All News articles – Page 1649
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News
Chambers of Commerce seek 'fast-track' employment claims
Low-value employment claims should be fast-tracked and dealt with through mediation, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) recommended this week. Claims for less than £3,000 should be resolved within three months, the BCC said in a report on employment regulation. It claimed that employment cases are ...
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Down the food chain
I read with interest last week’s item about legal aid business models (see [2010] Gazette, 11 March, 12). As far as family law is concerned, the 2010 fee structure and the way that solicitors in private practice are now audited (they must have documentary evidence of means on file when ...
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Proceed with care
I note the concerns expressed by Christina Blacklaws in your report on the Supreme Court decision in Re W (Children) about children giving evidence in court proceedings (see [2010] Gazette, 11 March, 2).
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Jack Straw to scrap court fees in care cases
Justice secretary Jack Straw has agreed to scrap controversial court fees in care and supervision cases, after an independent report found they deterred local authorities from starting proceedings. However, the change will not come into effect until April 2011 to avoid local authorities having ...
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Calling for a legal duty to inform patients of medical errors or incidents
by Paul Sankeya partner at Russell Jones & Walker. He specialises in clinical negligence and is a member of the specialist Law Society and AvMA clinical negligence panels At the age of 39, Colin Freeman’s life fell apart when he suffered a severe and disabling stroke. ...
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Reality bites
I read the articles by Lucy Scott-Moncrieff and Adam Makepeace with interest (see [2010] Gazette, 11 March, 12). I was formerly a sole practitioner for over 20 years, involved in mental health work all that time. I have been working with Duncan Lewis as a freelance consultant mental health solicitor ...
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Solicitor HCAs v the bar – the debate rages on
‘If you’re not bar, you won’t go far,’ one rueful lawyer noted after Judge Gledhill QC aimed his now notorious broadside at three solicitor higher court advocates last year (see [2009] Gazette, 23 April, 1). June Venters meanwhile, the first female solicitor QC, described prejudice from the bar and bench ...
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Assigned risks pool to remain open
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has agreed ‘in principle’ to scrap its plans to close the assigned risks pool (ARP), but will tighten the rules on eligibility and how long firms can stay in the pool. The SRA said the decision to retain the ARP, the ...
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Solicitors alarmed by associate prosecutor proposals
Proposals that could enable ‘associate prosecutors’ with no legal qualifications to conduct magistrates’ court trials amount to ‘justice on the cheap’ and herald the ‘de-lawyering’ of the magistrates’ court, solicitors have warned. The Institute of Legal Executives (ILEX) is consulting on proposals to grant associate prosecutors ...
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Mental health programme following ‘political agenda’
A programme costing £60m a year to detain and treat 350 mentally ill offenders is following a ‘political agenda’ with no benefit to society or the detainees, a leading mental health lawyer has warned.
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Booming African economies offer lucrative opportunities for UK law firms
The booming economies of sub-Saharan Africa offer lucrative opportunities for British law firms, but only if firms engage with local lawyers on equal terms and are not there just to make a ‘quick buck’, leading African lawyers have warned. The average growth in gross domestic product ...
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Mortgage lenders lose faith in regulation of solicitors
The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has called for closer scrutiny of law firms to crack down on mortgage fraud committed by solicitors, and a comprehensive review of the way solicitors are regulated. The CML said the principles-based approach of the Solicitors Regulation Authority is not ...
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Land Registry finalises cost-cutting proposals
The Land Registry has announced a revised programme of structural changes that will mean fewer office closures and job cuts. Following consultation on proposals to reduce its operating costs, the Registry will now close three of its 17 offices in 2011, rather than five as had ...
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Africa is where it’s at for British lawyers
There’s a new feel-good factor in Africa, a mingled sense of pride, optimism and confidence that the future is in its people’s hands. Its economy is booming and the ‘developed world’ is again beating a path to its door...
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A third of home information packs ‘unsatisfactory’
Almost a third of estate agents provide unsatisfactory home information packs according to a survey by Birmingham Trading Standards. Results of the study carried out at the end of last year revealed that, of the 37 packs examined, 70% were rated satisfactory or reasonably satisfactory, and ...
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Bar Standards Board agrees constitution
The Bar Council has agreed to give its regulator a separate constitution enshrining its independence. Following approval by the Bar Council at the weekend, the Bar Standards Board will have its own constitution, giving it powers to choose the committees, standing orders and rules that govern ...
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Identify client groups to get your message across to the right people
There are many useful online discussions on marketing and management issues that I feel sure are helping to develop legal services marketing.
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Explore legal representation for rape victims, says Stern review
Legal representation for rape victims should be explored to counter the unfairness in the adversarial system felt by many, Baroness Stern said in her independent review into how rape complaints are handled, published today. ‘Victims often feel that the court system is unfair because they do ...
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Gunfight at the EU Corral?
We had a glimpse of the future this week. There was a shoot-out at the EU Corral involving the new justice commissioner and the member states. The weapon used was the Lisbon Treaty, and the quarrel broke out, beyond the tumbleweed and swinging saloon doors, over the need for minimum ...
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Public sector faces high level of employment claims
Some 37% of employment appeal cases are against public sector organisations, despite such bodies employing only 22% of the workforce, research by Milton Keynes firm EMW Picton Howell has shown. The firm's analysis of national statistics and information from the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) showed that ...