All News articles – Page 1658
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News
Some lessons for the Legal Services Board
The Legal Services Board can take a leaf out of the American Bar Association’s book when planning its next radical review of legal services.
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Herbert Smith sees rise in both income and profits
City firm Herbert Smith has increased both its turnover and average profits per equity partner (PEP) this year. Unveiling its 2009/10 financial results today, the top-10 firm (pictured) reported turnover up slightly to £450m from £444m in 2008/09, with PEP 2% higher at £862,000. ...
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Reasonable charges
May I be allowed to respond to Ms Watson's letter in the 3 June Gazette, from the point of view of the solicitor acting for the management company? I frequently receive requests for information from solicitors acting for buyers and sellers of flats. Invariably, I receive a pre printed questionnaire ...
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In defence of defenders
There is a belief to some extent within the profession, and to a greater extent without, that those who practise criminal law are not of the same standard or calibre as solicitors who do not. From the profession’s point of view, this is because we rely ...
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Solicitor discrimination
I was unable recently to act on behalf of a client in a conveyancing transaction because my firm was already acting on behalf of her seller. The client instructed a local licensed conveyancer to act on her behalf. On speaking with her conveyancer a few days later, I was reminded ...
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Sharia law and diversity
Your report on the challenge to Sharia Law by the One Law for All Campaign has highlighted a concern I have had for some time. Peter Tatchell is quoted as generally opposing sharia jurisprudence as homophobic, sexist and anti-democratic.
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Fundamental principles
Roger Smith's analysis of the shameful killing of Baha Mousa overlooks the significance of acquittal following trial under due process of law. The Labour politicians who sent the army into Iraq required a senior officer to appear in the dock alongside non commissioned ...
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Law shops are the future
So the Law Society is to spend £422,000 telling people what they already know, namely, that they can turn to a solicitor for legal advice because solicitors are ‘qualified to answer’. Is this money well spent and properly targeted as far as the public and the ...
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In the real world
I wonder whether your anonymous solicitor in the 27 May issue has any idea of the overheads of a solicitor's practice? As a sole fee-earner and without being burdened with rent, I can say that the overheads of my practice of many years approximate £100,000 per ...
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The Council of Europe costs one euro a year – and it’s worth every cent
Heard the one about the Council of Europe? It’s worse than a bureaucracy – it’s a Eurocracy. Boom-boom! I’ve just got back from the Council of Europe (CoE) – I was reporting on the parliamentary assembly last week in Strasbourg – and, despite the almost universal cynicism typified by the ...
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International in-house pay survey shows that seniors are suffering
Senior in-house lawyers have fared much worse than their junior colleagues in the pay stakes over recent years, research has suggested. The average salary for a UK in-house lawyer with 10 years’ post-qualification experience (PQE) dropped 7% between 2004 and 2010, to £89,000 from £95,500, according ...
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35 years and counting
Obiter thinks it is high time we revived our celebration of loyal legal PAs. Step forward Sharon Charters, who has clocked up 35 years at Stephensons in Bolton. Sharon joined what was then Berry’s Solicitors as an office junior straight from school, before ...
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Fees up at top 50 law firms
Solicitors at top 50 law firms are earning nearly 20% more in fees than they were a year ago, new research has found.On average, each fee-earner in the top 50 firms brought in £77,000 in the quarter ended 30 April, compared with £65,000 over the same period in 2009, according ...
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ABI launches third-party code for insurers
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has launched a voluntary code of practice for insurers taking part in so-called third-party capture. The practice, referred to by the ABI as ‘third-party assistance’, involves an insurance company settling a claim directly with a personal injury victim of a policyholder, without the victim ...
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MPs' expenses abuse case raises issues fundamental to the rule of law
Three former MPs and a peer will ask the Court of Appeal next week to rule that the Crown court has no jurisdiction to try them on charges of false accounting. Elliott Morley, David Chaytor, Jim Devine and Lord Hanningfield deny supplying false information in support of their expenses claims. ...
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The deficiencies of the legal aid payment regime
Jon Robins freelance journalist and editor of Closing the Justice Gap ‘A breathtaking risk’ was the damning assessment of the cross-party constitutional affairs select committee of Lord Carter’s plan to scrap the hourly ...
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Legal aid payment regime blamed for RMJ collapse
The Law Society has hit back at government claims that inefficiencies at legal advice charity Refugee and Migrant Justice (RMJ) led to its collapse – while third sector groups have warned that all legal aid suppliers are facing funding difficulties. The charity, which was one of ...
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Government wields axe over court estate
The Ministry of Justice today outlined proposals to shut nearly a third of the courts in England and Wales and confirmed it will be looking at ways to make ‘efficiency’ savings in the legal aid budget. A consultation document details plans for the closure of 157 ...
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European Parliament backs equal treatment for suspects
The European Parliament has backed proposals that will, for the first time, set common standards to secure rights for suspects in criminal proceedings. It voted last week to approve plans from the European Commission to ensure translation and interpretation rights. The ...
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‘Data corruption’ blamed for duty solicitor rota errors
The Legal Services Commission has blamed ‘data corruption issues’ for errors in the duty solicitor rotas published last week. Following publication of the new rotas for the six-month slots running from July to December, firms across the country found themselves on rotas in the wrong areas, or missed off the ...