All News articles – Page 1664
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News
The five-year plan for immigration – five years on
We have repeatedly heard that the UK has experienced its biggest overhaul of the immigration system in half a century. This claim is false. The recent changes to our immigration system are more of a repackaging.
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Flowery sentence
Those of us who do not possess green fingers have long regarded gardening as a form of punishment, but now it’s official. Instead of the usual community service chores of scrubbing off graffiti or picking up litter, offenders have been creating raised flower beds at a community centre in Carmarthenshire ...
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We have only vague pledges from the government
By rights, I should be analysing parliament’s legislative programme this week. Five weeks after a general election, you would expect to be reading about the latest crop of government bills.
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Law Society launches risk management service
The Law Society has launched a new service which it claims will help firms navigate the increasingly complicated area of risk and compliance and put in place risk management procedures. The Risk and Compliance Service includes in-house consultancy, a newsletter and a Lawyerline ...
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Princely sum
Obiter is beginning to think that HRH Prince Charles is a bit of a fan of solicitors. He certainly seems to hang out with them quite a lot. Although it could also be said that he appears to have the measure of the ...
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Recession cuts are boosting profits – but at what cost?
As provisional financial results continue to roll in from big commercial law firms, a pattern is beginning to emerge: partners in these firms are, in the main, reaping healthy profits.
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Experimental chambers BarFutures set to close
Experimental virtual chambers BarFutures is to close its doors at the end of June after two years because of a ‘lack of appetite for change within the profession’, the Gazette has learned. The alternative set was designed to meet the challenges posed by the Legal Services ...
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Lawyers pay tribute to ‘old school’ solicitor killed in Cumbria massacre
Members of the profession have paid tribute to Kevin Commons, the Cumbrian solicitor killed by a local man who shot 12 people dead in a killing spree before shooting himself last week. Kevin Joseph Commons, 60, is thought to have been the second victim of gunman ...
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Gary McKinnon case is acid test of coalition government’s integrity
by Azmina Gulamhuseinis a solicitor and editor of the Encyclopaedia of Forms and Precedents Gary McKinnon, a vulnerable 44-year old with Asperger syndrome, stands accused by the US of the ‘biggest military computer hack of all time’.
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OFT approves 'toothless' will-writing code
A new code of practice for non-lawyer will-writers which has been approved by the Office of Fair Trading is ‘without teeth’, probate solicitors have warned. The OFT approved a new code of practice drawn up by the Institute of Professional Willwriters (IPW) last week. ...
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A victory for lawyers
The bells are ringing, the trumpets are sounding, the medals are being awarded: a great victory has been achieved. This week, the European Commission finally agreed to establish the equivalent of a European justice ministry, a DG (Directorate General) Justice.
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Solicitors support advocacy quality assurance scheme
The Solicitors Association of Higher Court Advocates (SAHCA) has given its support to the Legal Services Commission’s proposals for a quality assurance scheme for advocates (QAA), but warned it must be ‘demonstrably even-handed, objective and proportionate’. Following consultation with its 1,300 members, SAHCA responded to the ...
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An eminent jurist is under attack over Israel
Israel has faced international condemnation this week over the alleged killing of 10 or more peace activists who were trying to deliver aid to Gaza by way of a flotilla of ships.
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Luton solicitor jailed over £158k fraud
A Luton solicitor has been jailed for 12 months for falsely claiming more than £150,000 from the Legal Services Commission. Najaf Shah, who worked at Alexander Solicitors and Advocates in Luton, submitted fraudulent legal aid bills totalling £158,000. In one instance he claimed for 101 prison ...
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Employment law: the Equality Act 2010 – pressing the launch button
Not all good ideas make the grade. Hover cars, that dream of youth, have still to take off and the BBC has cancelled my suggested Tolkien-based detective series, Midsommer Mordor. Pity.
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RTA claims portal ‘progress’ – but 50 firms still without login details
Some 50 law firms were still awaiting delayed login details for the new road traffic accident (RTA) claims exchange as the Gazette went to press because of a ‘processing error’. In addition, some firms were still unable to plug their case management systems into the RTA ...
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What are people posting about your firm?
Curiously, some Gazette readers saw fit to shoot the messenger when we exposed the egregious activities of blacklisting website Solicitorsfromhell, whose owner charges solicitors and firms for the removal of third-party postings. We were accused of somehow being complicit in this distasteful and cynical enterprise. In ...
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LSC accused of squandering millions on VHCC tender process
Legal aid lawyers have accused the Legal Services Commission of wasting ‘millions’ on the tender process for the very high cost cases (VHCC) litigator’s panel. The LSC announced last week that the panel will be scrapped in July, after being in place for only two years. ...
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City lawyer acquitted of insider dealing
A City lawyer accused by the financial services watchdog of insider dealing was today acquitted by Southwark Crown Court. Michael McFall, a former partner at US firm McDermott Will & Emery, was acquitted of eight counts of insider dealing by the Financial Services Authority (pictured). Finance ...