All News articles – Page 1715
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News
Pay gap points to discrimination
Women solicitors earn 29% less than their male colleagues, the Gazette can reveal this week. The Law Society’s latest salary survey showed only a slight narrowing of the pay gap between the sexes compared with the previous year’s figure of 32%. ...
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LCS frustrated by Raleys delay
The Legal Complaints Service has offered to continue investigating complaints against Yorkshire law firm Raleys concerning compensation payments to miners, after previously rejecting the advice of its watchdog and refusing to do so. However, the LCS, which suspended investigations in March, stressed that it ...
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Hacking into voicemails: when is a crime not a crime?
There's been a great deal of press coverage about the News of the World and alleged interception of phone messages among the country's celebs and public figures, but a huge amount of it is missing the point.
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Registry rule puts conveyancing solicitors ‘at risk’
Conveyancing solicitors could be at risk of being in breach of their obligations, due to a policy change being introduced by the Land Registry. From 3 August, the Registry will introduce a new ‘early completion’ policy that is intended to make the registration process more efficient ...
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Justice committee warns of family lawyer ‘exodus’
The Legal Services Commission’s reform of family legal aid is causing ‘an exodus of senior practitioners from publicly-funded family law’, the House of Commons’ Justice Committee concluded today. A report on family legal aid said the LSC’s proposals for reform were based on a ‘flawed consultation’ ...
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Why the UK is ‘no place for a child’
There’s only one country in the EU that detains children indefinitely – and that’s the UK. We lock up around 2,000 kids a year in removal centres while the UK Border Agency processes their parents’ asylum applications.
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News
More power for FSA’s chief enforcer
The Financial Services Authority’s chief enforcer is to be given greater power to fine individuals and companies as she moves to head an enhanced enforcement division at the City watchdog. The FSA wants to treble some fines for mis-selling and market abusers after it merges its ...
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No more ‘fat cats’
While clearing out my rather dated and messy office today, I came across the Green Book from October 2000. Still being at university then and labouring under the misconception that my path was to be paved with gold, I flicked through it curious to know what fixed costs were allowable ...
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Cold calling leaves solicitors at risk of conduct breach
A growing number of claims management companies are putting solicitors at risk of breaching conduct rules by hiring call centres to cold call potential claimants, the Gazette has learned. The Ministry of Justice has identified a ‘shift’ towards the use of call centres in India and ...
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News
Doctors ‘put police station detainees at risk’, says BMA
Inadequately trained doctors are putting the safety of police station detainees at risk and could undermine criminal trials, the British Medical Association has warned. At its annual conference last week, the BMA said the Metropolitan Police lacked the competence to deliver the clinical governance required for ...
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International property blow
A firm with 30 years’ experience of international property law is to shut it doors this week as the recession takes its toll on the sector. The International Law Partnership, which provides specialist advice through offices in London and Leeds, has seen its income plummet ...
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News
Clients ‘bled dry’
The research into employment lawyers by Cardiff Law School is partly corroborated by our own clients’ experiences of the practices of other law firms (see [2009] Gazette, 2 July, 3). Many clients are bled dry early on in the litigation process by hourly rate solicitors. They approach us to take ...
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News
Graduated fee scheme will ‘better reflect complexity’
Caroline Little claims that membership of the Law Society Children Panel is in jeopardy owing to proposed family legal aid reforms (see [2009] Gazette, 25 June, 9).
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News
Plinth becomes king
Readers may recall Mark Fitch (pictured), the profession’s answer to The King, who graced these pages in January as lead singer of Elvis tribute band the Blue Sueders. Any fans who were deterred by the thought of travelling to Norfolk to see this white-suited wonder – Fitch is a litigation ...
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News
Bar at ‘rock bottom’, declares Browne
The morale of the publicly funded bar is at ‘rock bottom’ and careers advisers are telling would-be barristers to steer clear of legal aid, according to the bar’s chief. Speaking at a debate on legal aid, Desmond Browne QC said barristers around the country are ‘totally ...
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Time for the bar to move with the times
With legal aid rates squeezed and the ‘threat’ of increased competition from the CPS and solicitor higher court advocates, the bar might reasonably be expected to be looking keenly at survival strategies.
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Commercial attorney threat
Lawyers in England and Wales could soon face competition from commercial attorneys, a group of legal representatives operating mainly in the field of construction law whose origins lie in Scotland. The Association of Commercial Attorneys recently won a near 20-year battle for rights of audience ...
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Aspiring sole practitioners need to understand their responsibilities
One of the most persistent myths in the legal profession is that sole practitioner numbers are declining. In fact, there was an increase from just under 3,000 in 1987 to 4,130 at the end of 2008. And, despite the difficult trading conditions of 2009, the number of sole practitioners has ...
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News
US eyes Bahrain project, shampoo maker listing, and Plymouth Argyle Football Club stake
Powerful project: US firm Shearman & Sterling advised more than 20 lenders, including the US Government, on arranging $2.1bn (£1.3bn) of financing for Bahrain’s Al Dur water and power production project, which is expected to yield 1,230 megawatts of energy. A mix of ...
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Anger management
I write to draw the attention of professionals in the Yorkshire area to the invaluable service I have been receiving from an organisation called S.T.O.P.