All News articles – Page 1694
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News
Legal profession
Bias – Clerks – Findings – Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal Amritpal Singh Virdi (appellant) v Law Society (respondent) and Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (intervener): CA (Civ Div) (Lords Justice Jacob, Lloyd, Stanley Burnton): 16 February 2010 ...
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Time to resume training scheme
Social mobility for legal aid lawyers has relied on the availability of sponsored legal aid training contracts in recent years.
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Making the most of web enquiry sources
As an independent business working on marketing with solicitors around the country, we have to be careful to remain independent. This independence allows us to assess marketing and promotional opportunities...
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Government use of ADR falls – but settlement rate increases
The use of alternative dispute resolution by government departments fell last year, though settlement rates increased, a report published by the Ministry of Justice has revealed. In 2008/09 ADR was used in 314 cases, leading to settlement in 259 (82%), saving costs estimated at £90.2m, the ...
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Referral ban ‘will not reduce costs’
Banning referral fees will harm the legal profession and will have no effect on reducing law firms’ marketing costs, the chair of the Claims Standards Council (CSC) said last week. Speaking at the CSC annual conference in Manchester, Accident Advice Helpline managing director Darren Werth said ...
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Law Society launches election manifesto
The Law Society today published a policy manifesto ahead of the forthcoming general election, urging all political parties to respect the rule of law and safeguard access to justice. The 24-page document, contains a detailed and wide-ranging ‘wishlist’ of recommendations, ranging from support for the ...
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A new judicial architecture for Europe
The reference to judicial architecture in the title is not to the buildings in which judges sit and decide cases – although if that is your interest, there is a European group for people who share your hobby. There is a European group to cater for nearly every taste.
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Time to embrace back-office outsourcing
The term ‘outsourcing’ is hardly new to the legal world: there has been much discussion over several years about legal process outsourcing (LPO)...
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Concerns over terminating retainer
I refer to the Court of Appeal decision in Buxton v Mills-Owen [2010] EWCA Civ 122 which seems to me to raise some issues of general concern to the profession.
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Why Lexcel needs a rebrand
I read with little surprise at the Law Society being voted strongest Business Superbrand in its sector, or at its overall 75th placing. The Law Society is an internationally recognised brand with an enviable heritage.
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The state we are in
It is perhaps fortunate that your lead letter 'Tools of the trade' writer (see [2009] Gazette, 18 February, 11) withheld their personal details...
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Only one solicitor among new QC appointments
Just one solicitor was among the 129 Queen’s Counsel appointments announced by the lord chancellor today in the fourth competition run by the independent selection panel. George Trinick, energy partner at national firm Eversheds, was the only solicitor of the 10 who applied to be appointed. Only four solicitors applied ...
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Assisted suicide: a mercy killing charter?
The new policy on assisted suicide is not the mercy killing charter that some religious groups, charities and newspapers have painted it.
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Lawyers work ‘extreme’ overtime, study reveals
Lawyers are among the most likely workers to do ‘extreme’ unpaid overtime, figures have revealed. Research by the Trades Union Congress found that 18% of legal professionals did more than 10 hours of unpaid overtime a week. The study found that ...
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Data page for February 2010
The data page is the financial rates and data compiled for the Law Society Gazette by MoneyFacts group, the UK's largest supplier of savings and mortgage data. DownloadsDownload the data ...
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Two solicitors charged over £50m of mortgage frauds
Two solicitors have been charged with multiple offences related to a series of high-value commercial mortgage frauds worth around £50m in total. Mark Knights of Cheshire, 45, who worked at Manchester firm Mace & Jones at the time the frauds took place, appeared last Friday at ...
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Immigration lawyers unhappy over new accreditation process
Immigration solicitors are concerned that they have been ‘singled out’ from other legal aid lawyers through the introduction of a new reaccreditation process. The compulsory immigration and asylum accreditation scheme, administered by the Law Society, was launched in 2004, with reaccreditation required after three years. ...
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Law Society TUPE action reaches the High Court
The Law Society’s legal action against the Office for Legal Complaints and the government to determine whether employment protection rules apply to staff at the Legal Complaints Service was heard in the High Court last week. In December 2009, the Society issued proceedings seeking a declaration ...
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Some criminal advocates ‘not up to the job’
Research on how to assess standards of advocacy has backed up anecdotal evidence that there are problems with the quality of some criminal advocates, but found there is no significant disparity between the performance of solicitors and barristers. Professor Richard Moorhead of Cardiff Law School, who ...