All News articles – Page 1629
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News
The last farewell
As probate lawyers know only too well, there are an awful lot of folk out there who still haven’t got round to making a will (it is, of course, at the very top of Obiter’s to-do list, and has been for years). This means the estates of some disorganised types ...
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Moving towards a fairer system
We understand the reluctance of Simon Osborne (see [2010] Gazette, 13 May, 13), as somebody who does only pro bono work and does not hold client funds, to pay the full practising certificate fee.
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Exclusive: QualitySolicitors launches high street network
Law firm marketing alliance QualitySolicitors has launched a national high street branch network in a bid to become the first ‘household name’ legal brand, the Gazette can exclusively reveal. Today sees the opening of the first 15 QualitySolicitors branches across the UK, in a strategy described as a ‘game changer’ ...
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The end of lawyers? Pah! This is the time of the 'super lawyer'.
In March, Alastair Moyes stated that 'law firms need to work hard in the face of commoditised legal providers'. Last month he bravely stuck his neck out and suggested that we, today's lawyers, need to embrace radical change...
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Saudi electric issues sukuk and Polish exchange listing
Saudi sukuk: Allen & Overy, with affiliate Saudi firm Abdulaziz AlGasim, advised Saudi Electricity Company on issuing a SAR7bn (£1.3bn) sukuk. US firm Latham & Watkins, with Saudi firm Law Office of Mohammed Al-Sheikh, advised joint lead managers HSBC Saudi Arabia and Samba ...
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Double standard
The conduct of elections has come under the microscope in recent weeks. Joshua Rozenberg noted (see [2010] Gazette, 13 May, 8) that section 23 of the Representation of the People Act 1983 says that ‘no parliamentary election shall be declared invalid by reason of any act or omission by the ...
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Competence to practice
I read with some interest about the various proposals for solicitors to undergo ‘real time’ peer review to assist in measuring their competence (see [2010] Gazette, 1 April, 1). While the proposals strike me as overly burdensome, the issue of competence is certainly a relevant inquiry.
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Will the new government and Clarke uphold promises on legal issues?
Sometimes you can’t do better than Bruce Springsteen: ‘Down here it’s just winners and losers and don’t get caught on the wrong side of that line.’ Jack Straw will appreciate the full force of the Boss’s observations. But there were also winners and losers among the Conservatives. And, beyond the ...
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Civil procedure
Civil evidence – Claims – Closed material – Disclosure Bisher Al Rawi and five others (appellants) v (1) Security Service (2) Secret Intelligence Service (3) Attorney General (4) Foreign and Commonwealth Office (5) Home Office (respondents) and (1) ...
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What the legal services reforms could mean for City law firms
Nothing defines the City of London quite as much as its propensity to check the bottom line –the importance of which has been underlined by the financial crisis and renewed attention to risk management. The downturn brought dark days for London lawyers. With liquidity at an all-time low, funds were ...
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Chancery Lane welcomes coalition government proposals
The Law Society welcomed the new coalition government’s pledge to seek a better balance between state surveillance and privacy this week, while legal aid lawyers said they hoped Kenneth Clarke’s appointment as justice secretary will spell good news for access to justice. Among the proposals set ...
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Ex-lawyer campaigns for civil liberties in China
A man wrongfully detained in a Chinese mental hospital for six and a half years was released earlier this month following pressure from a commercial lawyer turned civil liberties activist. Former commercial lawyer Alice XT Huang, who visited London as a guest of the Law Society ...
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Brawl of fame
When lawyers talk about a court fight, they are usually speaking metaphorically of an intellectual joust with their opponents, not actual fisticuffs. But one plucky barrister last week showed he can deal deftly with both modes of conflict. Piers Wauchope of London set 5 Pump Court stepped in to help ...
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IT/IP: Google and brand searches
A landmark decision from the European Court of Justice will have brand owners checking whether, and how, third parties use their brands as internet search terms.
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Claims begin to filter through RTA claims portal
Low-value road traffic accident personal injury claims sent through a new electronic data exchange launched three weeks ago have begun hitting insurers’ desks this week, figures show. Of the first 617 claims submitted as the Gazette went to press, liability had been admitted in 386 cases ...
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Colour bar
Early on in his legal career, the master of the rolls learned an important lesson about the rule of law from a judge at Bloomsbury County Court, Obiter heard last week. Lord Neuberger, a former property barrister, was recalling the first time he cross-examined a chartered surveyor, in a case ...
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LSC payment delays spark bankruptcy fears
Delays by the Legal Services Commission in paying solicitors could lead to some firms becoming insolvent, lawyers warned this week. The LSC wrote to firms in March informing them that it would not be making payments on time that month, and payment delays have continued since, ...
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OFT's credibility is in tatters following the failed BA price-fixing trial
by Julian Joshua a cartel specialist partner at Howrey The ignominious collapse last week of the first contested prosecution by the OFT for the cartel offence (section 188 of the Enterprise Act 2002) in the BA ‘Fuel Surcharge’ trial may seem like a farce, until you ...
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Court of Appeal rules on plea bargain sentencing
White-collar criminals sentenced to a year or less in jail should have their sentences suspended if they cooperate fully with related fraud investigations, the Court of Appeal ruled last week. The lord chief justice Sir Igor Judge (pictured), presiding in R v Dougall, chastised the Serious ...