All News articles – Page 1757
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News
Parents in child care cases are receiving poor representation
Law firms acting for parents in care proceedings are exploiting the fixed-fee system by using unqualified staff – in one case a receptionist and another a secretary – to do legal work, prominent family lawyers warned this week. Solicitors acting for children warned that the court ...
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Freshfields overtakes CC as top UK firm by size
Freshfields has overtaken magic circle rival Clifford Chance as the biggest UK firm by revenue, posting a 9% rise in turnover to £1.29bn for the year ended 30 April. Profits per equity partner (PEP) were static at £1.44m. Clifford Chance, which was the largest firm ...
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Reforms to practising certificate fee to hit private practice firms
Sweeping reforms to the practising certificate fee that will ‘shift the fee burden onto private practice’ were published for consultation this week. The changes would benefit solicitors in local government, commerce and industry and the Crown Prosecution Service at the expense of those working in private ...
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Great leap forward: survival depends on the challenge of change
This is my final President’s Podium, and while I write it with no little sense of sadness, I do so in the certainty that many in the profession are well placed not only to survive the current downturn, but to flourish in its aftermath.
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We can lead change
Robert Heslett urges the profession to prepare for change (see [2009] Gazette, 18 June, 12), but says little about precisely what it should do. He also highlights a long-standing concern about how new entrants can be imbued with the ethics of the profession. As he is aware, we have been ...
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Exploiting the goodwill of children’s lawyers
Solicitors acting for children have spoken out this week about the dire quality of representation that some – by no means all – firms acting for parents are offering. I’ve been told stories of parents’ cases being handled by staff who are clearly not qualified for the job – in ...
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Profits down by a third at City outfit Nabarro
City firm Nabarro today reported profits down by 35% and revenues down by 10%, describing the result as ‘disappointing’ but ‘not surprising’. Profits per equity partner declined from £574,000 in 2007/08 to £375,000 in the year ended 30 April. Revenues fell by 9.7%, from £140m to ...
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Insurers claim referral fees push lawyers’ costs out of control
Solicitors have hit out at a report claiming the market in personal injury claims is failing because legal fees are out of control. Arguing that fees could be reduced without restricting access to justice, a study commissioned by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) said there ...
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Jean-Michel Darrois proposes Clementi-style reforms in France
The architect of Clementi-style reforms of France’s legal landscape visited Chancery Lane this week for a seminar organised by the Law Society’s international division. Jean-Michel Darrois (pictured left), a company law specialist, headed a commission of academics, business people and other non-lawyers which published a ...
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Employment solicitors exploit client ignorance over contingency fees
Some employment solicitors may be ‘exploiting client ignorance’ of their funding options for their own gain, research has claimed. However, it was found that generally claimants were happy with the services provided and with the fairness of their fee arrangements.
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Your client database is worth a lot more than you think
Client databases are often seen as a dull subject – complex to manage and just getting in the way of fee-earning. But databases are necessary for every legal services practice that wants a future.
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Increased competition for trainee jobs at top firms
Competition for traineeships with the UK’s biggest law firms has reached a new intensity, with an average of 130 graduates applying for each trainee job, new research suggests today. As many as 78 more applications per place are being made this year than in 2007/08, when ...
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Counting the costs
I have just finished reading Lord Justice Jackson's impressive report on civil litigation costs (see [2009] Gazette, 21 May, 14).
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Deals or no deals?
You don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to detect that mergers and acquisitions are a little on the sparse side at the moment, but for those in need of statistics to back this up, Thomson Reuters has obliged.
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Media and entertainment
Human rights – Blogs – Confidentiality – Freedom of expression - Police Author of a blog v Times Newspapers Ltd: QBD (Mr Justice Eady): 16 June 2009 The applicant ...
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Updated: Solicitor's Handbook is essential in these volatile times
by Andrew Hopper QC and Gregory Treverton-Jones QC authors of The Solicitor’s Handbook 2009 In June 2008 we published the first edition of The Solicitor’s Handbook. It was intended to: replace and improve upon the old Guide to Professional Conduct; collect in one place all of ...
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Seeking fairness on practising fees
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) describes the current practising fee structure as ‘far from logical’ in a discussion paper launched this week. Quite so. Why should a bulk firm with an army of paralegals and very few solicitors pay so little in regulation, when a top-end, lawyer-rich niche practice pays ...
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Shoosmiths profits fall by more than half
National firm Shoosmiths today reported profits down by more than half, with a slight reduction in turnover. Profits at the firm tumbled to £5.6m in 2008/09, down 54% on 2007/08. Profits per equity partner dropped from £318,000 to £150,000 over the same period. Turnover fell 4% ...
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Shrinking Gazette
The Gazette is a superb source of professional news, information and gossip which is a ‘goody’ I eagerly await each week. Last year’s change in format is a great improvement. The news content remains invaluable.
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Personal injury
Discounts – Future loss – Loss of chance – Loss of earnings – Sportspersons Gary Smith & anr v Ben Collett CA (Civ Div) (Lords Justice Carnwath, Hughes, Lady Justice Smith): 17 June 2009 ...