All News articles – Page 1651
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News
Judges face an even tougher task in children’s cases
Judges in family proceedings have been given an unenviable task. Following a decision of the Supreme Court last week, they must now think longer and harder...
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Call for conveyancers to diversify as pressure grows on fees
Conveyancers are facing unprecedented pressure over fees but have largely failed to diversify into other areas, according to research seen exclusively by the Gazette. The news comes as Spicerhaart, the estate agency which has launched website iSold.com in association with supermarket Tesco, said that it expects ...
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Burying good news
It is astonishing that the government has not publicised the Ministry of Justice research into public attitudes to legal services (see [2010] Gazette, 4 March, 1) – after ministers specifically commissioned it so they had a baseline from which to measure the impact of the reforms.
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Staff cuts bolstering revenues in mid-tier corporate firms
The ‘pressure is still on’ mid-tier corporate firms, research by accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers has shown, despite strong revenue figures for the last quarter. The latest figures from PwC’s quarterly law firm benchmarking survey indicate that, although revenues held up well during the traditionally quiet period to ...
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Blowing our own trumpet
I was surprised and disappointed at the headline and tone of the front page news item ‘Most people "could not tell a good lawyer from a bad one"’ (see [2010] Gazette, 4 March, 1).
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Call to simplify ‘intrusive’ legal aid means test
The Ministry of Justice’s decision to grant legal aid to families bereaved by the 7/7 bombings has prompted calls for the ‘intrusive’ and ‘distressing’ means test forms to be simplified. Last week justice secretary Jack Straw said that due to the ‘exceptional circumstances’, families who had ...
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Firms enter into ‘gentlemen’s agreements’ with investors
Law firms are entering into ‘gentlemen’s agreements’ with investors in anticipation of the rule changes that will allow them to sell equity stakes in their businesses from October 2011, a leading consultant told the Gazette this week. Giles Murphy (pictured), head of assurance and business services ...
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News analysis: how will reform of LSC affect legal aid lawyers?
Sir Ian Magee’s review of the delivery and governance of legal aid, commissioned by the Ministry of Justice and published last week, was the third report in the space of 12 months to criticise financial controls at the Legal Services Commission. It followed the qualification of the LSC’s accounts for ...
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Adverts for magistrates’ courts branded ‘tacky’
A leading criminal solicitor has urged firms to boycott a ‘tacky’ scheme to introduce commercial advertising boards into magistrates’ courts. HM Courts Service has given permission for a private company, Executive Legal, to install the boards and charge local law firms £424 a year to display ...
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Two solicitors accused over file-sharing ‘bully tactics’
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has referred two solicitors from London firm Davenport Lyons to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal over claims that the firm sent ‘bullying’ letters accusing hundreds of people of illegal file-sharing. Consumer group Which? complained to the SRA in 2008 that Davenport Lyons partner ...
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Solicitors should be concerned about the ‘entire contract’ rule
by Richard Buxtonwho heads a small firm in Cambridge specialising in environmental and public law As the solicitors in Buxton v Mills-Owens [2010] EWCA Civ 122 who stood to lose all profit costs, the Court of Appeal’s decision that we terminated our retainer with our erstwhile ...
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Scottish solicitors to get ‘Tesco law’ referendum
The Law Society of Scotland is to ballot its 10,000 members on Clementi-style liberalisation of the nation’s legal services market, as efforts to derail the reforms gather momentum. The move was announced in response to the scheduling of a special general meeting on 25 March requisitioned ...
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LSC delays payments due to ‘cash position’ problems
The Legal Services Commission notified the Law Society today that it will be delaying payments to solicitors due in March until the start of the next financial year in April. Chancery Lane said the LSC had said this was due to the ‘cash position’ in which ...
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Do solicitors value their reputation as a marketing tool?
The following statement was made to me by a solicitor: ‘Clients often do not fully understand what they are buying, hence any client review is meaningless.’ I take the opposite view...
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Law firms unveil their carbon footprints
The alliance dedicated to reducing the carbon emissions of law firms today unveiled the carbon footprints of 32 firms and the Law Society. Publishing its Carbon Footprint Report, the Legal Sector Alliance (LSA) also claimed that carbon emissions fell by 4% among member firms since publication ...
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State school skills
I write in response to the letter headed ‘Tools of the trade’ from 18 February. I disagree entirely with the sweeping assumption that state-educated students do not gain the skills to obtain a professional qualification.
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Insurers’ spin
The speech given by Dominic Clayden, director of technical claims at Aviva, at the Civil Justice Section’s annual conference (see [2009] Gazette, 25 February, 2) demonstrates the insurance industry’s lamentable approach to the compensation of accident victims.
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Recruitment freezes in local government
Local government legal departments are instigating recruitment freezes ahead of public sector budget cuts, while there has been a surge in demand for legal aid lawyers in immigration, family and criminal work and an upturn in corporate law hires. Colin Loth, manager of the legal teams ...
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North-south divide in conveyancing?
With regard to the letter from Mr Gafford in the Gazette of 4 March, I am quite frankly amazed that a firm might believe a quote of £600 plus VAT would secure a conveyancing matter at a price of £167,000.
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Lord Ashcroft isn’t the only one with tax problems
This is a good week in which to speak about another group of people – apart from non-domiciled peers of the realm – who are currently having problems with taxes in different parts of Europe. Lawyers have their tax problems, too.