All News articles – Page 1679
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News
Scrapping assigned risks pool ‘dangerous’
Abolishing the assigned risks pool (ARP) would place solicitors at the ‘whims and fancies’ of the insurance market, a leading solicitor has warned, as the profession voiced concerns over the proposals put forward by the Solicitors Regulation Authority last week. Sundeep Bhatia, chairman of the Society ...
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Report slams LSC over criminal legal aid
More than a quarter of firms will walk away from criminal legal aid work in the next five years, a report slamming the Legal Services Commission’s poor administration has revealed. The report by public spending watchdog the National Audit Office (NAO) showed that one in six ...
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African lawyers complete training at top City firms
Ten leading African lawyers completed a three-month training and relationship-building programme at top City firms this week, in a scheme designed to improve UK links at a time when there is high demand for English-qualified lawyers on the African continent. The International Lawyers for Africa (ILFA) ...
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Contract awarded for Yorkshire advice network
The East Yorkshire Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) has won the contract to run the first Community Legal Advice Network (CLAN), in a partnership with local law firm Switalskis. The CLAN, funded by East Riding of Yorkshire Council and the Legal Services Commission (LSC), is due ...
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First community advice network to open in East Yorkshire
The East Yorkshire Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) has won the contract to run the country’s first Community Legal Advice Network (CLAN), in a partnership with local law firm Switalskis. The CLAN, funded by East Riding of Yorkshire Council and the Legal Services Commission (LSC), is ...
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Lisbon treaty to improve access to European courts
The Law Society today welcomed the arrival of the Lisbon Treaty, saying that it will widen access to the European courts for business and individuals. The Society said that the treaty, which came into force today, will pave the way for ‘many more’ challenges to be ...
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Think twice about abolishing assigned risks pool
t’s easy to see why the SRA wants to scrap the assigned risks pool. Many firms that enter do not survive, killed off by punitive premiums (and, of course, many never pay up anyway). It is loathed by insurers, who pay huge sums to underpin firms ...
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Client surveys: where’s the value?
There is a marketing ‘tick’ that appears in many firms when they have the marketing bug. It’s the tendency to spend time and effort on client surveys. But while discussing this with a client keen to proceed with them, I came to the conclusion: ‘Why should we bother?’
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Litigation can cost more than just legal fees
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has become the latest corporation to toss the remnants of its reputation on to the scrapheap of litigation.
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The Legal Services Board must properly research what it is about to do
In a week in which the Legal Services Board has issued another consultation on alternative business structures, I want to speak about the importance of good quality research before important policy proposals are made which may radically affect the legal services market.
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Bar Standards Board opens door to joint practices
Barristers and solicitors will be able to go into practice together as a first step on the post-Clementi road, following a historic meeting of the Bar Standards Board last night. The board met to consider recommendations from its working group on alternative business structures to determine ...
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Partnerships as a structure may be unable to compete with ABSs
Listening to the lively debate at PR firm Byfield Consultancy’s launch of a report into life after the Legal Services Act this week, I couldn’t help but muse on the term ‘alternative business structure’. The more I thought about it, the more I felt that it is most firms’ business ...
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What a waste
Mr Booth’s concerns and Mr Fenton’s response (letters, 12 November) highlight the real problem with HM Courts Service. It likes to dictate how things should be organised when alternative, local methods of working would be more appropriate.
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Movember
Notice any similarities between these lawyers from Gerrards Cross firm BP Collins? Yes, they are all chaps in suits, but look harder. Sharp-eyed observers will note that they are all sporting various degrees of facial hair. A Buckinghamshire fashion trend, you wonder? Nope, along with menfolk across the globe (and ...
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Leaner is meaner
Who could have predicted that a few dodgy collateralised debt obligations would set in motion a train of events that would eventually lead to a shortage of junk food in City law firm offices?
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Solicitor laureate?
As if Obiter needed any convincing about the poetic abilities of Solicitors of the Supreme Court, Mike Redpath, a self-employed solicitor in Salisbury has – quite out of the blue – sent us this little topical ditty. ...
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Memory lane
Law Society’s Gazette, November 1959 Mr Barrington Myers wrote to the Gazette in October 1959 asking how to explain the work of a solicitor to ...
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Kiss and tell
Judges’ speeches are not generally known for their racy content. But an address by Mr Justice Eady to the University of Hertfordshire last week seemed to contain more sex than an average night at one of the university’s halls of residence.
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Personal injury
Duty of care – Findings of fact – Football Andrew Kerr v GED Willis: CA (Civ Div) (Lord Neuberger (master of the rolls), Mr Justice Smith, Lord Justice Toulson): 4 November 2009 ...