All News articles – Page 1759
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News
Taking liberties – we want them back
As an example of gobsmacking candour from an establishment grandee, it ranks alongside former US Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan’s startling assertion that the Iraq War was ‘largely about oil’. Former MI5 chief Stella Rimington this week accused the government of exploiting the fear of terrorism to curtail civil liberties. ...
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LSC 'arrogant and devious' says helpline pioneer
A top criminal lawyer who helped set up the CDS Direct helpline for detainees has launched an outspoken attack on the Legal Services Commission, which engaged him as a key adviser. Writing in this week’s Gazette, Michael Burdett accuses the LSC of being ‘arrogant and ...
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Three solicitors appointed Queen’s Counsel
Three out of four solicitor applicants for Queen’s Counsel (QC) were successful in the latest appointment round, it was announced today (19 February). And women continue to outperform men overall, with 55% of all female applicants successful in 2008/09 compared to 40% of men. ...
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Baby P case sparks hike in care applications
Fears that vulnerable children would be put at risk because of the soaring cost of family care proceedings appear to have proved unfounded, new figures suggest. Fees for public law childcare applications rose from £150 to £4,825 last May, as part of a government drive ...
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Work-permit policy for trainees 'discrimination', appeal tribunal rules
Law firms that refuse to consider training contract applications from students who would need a work permit are having to review the policy following a ruling last week. The Employment Appeal Tribunal upheld a finding of indirect race discrimination on the grounds of nationality against top-30 ...
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Axe falls at A&O
Magic circle firm Allen & Overy is to cut up to 82 partners and up to 200 lawyers and freeze pay for all employees as part of a wide-ranging, £44m restructuring programme. In total more than 240 A&O jobs in London could go.
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International panel condemns UK anti-terrorism measures
'Excessive’ and ‘abusive’ anti-terrorism measures have undermined international human rights law, according to a report by an independent panel of judges and lawyers. After a three-year study, the Eminent Jurists Panel on Terrorism, Counter-Terrorism and Human Rights, established by the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), said ...
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Media law – offers of amends
Warren v Random House Group Ltd (Nos 1-3) (CA) [2008] EWCA Civ 834; Tesco Stores Ltd v Guardian News & Media Ltd and Rusbridger [2008] EWCH (QB)
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Probate lawyers face tough challenges ahead
Probate lawyers may find themselves in the line of fire as plunging stocks and shares devastate the value of estates, prompting beneficiaries to take a hard look at their role in protecting those assets. Beneficiaries are increasingly prepared to take their battles to court – last ...
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Age-old problem
In revisiting its equality and diversity strategy, the Solicitors Regulation Authority ought to take a look at the question of age discrimination in the provision of training contracts. There has been publicity about partners in their 50s being forced out, but the implications of a retirement ...
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Claims companies warned on misleading advertising
Claims management firms that mislead consumers by claiming they can arrange for debts to be written off have been warned that they face enforcement action by the Ministry of Justice. Justice minister Bridget Prentice delivered the warning as the MoJ issued new guidance on misleading advertising which sets out ...
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Business Court opening date slips back to 2011
The new Business Court, due to open in 2010, will not now be ready until the following year, the Gazette has learned. The new court will replace the Commercial and other courts currently working from St Dunstan’s House in Fetter Lane in the City of London. ...
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The Law Society’s Gazette, February 1959
Notes of the month by The Editor: The Electronic Lawyer: A recent issue of Punch contains an article entitled ‘The Electronic Lawyer’ by Mr Rupert Townshend-Rose. The article in ...
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Scent of a woman
Last month Obiter reported Berkshire solicitor Hilary Messer’s recollection of misunderstanding a female judge’s enquiry about the perfume she was wearing. Roberta Tish, a consultant with London firm Blacklaws Davis, reckons Messer was lucky. ‘How times have changed,’ Tish writes. ‘In the very early sixties, I was appearing before ...
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Taxing problem for solicitors
Paying tax has been identified as the number one concern of solicitors hit by the credit crunch. Late incoming payments from third parties are making the problem worse, according to an online survey by the Law Society. Most firms said private clients were not paying their bills on time, which ...
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Time to move on
I reply to Peter Browne’s letter asking us not to follow the crowd and in particular resistance to paying referral fees (see [2009] Gazette, 29 January, 9). As owners of an estate agency, we are well aware that most estate agents successfully try to persuade buyers and sellers to use ...
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Pinsent Masons
Thanks to our friends at Pinsent Masons for sending us a preview of the firm’s stylish new Manchester premises in the city’s Spinningfields development. Apparently the property fit-out specialist Overbury has started work on the décor, ready for a June move-in. The aim is ‘a visually striking, welcoming and user-friendly ...
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Immigration
Human rights - Confidentiality - Deportation orders - Terrorism Z v (1) Secretary of State for the Home Department (2) Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs; and 11 other cases against (1) and (2) brought by ...
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World games
When we cheerfully predicted that new technology would cause the demise of the legal typo, we forgot about a new peril: the predictive text software that’s supposed to make life easier for people sending text messages or emails on the fly. Unless you’re careful, messages thus generated can range ...
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Law firms’ parliamentary links under scrutiny
UK legal firms employ 15 Lords and four MPs as consultants for as much as £61,000 a year, a Gazette investigation has found. Although the relationships are above board and break no rules, parliamentary activity is likely to come under scrutiny amid calls for tighter ...