All News articles – Page 1719

  • News

    Clifford Chance posts sharp drop in profits

    2009-06-26T00:00:00Z

    Magic circle firm Clifford Chance today reported a sharp fall in profit per equity partner (PEP) on top of declining revenues. PEP for the year to 30 April 2009 was down 37% on 2007/08, falling from £1.15m to £733,000. Revenues fell 5%, from £1.33bn in 2008 ...

  • News

    Society backs FSA move on high deposits

    2009-06-26T00:00:00Z

    The Law Society has welcomed the Financial Services Authority’s proposal to provide extra protection for holders of temporary high deposit balances in the event of a failure of a UK bank. The current maximum deposit protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme is £50,000 per individual, ...

  • News

    LSC makes adjustments to civil contract proposals following concerns

    2009-06-26T00:00:00Z

    The Legal Services Commission said it had ‘taken on board’ concerns from the profession in amendments it announced yesterday to its final proposals for the new civil contract and bid round. The tendering process for the three-year contracts will begin in September. It will be run ...

  • News

    Too much too late

    2009-06-25T00:00:00Z

    Obiter is no expert on the public finances, but here’s a helpful suggestion for the next time the Treasury comes looking for economies at the Ministry of Justice. It’s called: pay your bills on time. Answering a question from Conservative MP Philip Hammond, ...

  • News

    Memory lane

    2009-06-25T00:00:00Z

    The Law Society's position on price control, a note on China's politics and changing relations between solicitors. The Law Society’s Gazette, 30 June 1999 ...

  • News

    Telling it like it isn’t

    2009-06-25T00:00:00Z

    Cynics would say that ‘politics’ and ‘u-turn’ have been mutual friends for centuries. Obiter prefers to recall the (attributed) words of John Maynard Keynes: ‘When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?’ Whatever. But with a general ...

  • News

    Human rights

    2009-06-25T00:00:00Z

    Closed material – Disclosure – Non-derogating control orders – Right to fair trial – Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005 Secretary of State for the Home Department (appellant) v (1) AF (2) AM (3) AN (respondents): AE (appellant) v Secretary ...

  • News

    HIP search myth

    2009-06-25T00:00:00Z

    While applauding the caution that Mark Williams advocates regarding ‘cut-price HIPs’ (see [2009] Gazette, 18 June, 13), it is important that the old but popular myth about personal search is reviewed.

  • News

    Tributes paid to solicitor-judge Henry Hodge

    2009-06-25T00:00:00Z

    The lord chief justice has led tributes to Sir Henry Hodge, one of the first solicitors to become a High Court judge, who died last week aged 65. Lord Judge said that Hodge had been ‘an outstanding president of the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal, a ...

  • News

    Local government

    2009-06-25T00:00:00Z

    Torts – Emergency powers – Interference with goods – Local authorities’ powers and duties Infolines Public Networks Ltd v Nottingham City Council: CA (Civ Div) (Sir Andrew Morritt [Chancellor], Lords Justice Keene, Elias): 11 June 2009 ...

  • News

    Local government

    2009-06-25T00:00:00Z

    Education – Home tuition – Special educational needs – Statements – Local authority’s obligations R (on the application of TM) v Hounslow London Borough Council: CA (Civ Div) (Lords Justice Thomas, Aikens, Patten): 11 June 2009 ...

  • News

    SharePoint learns to love Firefox and Outlook

    2009-06-25T00:00:00Z

    Most supplier conferences about their technology are not, let’s be honest, fun. They can often be interesting, however, and one I went to this week on Microsoft’s SharePoint document management/collaboration/etc business software was exactly that. It’s a technology which – once Microsoft has shaken out some obvious problems with it ...

  • News

    Tribunals in Wales face major shake-up

    2009-06-25T00:00:00Z

    Tribunals in Wales face substantial reform after their supervisory body found them lacking in independence, openness, impartiality and efficiency.

  • News

    Practitioners divided over implications of trial without jury

    2009-06-25T00:00:00Z

    Criminal practitioners are divided over the implications of the Court of Appeal’s decision to allow a judge alone to hear the retrial of a robbery case. Last week the lord chief justice ruled that the risk of jury tampering was sufficient to allow the trial of ...

  • News

    Objective selection criteria for redundancy

    2009-06-25T00:00:00Z

    Getting older presents one with a number of oddities to deal with. Just how much chestnut rinse looks ‘natural’? (The answer, of course, is none.) Where is the door to my office? That kind of thing.

  • News

    Criminal procedure

    2009-06-25T00:00:00Z

    Confiscation orders – Drug trafficking – Market value – Statutory interpretation – Proceeds of crime R v Islam: HL (Lords Hope of Craighead, Walker of Gestingthorpe, Mance, Neuberger of Abbotsbury, Baroness Hale of Richmond): 10 June 2009 ...

  • News

    Crime figures show drop in fraud and criminal damage

    2009-06-25T00:00:00Z

    The number of people sentenced for fraud and criminal damage fell during the last quarter of 2008, while fewer juveniles and young adults were sent to prison, statistics released today reveal. Provisional Ministry of Justice data show that from October to December last year, 75,300 people ...

  • News

    In-house counsel lobby for trade secrets protection

    2009-06-25T00:00:00Z

    A coalition of major international corporations is to lobby the European Parliament and commission in an attempt to secure better protection for trade secrets, the Gazette has learned. In-house counsel from the 10-strong coalition of companies assert that trade secrets do not receive adequate protection in ...

  • News

    What's cooking?

    2009-06-25T00:00:00Z

    We’re not sure what Jeanette Miller, founding president of the Association of Motoring Offence Lawyers, was discussing with TV chef Marco Pierre White, but the pair seemed to be enjoying themselves at a charity event at the Lancashire County Cricket Club. Miller admitted to finding the youngest ever Michelin 3-star ...

  • News

    Reaffirming parliament’s stance on contracts

    2009-06-25T00:00:00Z

    The recent Court of Appeal case of Trident Turboprop (Dublin) Ltd v First Flight Couriers Ltd ([2009] 1 AII ER (Comm) 16) will be of interest to both litigators and non-litigators. Although the main issue of appeal was whether the particular lease agreements in question fell within section 26 of ...