All News articles – Page 1665
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News
High street firms ‘can survive’ in post-Legal Services Act market
High street solicitors can survive in the post-Legal Services Act market, but need a more creative approach to pricing, branding and service delivery, according to a group of key industry figures. At a roundtable debate last week marking the launch of Shopping Around, a report published ...
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Solicitor settles action against solicitorsfromhell
A north-east solicitor yesterday settled his libel claim against the owner of a website that blacklists solicitors and law firms. Scott Eason, principal at Eason Law, had instructed libel lawyers Carter-Ruck to bring a claim for damages of between £50,000 and £100,000 and obtain a High ...
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MoJ admits drafting error in fee-capping regulations
Acquitted defendants can claim the full cost of private legal fees, after the Ministry of Justice admitted there is a drafting error in the regulations intended to implement its controversial policy to cap awards. The admission came in documents submitted by the MoJ in connection ...
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A new government offers an opportunity to look afresh at old issues
Earlier in the year, before the election, the Law Society brought its major concerns, anxieties and ideas together in one handy document, Delivering Justice: The Law Society Manifesto. The main theme was that of curbing the increasing power of the state and safeguarding the freedom of the individual.
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Michael Mansfield QC honoured at Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year awards
Civil rights barrister Michael Mansfield QC received the outstanding achievement accolade at the eighth Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year awards last week. Mansfield, who retired from practice last year, was honoured for a career that spanned 40 years, during which he acted in high-profile cases ...
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Amend the brothel closure laws now
by Nichi Hodgsonan editorial assistant on the Gazette/sections magazines publishing team Changes to the laws on prostitution that were intended to make life safer for women sex workers have actually made matters worse.
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Second blow for supporters of referral fee ban
Any prospect of a new ban on referral fees has been dealt a second major blow in the space of a few weeks, as a new report for the Legal Services Board recommended that the fees should be retained last week. The Legal Services Consumer ...
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Lord Lester’s bill a ‘catalyst’ for libel reform
Liberal Democrat peer and barrister Lord Lester of Herne Hill QC has introduced a private member’s bill to reform the country’s ‘archaic’ libel laws. The peer’s Defamation Bill is designed to clarify and modernise the law of libel, protecting both the rights to reputation and freedom ...
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BME solicitors and Chancery Lane devise plan to halt PII discrimination
The Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Forum of solicitors has put into action a ‘five-step plan’ together with the Law Society, which is designed to protect BME lawyers from discrimination when renewing their professional indemnity insurance (PII) cover. Law Society head of equality and diversity Pat ...
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Call for new litigation funding model
A new model of litigation funding is needed to secure access to justice for people of limited means, academics said this week. A joint study by the University of Oxford and the University of Lincoln suggested that, while third party funding has improved access to justice ...
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Daunting challenges that sole practitioners face may jeopardise their future
by Lawumi Biriyok, a principal at London firm Biriyok Show, and is chair of the Sole Practitioners Group Mortgage lenders have failed to appreciate the embarrassment caused to sole practitioners (SPs) resulting from their unjust and unwarranted decisions to remove conveyancing SPs from their panels.
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Striking the right chord
As wise old Obiter always suspected, Manchester solicitor Andy Booth, who plays in ‘European electro goth’ band the Cassandra Complex, is not the only rock-tastic lawyer out there, and we have photographic evidence to prove it (right). Paul ‘The Rock’ Rosser, personal injury partner at Leo Abse & Cohen in ...
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City firm Denton Wilde Sapte set to decide on transatlantic merger
Partners at City firm Denton Wilde Sapte and US firm Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal are set to decide next Wednesday whether to give the green light to a merger of the firms. The merged firm, SNR Denton, would comprise 1,400 lawyers and boast combined revenues of ...
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European Commission to split justice department in two
The European Commission (EC) is set to transform the way justice is administered across member states, it has emerged.
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Spiralling costs
As a residential property specialist, I have become increasingly concerned at the charges made by management companies and freeholders when buying or selling leasehold properties.
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SRA drafts rulebook for new regulation regime
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has issued a first draft of the 10 new principles which will form the basis of a new ‘outcomes-focused regulation’ regime. The broad principles are contained in a simplified handbook published for consultation by the SRA last week. ...
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Employment
Civil procedure – Ballots – Compliance – Industrial action British Airways Plc v Unite the Union: CA (Civ Div) (Lord Chief Justice, Master of the Rolls Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury, Lady Justice Smith): 20 May 2010 ...
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Top firms suffer revenue fall – but profits rise
Revenues at top law firms have slipped over the last year, but some firms have seen a significant recovery in partner profits, early results suggest. Of the three major firms that had reported financial results for 2009/10 as the Gazette went to press, all saw falls ...
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Fancy footwork
With just over a week until the World Cup kicks off, it seems football fever is already taking a vice-like hold over the legal profession. Fancying themselves as solicitor-versions of Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard et al (in football terms only, we stress), lawyers at Manchester firm Ralli have made ...
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Intellectual property
Brand names - Comparative advertising - Infringement - Perfumes (1) L’Oréal SA (2) Lancôme Parfums et Beauté and CIE (3) Laboratoire Garnier and CIE v (1) Bellure NV (2) Malaika Investments Ltd (T/A Honeypot Cosmetic and Perfumery Sales) (3) ...