matters of fact about recent mental health tender
Recent negative comments in the Gazette about the results of the Legal Services Commission’s mental health tender ignore a number of key points. The tender process itself was a success. The LSC actually allocated 1,500 more new matter starts than in 2009/10, and the allocations we ...
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News
What about the poor students?
I understand that banks are either reducing or stopping altogether the loans they have offered to students for the graduate conversion and Legal Practice Courses. There is no student loan funding available for this either. We would not discriminate against people from different racial backgrounds ...
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News
Civil Procedure Rules 2009 - update
The second set of amendments to the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) for 2009 were contained within the Civil Procedure (Amendment No2) Rules 2009 (SI 2009/3390) and the much longer update 51 which effected changes to the CPR Practice Directions. Unless otherwise stated, the changes were effective from 6 April 2010. ...
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News
Courts Service failed to collect £1.3bn of fines
The Courts Service has failed to collect more than £1.3bn of fines and other penalties, according to a report from the National Audit Office (NAO) published this week. The report on the financial management of the Ministry of Justice, which oversees HMCS, shows the amount of ...
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Where is the value?
The recent research on mergers prompts me to ask you a direct question: is your firm an attractive takeover target? Whatever your initial response, I have a second question: how do you know?
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News
The time has come to scrap the minimum salary for trainees
LPC graduates face a pretty tough time getting training contracts at the moment. Not only is there an ever-increasing number of students graduating from the course – with training providers only too happy to offer more places – but the number of firms prepared to offer the training contract is ...
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News
Bulgaria opens up to foreign law firms
Bulgaria is to amend its anti-competitive Bar Act and allow international law firms to practise within its borders following a two-year campaign by City firms and the Law Society. Bulgaria’s Bar Act, which will now be amended, prohibits international law firms from practising under their own ...
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News
Clifford Chance regains status as biggest firm by revenues
Clifford Chance has retaken its place as the biggest law firm in the UK by revenues, pipping fellow magic circle firm Linklaters to the post. Clifford Chance also reported a strong resurgence in average profits per equity partner (PEP), which jumped by a quarter to £933,000 ...
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News
Refugee and Migrant Justice clients lose High Court bid
The High Court has rejected a bid to allow collapsed immigration advice charity Refugee and Migrant Justice to carry on representing its clients until their cases are transferred to other firms. Eight clients of RMJ, which went into administration last month, had sought a judicial review ...
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Government rules out appealing defence costs cap judgment
The Law Society has welcomed the government's decision not to appeal against Chancery Lane’s recent court victory in defeating the previous administration’s plans to make acquitted defendants pay most of the costs of their own defence. The Law Society challenged the policy introduced by the ...
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Linklaters reports fall in turnover
Linklaters, the biggest law firm in the UK by revenues, has reported falls in turnover and average profits per equity partner (PEP) as it became the second of the magic circle to unveil full-year financial results. Turnover at the firm fell by 8.8% to £1.18bn in ...
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News
Munby calls for more openness in family courts
Legislation intended to open up the family courts is a ‘lost opportunity’ that will fail to bring about the openness needed to improve confidence in family proceedings, a leading judge has said. Giving the 2010 Hershman-Levy memorial lecture last week, Lord Justice Munby called for ‘radical ...
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Family lawyers warn against dangers of cost cutting
Family solicitors have welcomed the government’s aim of encouraging alternatives to court in its review of the family justice system, but warned the focus must not only be cost cutting. The Ministry of Justice launched a ‘comprehensive review’ of the family justice system last week, ...
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Exclusive: surge in merger activity as firms seek strength in numbers
Merger activity at small and medium-sized firms climbed by a third in the first half of 2010, according to new research published by the Law Consultancy Network in association with the Gazette. Three-quarters of firms surveyed said they had actively considered the option.