All News articles – Page 1699
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News
LCJ warns of 'undoubted danger’ to administration of justice
The lord chief justice has warned that budgetary pressures on the prosecution and the courts are having a ‘very real impact’ on the administration of justice and said there is ‘an undoubted danger’ that the situation could worsen. In his first annual review, Lord Judge said: ...
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Graduates and junior lawyers are being squeezed as firms try to stay afloat
There’s nothing necessarily equitable, or ethical, about unregulated markets, as the grave economic consequences of free market fundamentalism have demonstrated. So it’s no surprise that junior lawyers are being squeezed as law firms try to stay afloat in the most challenging business environment most solicitors can remember. ...
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Trainee solicitors 'exploited' after qualification
Trainee solicitors are being ‘exploited’ by firms offering them a Hobson’s choice between a paralegal role or the dole when they qualify, the Gazette has learned. The Junior Lawyers Division (JLD) said firms’ financial problems meant they were attempting to avoid paying newly qualified lawyers’ salaries ...
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Aid at a premium
My colleagues and I were interested to read the story 'Society plans costs-capping challenge’ (see [2009] Gazette, 17 December, 1).
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Des Hudson warns that legal aid policy needs ‘radical rethink’
The Law Society has warned that a ‘radical rethink’ of legal aid policy is needed to prevent a reduction in the quality and scope of legal aid and to ensure access to justice. Law Society chief executive Desmond Hudson (pictured) told delegates at the Westminster Legal ...
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LSC procurement plans show no rise in civil legal aid cases
The Legal Services Commission’s procurement plans for civil legal aid, published last week, have revealed that there will be no increase in the number of civil cases funded in the 2010/2011 financial year, to the dismay of solicitors. To assist firms tendering for the civil contracts ...
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Another chance to win...
Any readers who missed out on last month’s competition to win a copy of the first series of Law & Order: UK, you can now stop sobbing uncontrollably at your desk.
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Art is a journey – if only from A to B
Continuing the cultural theme of last week, when readers were treated to some excellent works by members of the Law Society’s art group, Obiter brings you the latest offering from professional artists at London firm Collyer Bristow’s very own gallery. And Obiter may be biased, but we think the lawyers ...
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A radical change to regulation will benefit both firms and their clients
In a recent Law Society survey, 78% of 1,000 firms said that the regulatory system places too great a burden on them. This did not hugely surprise me – some solicitors would say that any regulatory burden is excessive – but nevertheless it indicates a problem. Evidently, many solicitors who ...
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High Court decision deals blow to claims industry
A recent High Court decision has put ‘another nail in the coffin’ of a lucrative industry for hundreds of law firms bringing consumer credit claims, a leading litigation expert has told the Gazette. David Greene, president of the London Solicitors Litigation Association, said a series ...
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SLG teams up with schools and charity to highlight pro bono
The Solicitors in Local Government (SLG) group has teamed up with three schools and a legal advice charity to raise the profile of local authority lawyers in the ‘neglected’ area of pro bono work. The SLG has agreed a partnership arrangement with the Citizenship Foundation to ...
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Hearing children’s cases in private is crucial to justice
by Alistair MacDonald, a barrister at St Philips Chambers, Birmingham. He is a past joint chair of the Association of Lawyers for Children and was a panel member at a debate on the government’s transparency proposals held in December by the Family Justice Council In B ...
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Criminal law: use of hearsay evidence; professional conduct
The Supreme Court in R v Horncastle [2009] UKSC14 has upheld the decision of the Court of Appeal that, in appropriate circumstances, the Crown may rely wholly or mainly on hearsay evidence to establish its case. The Court of Appeal had, however, emphasised the need to check the reliability of ...
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Garrow’s draw
This week Obiter can announce the three winners of our competition to win a Garrow’s Law DVD, in which we asked you to complete the sentence, ‘I think history will determine that I have made much more of a difference to the law than William Garrow because…’ Robert Miller, solicitor ...
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‘New era’ for family mediation in London
The implementation of the revised President’s Private Law Programme in London this week could herald a ‘new era’ for mediation in the capital and reduce ‘unacceptable’ delays in the court system, according to a leading family lawyer. The guidance, devised in 2004 by the then president ...
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Family law
Civil procedure – Committal orders- Disclosure Re SC (children) sub nom SC v HC: CA (Civ Div) (Lords Justice Thorpe, Wall): 28 January 2010 The appellant wife (W) appealed against ...
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In a fix on fees
To justify lawyers’ time-based charging, Peter Rogers and Lloyd Junor seek to take comfort from the idea that heart surgeons charge more if they hit complications mid-operation (see [2010] Gazette, 4 December, 13). As I understand it, surgeons quote a fixed fee and stick to it, complications or not.
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Ghanaian law firm opens in London
A law firm with ambitions to become the ‘Linklaters of Africa’ has become the first Ghanaian firm to open in London. Ghanaian corporate and commercial firm Oxford & Beaumont has set up in the UK to service UK law firms conducting business in Ghana.The four-partner firm, ...
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Legal recruiters see upturn in law firm job market
Legal recruiters have seen a ‘substantial upturn’ in the law firm jobs market in the past three months, and are predicting a still more buoyant year ahead. The positive forecasts came as a new survey predicted a 7% rise in graduate vacancies in the legal sector ...
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Star flaws
I read with interest Richard Taylor’s article regarding copyright problems over the uniform of the Imperial Stormtroopers featured in the Star Wars films (see [2010] Gazette, 4 February, 14). It would appear the editor knows far more about intellectual property law than Star Wars – the accompanying picture is actually ...