All News articles – Page 1704
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News
Letter of the law
Sarcasm may be the lowest form of wit, but it has its place nevertheless. And we are pleased to see that solicitors are not so dessicated as to spurn the chance to employ a little acerbic humour in their client letters when the chance presents itself. ...
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Over and out
Genghis Khan, the Gobi Desert and yaks are all most of us know about Mongolia. But an intrepid lawyer from Kent and Sussex firm ASB Law, legal executive Laura Over, will soon be an expert on the place. Over and her friend Paul Evans are driving the 10,000 miles from ...
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Clampdown on mortgage fraud by lawyers saves lenders £15m
A campaign by the Solicitors Regulation Authority to target solicitors involved in property fraud has saved lenders £15-20m over the past nine months, the SRA claimed this week. Its inspectors have made emergency inspections of firms where property fraud was suspected and the SRA has given ...
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Love is in the air
As the worst night of the year for going out for dinner, otherwise known as Valentine’s Day, approaches on 14 February, lawyers might be interested to hear this little tale:
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Septuagenarian associates – coming to an office near you
Imagine you have won £6.5m. Even if you just tuck it under your mattress, that’s a cool £100,000 a year tax free for the next 65 years. You have an exquisite choice. You can kiss goodbye to the commute, the dark winter mornings...
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Law firm ‘disarray’ over retirement proposals
Proposed changes to the mandatory retirement age would pose management challenges for law firms and throw succession plans into ‘disarray’, employment lawyers have warned. The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has published a series of proposals this week to allow people, including solicitors, ...
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Law firms set up terror victim compensation scheme
The pro bono work of lawyers at two City firms has played a key role in the establishment of a new scheme to compensate British victims of terrorism abroad. Over the last three years, Lovells and Field Fisher Waterhouse (FFW) have been working on a scheme, ...
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Estate agents not influenced by referral fees, survey reports
Referral payments made by solicitors are ‘the least important consideration’ for estate agents when deciding which law firm to recommend, research has suggested. In a survey of more than 100 estate agents carried out by conveyancer and home information pack provider The Partnership, only 3% ...
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Should we fear a European contract law?
The phrase ‘European contract law’ often sets alarm bells ringing in common law circles. Those bells will have begun shrieking in the relevant brains after the hearing before the parliament of the new EU commissioner for justice, Viviane Reding.
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Don’t stereotype your support staff
Tube journeys in London are a wonderfully varied experience. One minute you are chatting to a friendly tourist about where Harrods is, the next you are wondering if the enormous person who has parked themselves next to you has bought two tickets, to cater for the fact that they are ...
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Will clients accept new conflicts rules?
The SRA’s latest, fast-tracked consultation on conflicts of interest is expected to receive a warm welcome in the City.Indeed, it is the City of London Law Society that has been pressing for the reform, which will allow law firms to act for ‘sophisticated’ clients in any situation in which there ...
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Government unveils strategy to tackle overseas bribery
The government has today announced a four-pronged strategy to tackle overseas bribery. The strategy aims to strengthen the UK’s bribery laws through the new bribery bill; encourage UK companies to apply appropriate ethical standards; support law enforcement agencies in the detection of corruption; and reduce the ...
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Scottish court ruling raises questions about overturning legislation
Will the courts ever quash an act of parliament? The orthodox answer is, of course, ‘no’ – although there were hints to the contrary in the Jackson case of 2005 when the law lords dismissed a challenge to recent fox-hunting legislation. Earlier this month, though, ...
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More debate is needed about Lord Justice Jackson's proposed reforms
by Patrick Allensenior partner at Hodge Jones & Allen and a claimant PI solicitor. He was president of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers in 2003 and is a member of the Law Society Civil Justice Committee As expected, the main recommendations of the Jackson report ...
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Government backs fairer access proposals
The government signed up to wide-ranging proposals to help young people from less privileged backgrounds enter the legal and other professions this week, but rejected plans to give tax incentives or other ‘targeted support’ to law firms to help them achieve this.
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LSC announces dates for civil legal aid tenders, but concerns remain
The Legal Services Commission has announced the revised dates that tendering for the new civil contracts for legal aid work will open, but the Law Society has warned that problems must still be addressed before the tenders begin. Bid rounds for social welfare law and ...
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Family justice review aims to foster positive relationships’
The government was expected to launch a ‘family justice review’ as the Gazette went to press to consider how family courts can take a more ‘positive’ role in proceedings. The review will coincide with the publication of a ‘family green paper’ offering greater support for separating ...
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Claimant personal injury lawyers angry over Jackson review
Furious claimant personal injury (PI) lawyers have accused Lord Justice Jackson of bowing to the defendant insurance lobby with his radical proposals to cut the costs of litigation, which they say will also reduce access to justice.
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Vein attempt
Lawyers are often portrayed as bloodsuckers, so it is nice to hear of one solicitor who has been doing her best to reverse that perception. Helen-Marie Tobin at London’s PSP Law has been splashed across the local press after making more than 100 blood donations and receiving a prize from ...