All News articles – Page 1730
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News
CPS consults on changes to prosecution code
The Crown Prosecution Service today launched a 12-week consultation on changes to the code for Crown prosecutors. The code sets out the principles that prosecutors must follow when deciding whether or not to prosecute an individual. The test set out in the code, and applied in ...
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Litigation funder lists on AIM
Litigation funder Burford Capital has raised £80m following a share placing on the London Stock Exchange’s alternative investment market (AIM). The placing means that Burford has become the second UK-listed third-party litigation funder, after Juridica Investments listed on AIM in December 2007 and raised £80m. Juridica ...
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How to get a better deal on your firm's mobile bills
You may have read that T-Mobile is being bought by Orange. As someone with a keen eye on the mobile market, it occurs to me that this little merger will take up to two years to get sorted. I suspect that in that time, with the resulting slightly chaotic administration ...
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SRA commissions £40,000 diversity research
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has commissioned research to find out why ethnic minority solicitors are over-represented in its regulatory decisions, the Gazette has learned. The £40,000 study, by business psychologists Pearn Kandola, will look at issues including the SRA’s processes, the career progression of ethnic minority ...
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Joint LA panel to save £1.5m
Six London boroughs have combined to slash almost £1.5m a year in legal fees. The London Boroughs Legal Alliance, which links lawyers from Harrow, Hammersmith & Fulham, Camden, Hillingdon, Hounslow and Kensington & Chelsea councils, aims to save £1.44m through a pioneering collaboration.
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101 ways to leave the law
For any readers out there who have been wanting to quit their job for ages but have been too afraid of the senior partner to hand over the resignation letter, help is finally at hand. According to the title of Alex Steuart Williams’ new book, there are 101 Ways to ...
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Strike out for abuse of process: guidance for making and resisting applications
The courts’ wide powers under CPR 3.4(2) and the factors a court will take into account when considering an application to strike out a statement of case for abuse of process were considered by the Court of Appeal in Walbrook Trustees (Jersey) Ltd & Others v Fattal & Others [2009] ...
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An online legal information resource will provide a clear advantage
Take the slow train out of Leeds and head west, past Halifax. Just before you leave Yorkshire for Lancashire, you’ll find a picturesque village called Mytholmroyd – which you should pronounce like thyroid, not mistletoe. Climb the steep hill by the Methodist chapel, walk past ...
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Subjecting terror suspects to triple jeopardy is an affront to justice
by Dr Amir A Majid LLM DCLis a barrister and reader in law at London Metropolitan University. He is also a part-time immigration judge and editor-in-chief of the Journal of Islamic State Practices in International Law On 11 September, a judge at Woolwich Crown Court ...
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Legal aid budget crossroads?
The MoJ’s surprise announcement on Tuesday of a wide-ranging review of legal aid delivery must be interpreted as an implicit acknowledgement that the existing system is not fit for purpose. Many solicitors have being saying as much on the letters pages of the Gazette for as long as most of ...
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MoJ review on separate budgets for criminal and civil legal aid
The Ministry of Justice has announced a review of the way the £2bn legal aid budget is delivered which could see separate civil and criminal funds run by different bodies. The review came as legal aid lawyers warned that firms providing social welfare work are at ...
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It is time to develop pan-European anti-corruption measures
by Drago Kos, the president of the Council of Europe's Group of States against CorruptionIt is common knowledge that corruption is one of the most dangerous factors jeopardising the rule of law, the economy and democratic development. The reason is straightforward: corruption attacks systems from within and is often facilitated ...
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Desperate argument
Rhonwen Barraclough’s letter (8 October) complained about Lord Justice Jackson’s recent suggestion of increasing the small claims limit if a deal cannot be done on fixing legal costs in fast-track claims. Among the various reasons put forward as to why this was a bad thing, the most desperate was:
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SRA rules out lowering premiums in assigned risks pool
The Solicitors Compensation Fund looks set to receive a £5m boost to its reserves which could ease the financial pressure on individual firms, under plans being put forward at the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s board meeting today. However, in a separate development the SRA has concluded that ...
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Bank paybacks cement plant upgrades
Payback time: US firm Shearman & Sterling advised French bank Société Générale on a €4.8bn (£4.4bn) rights issue. The bank will use most of the proceeds to repay the €3.4bn (£3.1bn) of emergency funding given to it by the French state.
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US firm could reap benefits of UK reforms with Lovells tie-up
US firm Hogan & Hartson has remained quiet on whether it might use a tie-up with City firm Lovells to access external capital in the future, following reports this week of a merger between the two firms. The merger could potentially give Hogan & Hartson access ...
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Mental illness – a death sentence in China
Acupuncture and herbal remedies – that’s what Chinese medicine means to most of us. But now the Beijing government has come up with a new form of medication. It’s a cure for bipolar disorder, it’s permanent and it takes just seconds to administer.
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Costly choice
In his Euro blog last week, Jonathan Goldsmith could barely hide his excitement following the judgment by the European Court of Justice in the Eschig case, in which it was held that a clause in an Austrian legal expenses policy did not in fact allow...
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New information commissioner Christopher Graham has much to do
The new information commissioner, Christopher Graham, took up his post in June this year. Mr Graham previously ran the Advertising Standards Authority. One of his main challenges will be to tackle the lengthy backlog of cases that his office (the ICO) has been struggling with.
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Surge in unfair dismissal claims puts tribunals under strain
Lawyers are witnessing a huge surge in unfair dismissal claims which is leading them to expand their employment teams but is also placing a severe strain on the tribunal system. Figures released by the Tribunals Service last week showed that unfair dismissal claims rose 29% to ...