All News articles – Page 1722
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Legal Services Board consultation fuels research debate
by Jonathan Goldsmith, secretary general of the Council of Bars and Law Societies of EuropeIn a week in which the Legal Services Board has issued another consultation on alternative business structures, I want to speak about the importance of good-quality research before important policy proposals are made which may radically ...
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‘Dire need’ for solicitors to undertake pro bono work
There is a ‘dire need’ for solicitors to undertake pro bono work, legal aid minister Lord Bach admitted this week. Addressing Monday’s joint national pro bono conference in London, which kicked off National Pro Bono Week, Bach suggested there should be a ‘professional expectation’ ...
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LCS braced for deluge of Scottish equal pay cases
A deluge of impending complaints over Scottish equal pay cases handled by the UK’s most prolific equal pay lawyer could swamp the Legal Complaints Service if they are sent across the border to England, the Gazette has learned.The complaints relate to compensation agreements drawn up by a law firm run ...
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Yahoo! Europe’s general counsel Grainne Brankin
At a gathering of corporate counsel in Geneva earlier this year, Grainne Brankin gave a talk on ‘how to communicate in a crisis.’ This was probably because the general counsel at Yahoo! Europe’s new Swiss headquarters has experienced crisis first-hand.
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LSC chairman defiant over family funding cuts
The chairman of the Legal Services Commission struck a defiant note in a debate on family funding cuts, stressing that ‘it is difficult to convince ministers and a hard-headed Treasury that they are getting value for money out of legal aid’. Sir Bill Callaghan was ...
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Students seduced by City firms may be in for a disappointment
I reckon sixth-formers spend too much time on legal websites and blogs, gazing dreamily at the magic million-pound-plus partner profit figures put out by top commercial law firms.
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Civil procedure
Banking and finance – Costs - Disclosure Timothy Duncan Earles v Barclays Bank plc: QBD (Birmingham) (Judge Simon Brown QC): 8 October 2009 The claimant (E) claimed damages in respect ...
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Scrapping single renewal date for PII 'improbable', claims SRA
A move to scrap the single renewal date for professional indemnity insurance (PII) in 2010 is ‘improbable,’ the Solicitors Regulation Authority said this week. The SRA also warned that any shift to staggered renewals ‘will not in itself significantly alter the overall dynamics of the market’. ...
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Clients are not units of production
I refer to the recent letter from Hugh Barrett of the Legal Services Commission (‘Access is the number-one priority’, [2009] Gazette, 29 October, 11).
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Law Society Council considers 'useful' Hunt review
Law Society president Robert Heslett last week praised Lord Hunt’s ‘very useful’ review of legal services regulation, welcoming the Tory peer’s core proposal for self-governance for firms that meet robust levels of internal compliance.
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Mid-tier corporate firms see profits plummet
Partner profits have plummeted by more than a quarter among a large swath of corporate firms as ‘acute pricing pressure’ and a fall in work take their toll on the bottom line, according to research by accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers published today. The PwC annual law firm benchmarking ...
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Unpaid volunteers not covered by discrimination legislation
Volunteers who give their time unpaid to charities are not covered by domestic or European equal treatment legislation designed to protect employees, the Employment Appeal Tribunal has ruled. The ruling arose from a claim brought by a citizens advice bureau volunteer who alleged she had ...
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Criminal procedure
Road traffic – Notices of intended prosecution – Postal service – Time limits Gidden v Chief Constable of Humberside: DC (Lord Justice Elias, Mr Justice Openshaw): 29 October 2009 The ...
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Denton Wilde Sapte reports increase in fee income
City firm Denton Wilde Sapte has emerged as the top performer among firms that have reported half-year financial results so far, as the only firm to increase its fee income. Revenues at the firm for the six months to October rose 3.5% to £87.7m, up from ...
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Security guards do a difficult job
Clive Booth wants to know why visitors to court are asked to open their own bags and take out items as part of security checks. This is HMCS policy and is common practice among many organisations.
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Wish you were here?
What do celebrities Diana Rigg and Judith Chalmers have in common, aside from being two former glamour pusses of the small screen who are now, shall we say, advancing in years? Answer: they have both had the recent pleasure of being photographed with our favourite outspoken personal injury lawyer, Kerry ...
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Last in the Kew
George 'Gideon' Osborne will have caught it in the neck from his spin doctors for a maladroit attempt to come across as a man of the people (‘we're all in this together’, don’t forget). The shadow chancellor argued that his school, St Paul's, is ‘incredibly liberal’ because ‘your mother could ...
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Linesman wanders offside
Obiter suspected that last week’s Heimlich manoeuvre expert Richard Taylor, who heroically stopped his client from choking during a posh dinner, would not be the only solicitor out there to have saved a client’s life. Paul Inns, partner at Powys firm Hanratty & ...
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Tickled pink
Obiter is somewhat lost for words on this one. Staff at Lichfield-based Keelys swapped their usual suits for a ‘wear it pink’ campaign in aid of Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October. While the ladies pictured have made a bit of a half-hearted ...