All News articles – Page 1672
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News
Mexican civil rights lawyer pleads for international support network
A Mexican civil rights lawyer who has received death threats in her own country visited the UK last week to persuade law firms and the Law Society to form an international support network for lawyers. Alba Cruz (pictured), from Oaxaca state, is representing 104 political dissidents, ...
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Technical problems continue to dog RTA claims portal
Technical problems are continuing to hamper the new road traffic accident (RTA) information exchange, set up to handle hundreds of thousands of low-value RTA claims. Solicitors told the Gazette this week that some have still not received access codes for the new RTA claims portal despite ...
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What will having Ken Clarke as justice secretary mean for solicitors?
So Kenneth Clarke is the new justice secretary. Not many people saw that one coming. Firstly, because everyone fully expected it to be Dominic Grieve, who had been shadow justice secretary, and secondly, because Clarke himself was presumed to be in line for the business role.
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Training and development must support the provision of high-quality service to clients
Throughout my legal career I have taken a keen interest in legal education and training. I was chairman of the governors of the College of Law until recently, and the Solicitors Regulation Authority has a pivotal position in the development of legal education and training.
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Nineteen new solicitor MPs enter House of Commons
Last week’s general election saw 19 solicitors newly elected as MPs – 14 for the Conservative Party and five for Labour. The new solicitor MPs came from all sections of the profession, including high street firms, large commercial practices, in-house and the public sector.
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Criminal law firm start-ups confound cull predictions
Government proposals to reduce the number of criminal law firms have not deterred new firms from setting up, according to specialist legal aid consultants. Simon Pottinger, founder of JRS Consultants, predicted that the number of firms with a criminal legal aid contract is likely to have ...
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Local government: council of war
‘Phoney War’ was the term used to describe the early months of World War II. Between the formal start of hostilities in September 1939 and Spring 1940, things seemed relatively quiet – at least in Western Europe. After that, of course, the dogs of war were let slip, furious and ...
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Insurance danger
It was reported in your news article on 12 April about Quinn Insurance that, of £5m of premiums due to the assigned risks pool underwriters, only £2m had been paid to date.
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Energy stocks, Poundland sells and housing developments
Power play: Magic circle firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer advised Indian energy company Essar Energy on its London Stock Exchange listing, which valued the company at around £5.5bn, potentially catapulting it into the FTSE-100 index. ...
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Mediations double in two years
The number of mediations has doubled in the last two years, and most mediators expect workloads to increase, according to research seen exclusively by the Gazette. The fourth biennial survey of civil and commercial mediators, carried out by the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR), showed ...
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Can the hundreds unable to vote at the general election sue?
People who were denied the right to vote at the general election can sue the Electoral Commission, according to Geoffrey Robertson QC. Interviewed last Friday, Robertson suggested that disenfranchised voters would receive compensation of at least £750. That just happens to be the figure that ...
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Employment
Age discrimination – Degrees – Indirect discrimination – Proportionality Homer v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire: CA (Civ Div) (Lords Justice Mummery, Maurice Kay, Richards): 27 ...
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Lobbying firms under pressure to sign EU register of interests
Law firms that lobby EU institutions will face pressure to sign a register of interests after senior EU officials vowed to forge ahead with plans to boost transparency, the Gazette has learned. At a meeting in Brussels last Thursday, a working group of European commissioners and ...
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Flaming flamenco
Now that’s enough about football. After April’s article about belly dancing, Obiter has received a ticking-off from clinical negligence solicitor Sarah Harman of London firm Harman & Harman for so far failing to include this picture of herself (right) and criminal solicitor colleague Sonia Antolin, who both dance flamenco with ...
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Immigration
Administrative law – Torts – Deportation – Detention Abdillaahi Muuse (respondent) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (appellant): CA (Civ Div) (Sir Andrew Morritt (chancellor), Lord Justice Thomas, Sir Scott Baker): 27 April 2010 ...
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Landlord and tenant
Assured tenancies – Improvements – Legislative intention – Tenancies Cherry Sheila Hughes v Borodex Ltd: CA (Civ Div) (Sir Andrew Morritt (chancellor), Lady Justice Arden, Lord Justice Patten): 27 April 2010 ...
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Memory lane
Law Society’s Gazette, April 1980 In the news:A licensing authority has told me of an amusing occurrence in ...
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Tell it like it is
To the discombobulation of not a few traditionalists, the campaign to adumbrate the probative value of a more unopaque expression of juridical vernacular continues to deliver outcome-based ramifications. Yes, Clarity, the group launched last year to promote plain English in the law, is going from strength to strength. Founding member ...
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The plight of human rights lawyers in Mexico
If you think the UK legal profession is in crisis, then consider the lot of Mexican human rights lawyer, Alba Cruz, who has received death threats and whose mother and family have been caught up in the crossfire – and that’s just for starters.