All News articles – Page 1699
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News
Getting to grips with points-based immigration
Immigration continues to be a highly politicised and sensitive area. The government is keen to use objective data received on the impact of migration on the British economy to continue to monitor and change the newly introduced points-based system (PBS). The government is eager to demonstrate that the pledged flexibility ...
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Sick and frustrated
Our property departments are decimated by the effects of a global recession created by causes totally beyond our control and yet for which we still suffer. Our sole practitioner colleagues are being threatened with expulsion from conveyancing panels, as a result of which many could lose their livelihoods.
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SRA unveils mortgage fraud probe
The Solicitors Regulation Authority is to examine the role played by solicitors in mortgage fraud as it marshalls its resources to tackle the escalating problem. The SRA claimed its investigations have already led to frauds worth several million pounds being thwarted. Over ...
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Firms keep trainees 'in limbo', says JLD
Trainees and junior lawyers are being unfairly kept ‘in limbo’ as firms delay making a decision on whether to retain them until the last moment as a result of the recession, the Gazette has learned. Kevin Poulter, former chairman of the Junior Lawyers Division (JLD), said ...
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Legal market guru Hodgart predicts 'global elite' of firms
Four of the five magic circle law firms will step into an emerging international elite, advising on only the biggest deals and paying the most lucrative partner salaries, according to legal market guru Alan Hodgart. In an interview with the Gazette, Hodgart, a consultant at business ...
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Questioning the single renewal date for PII
Should there be a single renewal date for solicitors’ professional indemnity insurance? The question is an old one, and when the PII market is soft, competition heavy, and premiums low, answers are less forthcoming. But now that there are real renewal problems facing many law firms, the question becomes a ...
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The cost of HIPs
Mr Ockenden, director general of the Association of Home Information Pack Providers, was rather disingenuous in his letter about estate agents ‘overcharging’ for HIPs (see [2009] Gazette, 3 September, 11).
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General counsel opt for quality over cost, says thinktank
Corporate general counsel are not particularly concerned about the size of legal bills when considering the value of work done by their external law firms, new research has suggested. In-house thinktank Global Leaders in Law, which examined how general counsel measure value in legal services, found ...
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Supreme confidence
Joshua Rozenberg’s article reports Lord Neuberger’s warnings about the ‘peril’ of ‘mucking around’ with the British constitution by creating a UK Supreme Court (see [2009] Gazette, 3 September, 6).
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Chancery Lane drive to promote high street solicitors
The Law Society is to launch a £250,000 advertising campaign to promote high street solicitors next week. The latest campaign, which takes a Beatles theme with the strapline ‘Help, I need somebody’, will be featured in the print media and on posters in more than 200 ...
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Town halls call for monitoring officers with legal expertise
Local authorities are overwhelmingly in favour of requiring monitoring officers to be legally qualified, a recent consultation by Solicitors in Local Government (SLG) and the Law Society has revealed.
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News
Jewellery stores, chocolate bids and phone deals
Sparkling opening: City firm Field Fisher Waterhouse advised jeweller David Morris International on opening four stores in the United Arab Emirates. Life is sweet: Slaughter and May and US firm Shearman & ...
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Whitehall needs to re-examine how best to use intercept evidence
Three young British Muslim would-be suicide bombers were sentenced to life imprisonment this week for plotting to blow up seven airliners over the Atlantic. Directing that they serve minimum terms of up to 40 years, Mr Justice Henriques called the plot the most ‘grave and wicked conspiracy ever proven within ...
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Barclays’ group GC Mark Harding discusses business, management and law
As group general counsel at Barclays, Mark Harding is a powerful man about the City. The drama of the last two years has left his company in a strong position: Barclays declined the government’s offers of direct financial assistance, while Royal Bank of Scotland accepted a 70% taxpayer stake and ...
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Aspiring judges are quizzed on race
Applicants for judicial office are facing aggressive questioning about their attitudes to race, an approach which has in some cases caused offence, the Gazette has learned. One white male barrister was asked if he was ‘racist’ as an opening question, while another was quizzed about why ...
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Novel approach
The route to a career in law has changed a bit since Judith Shepherd, general counsel at Barclays Bank, global retail and commercial, went for her first job interview at a London law firm. ‘The whole interview process has been professionalised,’ she told the young audience at the Black Lawyers ...
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APIL argues Lord Justice Jackson is putting the cart before the horse
The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) is not given to grandiose gestures, so its decision to walk out of the mediation on extending fixed costs throughout the fast-track is significant.
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APIL walks out of fixed-fee talks
The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers has walked out of talks on extending fixed costs in personal injury cases, in an unprecedented move for the organisation. The Civil Justice Council (CJC) has begun a mediation process to produce industry-agreed fixed costs for all ‘fast-track’ road ...
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News
Firms shut down ahead of PII renewal
Law firms of various sizes have begun to close down ahead of the professional indemnity insurance (PII) renewal deadline, with others contemplating closure to avoid paying spiralling PII premiums for the second year running, the Gazette has learned.
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LSB cost deferral too late to affect PC fee
The Law Society is to offer the Legal Services Board early payment of the amount it must contribute towards the £19.9m setup costs of the board and the Office for Legal Complaints, in return for an early payment discount. The LSB announced last week that ...