All News articles – Page 1674
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News
Memory lane
The 'modest' demeanour of Robert Maugham. An old Christmas competition and a council members' letter with a sense of humor . The Law Society’s Gazette, December 1959 ...
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Personal injury
Delay – Discretion – Limitation periods – Road traffic accidents McDonnell and anor v David Walker (executor of the estate of Richard Walker, deceased): CA (Civ Div) (Lords Justice Waller (vice-president), Rimer, Sir Paul Kennedy): 24 November 2009 ...
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Law Society unlikely to introduce fellowship scheme
The Law Society appears likely to rule out introducing a fellowship scheme in the near future, but may consider extending membership in light of the introduction of alternative business structures. Introducing a fellowship scheme for solicitors ‘who reach an agreed professional standard’ was one of the ...
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Expert evidence - revisions to the rules have stood the test of time
Expert evidence was one of the most controversial issues in Lord Woolf’s civil justice inquiry in the 1990s.
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Downward trend
I fully endorse Trevor F Moore’s comments (see [2009] Gazette, 3 December, 11), with regard to the pointlessness of being a solicitor.
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Dictation diktat
As a regular visitor to courts I am well used to being searched and generally do not have a problem with it. What does grate is when I am required to surrender my hand held dictation machine.
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Strictly confidential
It is well known that the post-Christmas period is peak time for divorce lawyers, with a dangerous cocktail of too much booze, too many in-laws and too much time with each other combining to put many a marriage on the rocks.
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New laws strengthen the influence of the Law Commission proposals
For a body that exists to promote reform of the law, the Law Commission has surprisingly little legislation that it can call its own. There is little more than a statute enacted in 1965, setting up a body to review the law ‘with a view to its systematic development... simplification ...
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Hourly fee charging is under fire but it drives efficiency and quality
by Dick Jennings, a practising solicitor and member of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing & SupplyThere is growing condemnation among in-house counsel of hourly fee charging. Private practice lawyers cower, meekly agreeing or asserting that they have been against it all along.
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The SRA’s outgoing chair reflects on the ongoing journey towards optimal regulation
Since my decision not to seek reappointment as chair of the Solicitors Regulation Authority beyond this month, I have reflected on both the progress in the regulation of solicitors in recent years and the challenges for the future. With such a vast subject, lack of space precludes mention of all ...
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Freedom of information – update on recent FoI cases
The recent controversy over bonuses paid to civil servants employed by the Ministry of Defence highlights the public interest in salaries and bonuses of public sector officials.
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Bring on the Christmas cards
Cometh December, cometh the amusing legal Christmas cards. Obiter rather liked this one, sent by Templeton Legal Protection. Anyone who receives a funny legal card is invited to send it on to Obiter Towers, Law Society Gazette, 19 Bell Yard, London, WC2A 2JR to spread the festive cheer.
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Immigration lawyers boost for top firms
Highly skilled immigrant lawyers should not have to hold a master’s degree to work for the UK’s top law firms, the government’s migration adviser recommended last week. In its report on Tier 1 immigrants, the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) said that such immigrants should be allowed ...
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Bar eyes contract push with new procurement vehicles
Solicitors could find themselves approaching barristers for work as the bar takes advantage of new freedoms approved last month, the incoming chairman of the Bar Council told the Gazette this week. Nicholas Green QC said there would be a reversal of the ‘normal order of things’ ...
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Bar Council claims ‘privileged’ perception is ‘outdated’
The Bar Council has claimed that the perception of the bar as a profession for the privileged is ‘outdated’ – but it is unable to say what percentage of barristers attended state school. It published a report last week showing a range of initiatives taken to ...
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Has the bar been betrayed by government?
In his inaugural speech before taking over the tiller from Desmond Browne QC as chairman of the bar, Nick Green QC listed three things that have contributed towards creating instability for barristers: legal aid cuts, competition from solicitor-advocates and the ‘ambitious’ expansion into advocacy by the Crown Prosecution Service.
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Jack Straw hints at more autonomous Welsh justice system
Jack Straw has mooted the possibility of a separate justice system for Wales, but not without a referendum showing that this is what the Welsh want. Speaking at a Law Society lecture in Cardiff last week, the justice secretary said there could be ‘an organic development ...
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Lawyers attack government plans to extend family reporting
Family lawyers have attacked government plans to extend the media’s right to report family cases, warning that they will clog the courts with preliminary hearings and lead to miscarriages of justice. The media have been allowed to report on the process of family cases since April, ...
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MPs lobby to exclude solicitors from asbestos compensation scheme
MPs are lobbying prime minister Gordon Brown to exclude solicitors from any government-run scheme to compensate workers for asbestos-related pleural plaques. A group of Labour MPs closely involved with a parliamentary bill on the matter have held ‘frequent’ private meetings with Brown and senior ministers. Jim ...
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Arbitration
Arbitral tribunals – Beneficial ownership – Islamic law – Real property Bhatti v Bhatti: Ch D (Sir Edward Evans-Lombe): 26 November 2009 The executor applied for summary judgment on ...