All News articles – Page 1676
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News
Hair today
OK, the month of Movember may have officially passed now that December is here, but we could not resist this one. Staff at north-west firm EAD have been growing moustaches in aid of the charity event to raise awareness of men’s health issues. And as is often the case it ...
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Legal groups publish ‘manifesto for justice’
An eight-strong coalition of legal, consumer and campaigning groups today published their ‘manifesto for justice’ as part of a political campaign intended to strengthen justice and the rule of law. AdviceUK, the Bar Council, the Institute of Legal Executives, Justice, the Law Centres Federation, the Legal ...
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Family law
Birth parents – Children’s rights – Residence orders Re B (a child): SC (Lord Hope (Deputy President), Lady Hale, Lord Collins, Lord Kerr, Lord Clarke): 19 November 2009 The appellant ...
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Losing faith in the solicitors profession?
Is the profession losing faith – both in itself and the future? We ask because the Gazette’s letters and web pages have metamorphosed into agony columns. The underlying refrain is that solicitors are no longer respected as professionals; no longer due the degree of deference and consideration that reflects a ...
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Importance of legal sector to UK economy is underappreciated
On becoming Law Society president I resolved that the commercial success of all English and Welsh law firms should be recognised and applauded. Legal services are more than just a British success story – they are an essential part of the UK economy. If the former ...
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Tory housing minister reignites HIP debate
Shadow housing minister Grant Shapps’ recent confirmation that he would scrap home information packs (HIPs) has re-ignited the debate over what should replace them. Shapps said last week that removal of the controversial sellers’ packs would be his first task if the Conservatives win the next ...
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Criminal law: youth justice and sentencing
Major changes are being made to the way that courts may sentence young offenders. On 27 April, provisions were brought into force to increase the use of referral orders. These are mandatory if the offence is imprisonable and a first-time offender admits the offence and all connected offences, and the ...
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Paying referral fees is not a crime
What a relief to read Michael Moore’s recent letter in the Gazette (‘Don’t tie our hands’) as I had begun to think that I was the only solicitor left who didn’t regard the paying of referral fees as akin to some kind of criminal activity.
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Vulnerable defendants not helped in understanding court proceedings
Defendants with learning disabilities are routinely deprived of help with understanding criminal court proceedings, a report from the Prison Reform Trust has revealed. The report, published this week, found there was no systematic procedure for identifying adults with learning disabilities. Some defendants did not know why ...
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Clinical negligence
Blood disorders – Causation – Duty of care – Genetic testing (1) Hanan Basem Farraj (2) Basem Farraj (claimants/first respondents) v (1) King’s Healthcare NHS Trust (KCH) (first defendant/part 20 claimant/appellant) (2) Cytogenetic DNA Services Ltd (CSL) (second defendant/part ...
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Demoralised lawyers chasing their tails
I read about Lord Bach’s apparent apparent support for compulsory pro bono.
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Guidance notes and rule changes
I am interested in the recent exchange of letters between Messrs Hopper and Treverton-Jones and Antony Townsend, the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s chief executive, about changes to the guidance notes to rule 9 of the Code of Conduct made on 13 November 2009.
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High-profile City firms reduce carbon footprint
More than a third of Legal Sector Alliance (LSA) firms have reduced their carbon footprint over the last year, according to a report by the climate change action group. Some 35% of the 138 firms in the alliance, including a raft of high-profile City firms, have ...
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Candid camera
Lawyers dread the Christmas party for many reasons: being cornered by the office bore/letch, getting so drunk you might tell the senior partner what you really think, or just the thought of hitting tomorrow’s billing target with a thumping headache.
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Legally Blonde competition winner
Obiter is mighty impressed with readers’ knowledge of showbiz trivia. Last week’s competition asked the killer question, ‘Big-hearted’ Arthur Askey’s pre-war comedy partner went on to play a barrister in a much-loved ITV legal comedy drama. Who was he, and who was the ...
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Law firms must do better for returning mums
Somehow you expect better from law firms – they can’t plead ignorance of employment law, after all – but it turns out that they can be just as bad as other employers when it comes to maternity rights.
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What is the point of being a solicitor?
Can someone tell me what is the point of being a solicitor? To get a practising certificate, years of study and financial hardship must be endured. Those who survive struggle to get a training contract. Those that eventually get the coveted practising certificate then join one of the most stressful ...
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Chinese bar strengthens UK links
China’s Tianjin Bar Association (TBA) will visit the UK next week in a bid to strengthen ties with UK lawyers. The TBA delegation will visit London and Bristol on Monday and Tuesday next week, in a move that the Law Society said will provide business opportunities ...
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Woolf calls for arbitration overhaul as he launches new guidance
International arbitration has ‘lost its way’, the former lord chief justice Lord Woolf (pictured) told the Gazette this week, as he launched a set of guidelines which will build mediation into the arbitration process. Woolf co-chaired an international commission for the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution ...
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Removing legal aid for non-residents is a blow to human rights
by Phil Shiner, a human rights lawyer and head of Public Interest Lawyers Baha Mousa died in a filthy latrine in Basra on 15 September 2003. He had been tortured to death by British soldiers and had suffered 93 different injuries. He and his hotel colleagues ...