All News articles – Page 1671
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News
SRA to overhaul regulation and scrap ‘unjustified’ rules
The Solicitors Code of Conduct is to be rewritten and a swath of detailed conduct rules are likely to scrapped under plans being discussed today by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. The SRA intends to fundamentally reform the way it regulates, moving from the current ‘box-ticking’ system ...
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Missing the point
I was saddened to read the letter from Trevor Moore, ‘What is the point?’ (see [2009] Gazette, 3 December, 11). This is not the profession I practise or recognise.
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Lessons of the recession
That well-known source of reliable information, Wikipedia, helpfully says that there is no generally accepted definition of the word ‘recession’. However, I think it reasonable to accept that it is a sustained period of economic downturn.
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Good points well made?
In response to Mr Moore's letter 'What is the point?' I am sorry he sees little point in his job as a solicitor – I love mine and see a great deal of point to it. I am not motivated however, to work in an ivory tower of the 'only ...
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Notary frustration
I am an English solicitor practising on the Costa Blanca in Spain. I read Gill Mather’s article on the archaic practices of Spanish notaries (see [2009] Gazette, 19 November, 11) immediately after returning from a 200-mile round-trip to a notary’s office to execute a deed on behalf of a client ...
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Fee freedom
Three cheers for recent letters setting out the case for liberation from referral fees. Our firm takes the same position; we also refuse to advertise.
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Flight of fantasy
Master of the rolls Lord Neuberger conjured a diverting festive image in a recent speech about the new Supreme Court. Is the House of lords ‘losing part of itself’? he pondered. ‘Is it, the Supreme Court, losing a daughter or gaining a son? Or have the law lords simply transmogrified ...
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Judiciary must speak out on 'parlous state of family law'
The judiciary must ‘come off the bench’ and speak out about the ‘parlous state of family law in 2009’, lord justice Wall has said. Speaking at the Association of Lawyers for Children conference, the Court of Appeal judge said ‘the time has come when the historical ...
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Scottish Parliament warned that ‘Tesco law’ could trigger English invasion
The Scottish Parliament was warned this week that moves to liberalise Scotland’s legal services market could spark a takeover by English invaders. Lobby group the Scottish Law Agents Society (SLAS) told members of the justice committee at Holyrood that ‘external ownership’ of law firms makes it more likely that Scottish ...
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Investigating the world of private detectives: it's not quite Magnum PI
‘The dame was dressed like a million dollars and had legs that would make permafrost steam. But Zak Flint, private eye, knew it was all smoke and mirrors. He had the scars to prove it…’
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Dear Santa...
The turkeys are stuffed, along with the economy. And as Santa stirs in his Lapland grotto, it behoves Obiter to enquire of some of the profession’s luminaries what they would like to see under the tree on Christmas morning. And also what their New Year’s resolutions might be, since the ...
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Criminal evidence
Expert evidence – Juries – Murder – Conflicting evidence (1) Lon Trach Gian (2) Noor Azura Mohd-Yusoff v Crown Prosecution Service: CA (Crim Div) (Lord Justice Moses, Mr Justice Keith, Mr Justice Foskett): 3 December 2009 ...
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European Court of Human Rights in 'crisis'
Europe’s foremost human rights court is in ‘crisis’, with a backlog of more than 120,000 cases waiting up to seven years to be heard, lawyers have warned. Leading human rights barrister Lord Lester QC said last week that the influx of new states since the ...
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Foreign firms cannot practise Indian law, Mumbai court says
Foreign lawyers in India cannot advise clients on any matters of Indian law, the Mumbai High Court ruled yesterday. The court confirmed that legal advice outside of litigation practice is covered by the ban on foreign lawyers set down in the 1961 Advocates Act. ...
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To survive, conveyancing solicitors must be at the heart of homebuying
by Richard Atkins, a property partner with Taylor Walton and a member of the Law Society’s e-conveyancing taskforce The recent upturn in the residential conveyancing market has once again brought into sharp focus the weaknesses of our present system.
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Contingency fees regulation will drive lawyers out of the market
Government proposals to regulate contingency fees will drive lawyers out of the market and leave 500,000 people a year without legal representation, employment lawyers have warned. Draft regulations published this month by the Ministry of Justice propose a 25% cap on the proportion of a client’s ...
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Wake up and smell the coffee
I am writing in response to recent letters from solicitors who either claim or imply that because their firms don’t pay referral fees they somehow have more integrity than firms that do. Aside from failing to mention that rule 1.02 of the Code of Conduct requires us all to act ...
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Swatton Taylor Dutton and Matthew Waite & Co
In our 3 December 2009 edition, we published a letter by Peter Hughes of Hughes & Company, Tring, regarding referral fees. Mr Hughes and the Law Society Gazette are happy to make clear that the solicitors firms Swatton Taylor Dutton and Matthew Waite & Co, of Tring, have never paid ...
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More Christmas jokes
Following on from our request for funny legal cards, Obiter received this one from motoring law specialists My brief solicitors in Kent. Can you really be charged with being drunk in charge of a sleigh, Obiter wonders? And how many points will that be on Santa’s licence? ...
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Payment into court by cheque – when is payment ‘received’?
Where a party to proceedings has been ordered by the court to make a payment into court, whether for security for costs or otherwise, it is common practice for such a payment to be made from a firm’s client account by cheque.