All News articles – Page 1659

  • News

    Immigration

    2010-02-11T00:00:00Z

    Human rights – Convictions – Deportation JO (Uganda) v Secretary of State for the Home Department: JT (Ivory Coast) v Secretary of State for the Home Department: CA (Civ Div) (Lords Justice Mummery, Richards, Toulson): 22 January 2010 ...

  • News

    Human rights

    2010-02-11T00:00:00Z

    Media and entertainment – Anonymity – Freedom of expression – Reporting restrictions In the matter of Guardian News and Media Ltd and Ors sub nom Mohammed Jabar Ahmed and Ors v HM Treasury: Mohammed Al-Ghabra v HM ...

  • News

    It’s good to talk

    2010-02-11T00:00:00Z

    I recently had my first experience of the court’s small claims mediation service, in a difficult building dispute which started life as a small claim but, had it proceeded, would have gone into the fast track.

  • News

    Sometimes it pays to work for free

    2010-02-11T00:00:00Z

    My grandmother once told me a rags-to-riches story about the son of one of her friends, who worked his way from unemployment into a lofty position at a major car manufacturer.

  • News

    Star flaws

    2010-02-11T00:00:00Z

    I read with interest Richard Taylor’s article regarding copyright problems over the uniform of the Imperial Stormtroopers featured in the Star Wars films (see [2010] Gazette, 4 February, 14). It would appear the editor knows far more about intellectual property law than Star Wars – the accompanying picture is actually ...

  • News

    Ghanaian law firm opens in London

    2010-02-11T00:00:00Z

    A law firm with ambitions to become the ‘Linklaters of Africa’ has become the first Ghanaian firm to open in London. Ghanaian corporate and commercial firm Oxford & Beaumont has set up in the UK to service UK law firms conducting business in Ghana.The four-partner firm, ...

  • News

    Legal recruiters see upturn in law firm job market

    2010-02-11T00:00:00Z

    Legal recruiters have seen a ‘substantial upturn’ in the law firm jobs market in the past three months, and are predicting a still more buoyant year ahead. The positive forecasts came as a new survey predicted a 7% rise in graduate vacancies in the legal sector ...

  • News

    In a fix on fees

    2010-02-11T00:00:00Z

    To justify lawyers’ time-based charging, Peter Rogers and Lloyd Junor seek to take comfort from the idea that heart surgeons charge more if they hit complications mid-operation (see [2010] Gazette, 4 December, 13). As I understand it, surgeons quote a fixed fee and stick to it, complications or not.

  • News

    Family law

    2010-02-11T00:00:00Z

    Civil procedure – Committal orders- Disclosure Re SC (children) sub nom SC v HC: CA (Civ Div) (Lords Justice Thorpe, Wall): 28 January 2010 The appellant wife (W) appealed against ...

  • News

    ‘New era’ for family mediation in London

    2010-02-11T00:00:00Z

    The implementation of the revised President’s Private Law Programme in London this week could herald a ‘new era’ for mediation in the capital and reduce ‘unacceptable’ delays in the court system, according to a leading family lawyer. The guidance, devised in 2004 by the then president ...

  • News

    Garrow’s draw

    2010-02-11T00:00:00Z

    This week Obiter can announce the three winners of our competition to win a Garrow’s Law DVD, in which we asked you to complete the sentence, ‘I think history will determine that I have made much more of a difference to the law than William Garrow because…’ Robert Miller, solicitor ...

  • News

    Criminal law: use of hearsay evidence; professional conduct

    2010-02-11T00:00:00Z

    The Supreme Court in R v Horncastle [2009] UKSC14 has upheld the decision of the Court of Appeal that, in appropriate circumstances, the Crown may rely wholly or mainly on hearsay evidence to establish its case. The Court of Appeal had, however, emphasised the need to check the reliability of ...

  • News

    Hearing children’s cases in private is crucial to justice

    2010-02-11T00:00:00Z

    by Alistair MacDonald, a barrister at St Philips Chambers, Birmingham. He is a past joint chair of the Association of Lawyers for Children and was a panel member at a debate on the government’s transparency proposals held in December by the Family Justice Council In B ...

  • News

    SLG teams up with schools and charity to highlight pro bono

    2010-02-11T00:00:00Z

    The Solicitors in Local Government (SLG) group has teamed up with three schools and a legal advice charity to raise the profile of local authority lawyers in the ‘neglected’ area of pro bono work. The SLG has agreed a partnership arrangement with the Citizenship Foundation to ...

  • News

    High Court decision deals blow to claims industry

    2010-02-11T00:00:00Z

    A recent High Court decision has put ‘another nail in the coffin’ of a lucrative industry for hundreds of law firms bringing consumer credit claims, a leading litigation expert has told the Gazette. David Greene, president of the London Solicitors Litigation Association, said a series ...

  • News

    A radical change to regulation will benefit both firms and their clients

    2010-02-11T00:00:00Z

    In a recent Law Society survey, 78% of 1,000 firms said that the regulatory system places too great a burden on them. This did not hugely surprise me – some solicitors would say that any regulatory burden is excessive – but nevertheless it indicates a problem. Evidently, many solicitors who ...

  • News

    Art is a journey – if only from A to B

    2010-02-11T00:00:00Z

    Continuing the cultural theme of last week, when readers were treated to some excellent works by members of the Law Society’s art group, Obiter brings you the latest offering from professional artists at London firm Collyer Bristow’s very own gallery. And Obiter may be biased, but we think the lawyers ...

  • News

    Another chance to win...

    2010-02-11T00:00:00Z

    Any readers who missed out on last month’s competition to win a copy of the first series of Law & Order: UK, you can now stop sobbing uncontrollably at your desk.

  • News

    Aid at a premium

    2010-02-11T00:00:00Z

    My colleagues and I were interested to read the story 'Society plans costs-capping challenge’ (see [2009] Gazette, 17 December, 1).

  • News

    Des Hudson warns that legal aid policy needs ‘radical rethink’

    2010-02-11T00:00:00Z

    The Law Society has warned that a ‘radical rethink’ of legal aid policy is needed to prevent a reduction in the quality and scope of legal aid and to ensure access to justice. Law Society chief executive Desmond Hudson (pictured) told delegates at the Westminster Legal ...