All News articles – Page 1663
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News
Lawyers condemn arrest of US lawyer in Rwanda
Lawyers have condemned the arrest of a US colleague who is representing a defendant before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and called for his immediate release.
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Solicitors call for an end to court recording ban
Criminal defence solicitors have called on the Courts Service to allow them to take dictation devices into court buildings. The Courts Service currently bans the devices from court premises, and they are often removed from solicitors when they enter the buildings, although the rule is not ...
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Law Society and Bar Council examine new funding options
The Law Society and Bar Council have set up a joint working party to look at new ways of funding cases as an alternative to legal aid. With the government poised to announce the details of public spending cuts, the two bodies said they had come ...
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Sentencing Council begins national judicial survey
A new body with a remit to ‘demystify’ court processes and sentencing has begun the first national survey of how individual judges decide on the punishments they mete out to offenders. The Sentencing Council is to require judges to complete a questionnaire after each hearing ...
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Jackson reforms ‘would benefit negligent corporations’
Negligent corporations and local authorities will have the scales of justice tipped in their favour if Lord Justice Jackson’s proposals on civil litigation costs are implemented in full, according to the firm involved in the case dubbed the ‘British Erin Brockovich’. Des Collins, senior partner at ...
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HIPs: a mixed blessing?
While we should applaud the decision to scrap HIPs, they did at least introduce the concept of preparing in advance. The public and estate agents just do not understand that, to effect a smooth sale, the selling solicitor needs to plan ahead.
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Legal skills and careers
I am writing to respond to the author of the letter 'Hurt in the pocket' (see letters, 27 May). Accepting a pay cut of 49% is something you agreed to do, it was not an obligation. The firm is not obliged to increase your pay even if you have ...
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Chuting pain
What are the words no one wants to hear their parachuting instructor say as they are freefalling through the sky at 120mph? ‘We have a problem.’ Unfortunately, that is what happened to brave Cheryl Palmer-Hughes (pictured), a 27-year-old trainee at the Birmingham office of national firm Irwin Mitchell, after she ...
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City firms look to spread financial risk
City firms are asking banks to devise special financial instruments to protect their income from unforeseen economic fluctuations, the Gazette has learned. The top 20 law firms have begun asking for bespoke exchange rate and interest rate products to manage financial risk, bankers said.
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SRA to conduct root-and-branch review of client financial protection
The Solicitors Regulation Authority board has been considering the future of the assigned risks pool (ARP), the arrangement by which firms that have been unable to obtain professional indemnity insurance in the open market are provided with cover for a limited period.
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‘Root-and-branch’ review of client financial protection
Solicitors’ professional indemnity insurance (PII) will be the subject of a ‘wide-ranging’ review by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, chair of the SRA board Charles Plant reveals in his Gazette column today. The PII review forms part of a ‘root-and-branch review of client financial protection’ also covering ...
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Coalition government to review legal services reforms
The coalition government is reviewing key reforms to legal complaints handling and the introduction of alternative business structures, as part of a wider review of regulatory measures inherited from the previous administration. Plans for a Legal Ombudsman service and ABSs have fallen under the scrutiny of ...
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The World Cup offers opportunities for lawyers and solicitor-agents
‘Feel it! It is here!’ runs the unofficial slogan, but it would be hard to miss a football World Cup, the most watched sporting event on the planet, which is beamed to two billion TVs. Among its devotees are sports lawyers, who seize on this quadrennial opportunity to make themselves ...
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World Cup dos and don’ts
You can never have too much legal advice, that is Obiter’s (unbiased) view. And it’s just as well. For it seems that whatever is going on in the world – be it a rise in divorce rates, or a cloud of volcanic ash disrupting flights – law firms are increasingly ...
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A single figure for damages over mesothelioma is needed
by Simon Allenmanaging partner and head of personal injury at the Sheffield office of Russell Jones & Walker One cannot possibly assess the effect of receiving a diagnosis of cancer. However, with many forms of the illness there is a degree of hope of ‘beating’ the ...
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National grid rights issue and rail freight deal
Power play: Magic circle firm Linklaters advised National Grid on a £3.2bn rights issue, with City firm Herbert Smith advising a consortium of banks. On track: Birmingham firm Wragge & Co advised ...
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Employment
Damages - Contracts - Disciplinary procedures - Wrongful dismissal Michael Steven Delawar Edwards v Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust: CA (Civ Div) (Lords Justice Ward, Lloyd, Moore-Bick): 26 May 2010 ...
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Personal injury firms hit face new VAT threat
Changes by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) to the treatment of medical reports for VAT purposes could cause personal injury firms ‘significant’ extra expense, tax lawyers have warned. The changes have prompted the Law Society to make written submissions in a forthcoming VAT tribunal case, Barratt ...
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Family law
Local government - Social welfare - Child abduction - Local authority housing EA v (1) GA (2) Westminster City Council (3) Salford City Council: CA (Civ Div) (Lords Justice Thorpe, Etherton): 27 May 2010 ...
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Social welfare paralysis fear in Manchester
The Law Society has warned of ‘severe disruption’ to the supply of social welfare advice in Manchester if the delayed timetable for a new Community Legal Advice Service (CLAS) slips further. The tender process for the service, jointly commissioned by the Legal Services Commission and Manchester ...