All News articles – Page 1728
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News
Government must heed the importance of observing conventions
by Gary Atkinson, senior lecturer at the College of Law Amid all the political comings and goings of recent weeks, something that has been ignored by the media and politicians is the importance of observing those conventions which have such an important place in the constitutional ...
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Web of contention
Combine the power of the web and a very grumpy judge and you get cracking reads, as we journalists say. Judge Gledhill QC's public dressing down of three solicitor-advocates led to solicitors storming the Gazette’s website – the article was by a huge margin the ...
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Indian competition watchdog enters uncharted territory
A shortage of competition case law and competition lawyers, and a ‘highly politicised’ appointments process, could stall India’s progress towards liberalisation of professional services – despite the establishment of its first competition watchdog, an expert on the Indian legal market has warned. Warsha Kalé, associate director ...
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Compensation fund
I see from your story ‘Compensation fund levy set to treble?’ that the SRA is trying to justify a large increase on the basis that, if the Law Society had accepted their advice last year, the rise would have been less this year (see [2009] Gazette, 21 May, 1).
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Virtual courts – justice on the cheap?
Since 2006, ‘simple, speedy, summary’ justice has been the mantra of successive justice secretaries and at the heart of the government’s reforms to ‘rebalance the criminal justice system and increase public confidence’.
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Sweet charity
Solicitors and staff at Sheffield firm Watson Esam proved just how tough it can be to raise money for charity. For a week they swapped their habitually healthy diets of porridge, muesli and nuts in favour of… cake. They daringly devoured date and walnut, courageously munched their way through chocolate, ...
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Straw hails virtual court pilot but Chancery Lane demurs
Justice secretary Jack Straw praised the virtual court process yesterday after the first two cases to use the technology were heard this week at Camberwell Green Magistrates’ Court in London. However, the Law Society marked the occasion by giving voice to its ‘grave concerns’ about the initiative. ...
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Posting the case for email
Post has a reassuring quality. You can see it before you sign it, think about it a bit more before approving it, and have a printed copy on your file for ease of reference.
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Canterbury tale
As one football season ends, clubs, players and supporters are already turning their minds to the next. To sponsorship deals, especially. In the Premier League, Manchester United are sponsored by insurers AIG, Arsenal by Emirates airlines, and Spurs by casino and poker website Mansion.com. In the Kent County League, Canterbury ...
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Michael Napier steps down from Legal Services Board
Michael Napier QC today resigned from the Legal Services Board in the wake of last week’s high-profile Court of Appeal decision to allow magazine Private Eye to publish details of a complaint against him. The Irwin Mitchell senior partner said he would no longer be able to devote the ...
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Speak out on best value tendering, solicitors urged
The Law Society has called on members to respond to the government’s consultation on the introduction of best value tendering (BVT). Chancery Lane has warned that the Legal Services Commission’s plans, which will require firms to bid against each other to win contracts for legal aid ...
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Justice before costs
I am writing in response to the preliminary report of Lord Justice Jackson concerning civil costs reform. I act exclusively for claimants, mostly injured in work accidents.
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Radical changes on costs will transform many aspects of civil litigation
by Peter Smith, managing director of FirstAssist Legal Protection Whatever the outcome of the final report, due at the end of the year, there is little doubt that the review of the civil justice costs regime being conducted by Lord Justice Jackson will transform many aspects ...
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Revenues tumble at City giant Ashurst
Ashurst became the latest major firm to register the impact of the recession on its finances today, reporting a 7% fall in revenues to £301m for the year to April 30. The top 10 City firm did not release information on total profits or profit per ...
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Appeal court denies attempt to block publication of complaint details
The Solicitors Regulation Authority is considering the ramifications of a Court of Appeal decision to allow the magazine Private Eye to publish details of a complaint against former Law Society president Michael Napier. Napier, senior partner at Irwin Mitchell, had been seeking an injunction to stop publication of identifying details ...
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Disabled claimant wins employment appeal tribunal decision
The Employment Appeal Tribunal has reasserted the right of disabled people to claim that an employer’s failure to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ is an act of disability discrimination.
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Another nail in the billable hour’s coffin
A recent article in the Economist outlined a move away from the ‘billable hour’ toward a ‘value-based system’ that has been happening in the global advertising agency sector. A sceptical note was raised by a commentator in the Economist article, pointing out that the benefits of an advertising agency’s work ...
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Alternative business structures must preserve the rule of law
by Robert Heslett, vice-president of the Law Society The Legal Services Board argues that ‘effective access to justice is at the heart of the concept of a society that rests on a commitment to the rule of law’. That is entirely uncontroversial.
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MPs launch all-party legal aid group
MPs came together last night to launch an all-party parliamentary group on legal aid. The group's aim is to promote parliamentary and public understanding of the role of publicly funded legal services as a pillar of the welfare state and in reducing inequalities in society. ...
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New sole practitioners chairwoman promises to fight ‘frightening’ agenda
The newly elected chairwoman of the Sole Practitioners Group (SPG) has promised to fight the government’s ‘frightening, almost sinister agenda’ on funding and regulation. Sushila Abraham (pictured), of Surrey firm S Abraham Solicitors, told 180 delegates at the SPG’s annual conference that the group is ...