All News articles – Page 1744
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News
Employed lawyers: another European case
Another day, another case before the European Court of Justice on the practice of law. This one is interesting because it concerns rules that prohibit lawyers who are employed in other functions from being members of the bar.
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Bar appeals to Lord Justice Jackson for referral fee ban
Lord Justice Jackson has been urged to recommend a ban or cap on referral fees as part of his review of civil justice costs. In its response to Jackson’s consultation, the Bar Council said referral fees ‘led to bad service and should be abolished’, noting that ...
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Human rights: clarifying the law on assisted suicide
R (on the application of Purdy) v the Director of Public Prosecutions [2009] UKHL 44. There are several remarkable features about the case of Debbie Purdy. For one, the case started with judicial review proceedings in April 2008, concluding with the House of Lords judgment ...
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Sole practitioners axed from Britannia/Co-operative panel
Co-operative Financial Services (CFS), which has recently merged with Britannia Building Society, is to axe 3,600 sole practitioners from its conveyancing panel, it has emerged. The Law Society has urged the CFS not to remove the large number of sole practitioners who had been on Britannia’s ...
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Fancy a bit of panel beating? Then look to basic business development
As the legal services market moves through a period of change, the phrase (or curse) 'may you live in interesting times' seems appropriate for solicitors. Panels of solicitors are being chopped and changed as organisations look towards the future of legal services in LDPs and ABSs.
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Is the legal profession to blame for the fall in social mobility?
When the Cabinet Office issued its call for evidence for an investigation into social mobility and the professions, it was very clear on one point: it did not want any backchat on the impact of an unequal society on social mobility.
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Pro bono work rises due to recession
There has been a surge in pro bono work provided by lawyers as a result of the recession, figures have suggested. The increase stems from a combination of a greater need for pro bono work and the fact that some ...
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PII boost for small firms as XL enters market
Sole practitioners and small law firms have received a boost ahead of the professional indemnity insurance (PII) renewals season, with news that insurance giant XL will provide them with cover. As revealed by the Gazette last week, XL, a new entrant to the solicitors’ PII market, ...
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The chaps no longer born to rule
It sounds like Alice in Wonderland, with 750 unelected toffs substituting for the Queen of Hearts. Except it’s not a fairy story and it’s not funny. It’s the continuing saga of the House of Lords and the government’s snail-like progress towards reform.
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Britannia under fire from Chancery Lane
The Law Society has criticised Britannia Building Society and The Co-operative Financial Services (CFS) for failing to engage with it after the newly merged building society moved to axe 3,600 sole practitioners from its conveyancing panel. After being advised last week of the decision to ...
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More job cuts at Burges Salmon
South-west firm Burges Salmon is to axe up to four property lawyers and up to 27 support staff in its second redundancy round of the year. The firm said that redundancy pay will be ‘more generous’ than the statutory minimum. In March, Burges Salmon let 18 ...
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Buzz off
Without doubt the silliest event we learned of this month was Nottinghamshire Law Society’s ‘buzzathon’; a 24-hour drive round and round a circuit in a teeny tiny van called an Ape (pronounced ‘Appey’, apparently). President Stephen Warner and vice-president Deborah Hutchinson took it in turns to drive the little vehicle, ...
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Solicitors condemn BVT pilot over 'unrealistic' timescale
Solicitors in the best value tendering pilot areas have written a hard-hitting letter to the Legal Services Commission condemning the ‘unrealistic and perilous’ timescale for the pilot, which will spell ‘disaster’ for firms. Half of the 141 firms with criminal contracts in Avon and Somerset and ...
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A change of tack from the SRA?
The England cricket team today begin their quest for victory in the fifth and final test match of this year’s Ashes series, fronting a new-look lineup and a big gamble in the form of Warwickshire right-hander Jonathan Trott. Earning his first cap for England, Trott joins some other new faces: ...
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Company law
Damages – Amendments – Loss of chance – Reflective loss Charles Frederick Webster v Sandersons Solicitors (a firm): CA (Civ Div) (Lord Clarke of Stone-cum-Ebony, Master of the Rolls, Lady Justice Arden, Lord Justice Lloyd): 31 July 2009 ...
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Huge vote of confidence for conveyancing solicitors
Conveyancing solicitors were given a resounding vote of confidence by the public this week as unpublished research seen by the Gazette revealed ‘stratospheric’ levels of satisfaction among consumers. Some 93% of ...
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Glimmers of hope for conveyancers
The term ‘green shoots’ has become toxic to politicians rash enough to use it and we hesitate to employ it here in the context of the housing market. But embattled conveyancers, still reeling from last year’s ‘annus horribilis’ and the continuation of the malaise into 2009, do at last have ...
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Pilot scheme to cut libel costs
Efforts to control the costs of defamation actions will step up this autumn with the launch of a year-long costs budgeting pilot. Under the scheme at the Royal Courts of Justice and High Court in Manchester, parties will be required to discuss with each other and ...
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Funding cuts proposed for police station work
The Ministry of Justice has announced a consultation on funding cuts for police station and Crown court work aimed at ‘rebalancing’ the £2bn legal aid budget in favour of civil help. The reforms outlined in the consultation paper include reducing the fees paid for police station ...
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Cutting out the middle man
The congratulatory report on claims management regulation has once again steered attention away from the rapidly increasing number of claims management companies to issues surrounding regulation of solicitors’ responsibilities (see [2009] Gazette, 30 July, 3).