All News articles – Page 1681
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News
Future of Quinn Insurance cause for concern but don't panic
Your article last week (‘Quinn’s future hangs in the balance’, [2010] 9 April, 1] is likely to have caused significant anxiety within the profession, particularly for those currently insured with Quinn.
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News
Conservative manifesto promise to ‘rebuild confidence’ in justice system
A Conservative government would carry out a ‘fundamental review’ of legal aid, and introduce measures to ‘rebuild confidence’ in the criminal justice system, it said in its manifesto published today. The manifesto, An invitation to join the government of Britain, promises to look at alternative ...
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‘Good firms’ should offer online services, say consumers
More than half of consumers expect ‘good law firms’ to offer their services online, research has suggested. A survey of 2,266 people carried out by YouGov and commissioned by Epoq Legal found that 56% of consumers said they expected good firms to offer services online. ...
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How does your firm manage online enquiries?
When law firms first started to promote themselves online, their websites were little more than brochures: ‘This is who we are, this is where to find us and you can phone or email us for more information.’ Many firms have at least moved on to a more interactive experience for ...
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Solicitors in limbo as Quinn ruling adjourned
The concerns of 2,911 law firms and sole practitioners who took out professional indemnity insurance (PII) policies with Quinn Insurance are set to continue this week after the Irish High Court adjourned a hearing on the fate of the Irish insurer. The court will now decide ...
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PC fee help for small firms and legal aid practices
The Solicitors Regulation Authority is consulting on a proposal to lessen the impact of its practising certificate fee reforms on small firms and legal aid practices for this year’s renewal. The proposal could mean around 3% of the profession would have the fee payable under the ...
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Europe and the law – an embarrassment at election time
I have read that UK citizens are already bored by the general election. Before you have glazed over entirely, let me offer some insights into the corner that concerns me: the junction of law and Europe.
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News
Legal aid work at 1998 rates
This may make you laugh. I still do legal aid work. Child care. The rates have not gone up since 1998. Travelling and waiting, I am earning for the firm £32.45 per hour. Because I'm on the Children Panel I can charge an extra amount per hour, just under 5p.
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Criminal defence firms fail to secure legal aid contracts beyond July 2010
Criminal solicitors have warned that a ‘cull’ of firms has begun after Legal Services Commission figures revealed that 5% of firms did not secure new contracts. The recent tender for criminal contracts ended with one in 20 firms failing to secure the right to do publicly ...
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Firm found liable to pay more than £28m for giving negligent advice
A warning bell has sounded for law firms that advised on complex financial deals involving local authorities before the economic downturn, after a firm was found liable to pay more than £28m for giving negligent advice.
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Government abandons libel fee cut bid
The government this week ditched controversial plans to cap success fees paid to ‘no win, no fee’ lawyers in libel cases. Commons leader Harriet Harman said the legislation, which would have reduced the fees charged by lawyers who won defamation cases taken on under conditional ...
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Property solicitors will need to adapt to a rapidly changing market
Property has been anything but ‘as safe as houses’ for solicitors who deal with residential conveyancing since the onset of the credit crunch. Their colleagues in the commercial property sector have encountered equally thin pickings. But, slowly and unevenly, both sectors of the property market are ...
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Paying peanuts for legal advice
There is a certain irony in the conjunction of the headline on the front page of last week’s Gazette, ‘Consumer call for competence test’ (see [2010] Gazette, 1 April, 1)...
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Firms face bar competition after conduct rules relaxed
Changes to the barristers’ code of conduct that enable them to undertake work that was previously only open to solicitors will increase competition but give law firms the opportunity to pick up ‘talent from the bar’, according to consultants. Last week, the Legal Services Board approved ...
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There are no votes in legal aid
‘The future holds few certainties for legal aid practitioners, whichever party forms the next government.’ Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose. That observation, contained in the Gazette of 23 April 1997, eight days before the New Labour dawn, has become a truism. Still, ...
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Legal aid cuts will happen ‘under any government’, parties warn
The legal aid budget will face further cuts whoever wins the election, politicians from the three main parties warned last week. Legal aid minister Lord Bach, shadow justice secretary Dominic Grieve QC and Liberal Democrat justice spokesman David Howarth all said new funding streams needed to ...
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Is honesty always the best policy? Sometimes
Politicians may be known for many things, but honesty isn’t normally one of them. So Obiter was intrigued by the disarming veracity of panel members at pro bono group LawWorks’ Question Time-style panel debate on legal aid last week. With Robin Knowles QC, LawWorks trustee, filling the David Dimbleby role, ...
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A&O is magic, right kids?
Magic circle firm Allen & Overy is certainly doing well at attracting the graduates. The firm has just scooped not one but two graduate recruitment honours, from newspapers the Times and the Guardian. The Times Graduate Employer of Choice Award named A&O as the legal employer offering the best opportunities ...
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Local government: standards appraisal – what are the options?
In the acclaimed BBC comedy The Office, David Brent had rather a hard time trying to conduct an appraisal with Keith from accounts, who came across as a less-than-helpful appraisee. However, Standards for England (SFE) appeared to have less trouble with its appraisal of the local government standards framework, for ...
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The next government must take a more measured approach to libel reforms
by Steven Heffer, head of media at Collyer Bristow and solicitor to Lawyers for Media Standards Over the past year, there has been an intensive press campaign pushing for radical reform of English libel Law. Barely a day goes by without another article by a concerned ...