All News articles – Page 1762
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News
Scourge of the establishment
Obiter enjoys needling the establishment – it’s part of the journalist’s job. But he’s never attained the heights of iconoclasm achieved by Heather Brooke, who 12 months ago wrote a piece about her High Court freedom of information (FoI) victory ...
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Event to remember Henry Hodge
An event to celebrate the life of Sir Henry Hodge is to be held next week. Sir Henry, who was one of the first solicitors to become a High Court judge, died this month. The event will take place at 4pm on ...
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Income rises but profits fall at Field Fisher Waterhouse
City firm Field Fisher Waterhouse today reported an 8% increase in revenues, but predicted that profits would be down on last year. The firm’s turnover increased from £88m in 2007/08 to £95m for the year ended 30 April 2009. The firm did not release a figure ...
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Family law
Care proceedings – Findings of fact – Non-accidental injury – Standard of proof Re D (Children) sub nom NH v (1) A County Council (2) NH (3) RD & SD: CA (Civ Div) (Lords Justice Thorpe, Wall, Elias): ...
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Immigration
France – Removal – Right to respect for private and family life – Member state’s assumption of responsibility for asylum claim R (on the application of Shayanth) v Secretary of State for the Home Department: QBD (Admin) (Mr Justice ...
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Memory lane
New plans for efficiently dealing with the complaints handling system. Television series review and benefits of membership to the Law Society.
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Monopoly supplier
I note that Land Registry fees are to rise from early July by about 30%. Presumably, this is to remedy the lack of income caused by the diminution in the volume of conveyancing work.
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Packing a punch
We write with reference to a report by Catherine Baksi about cost-price HIPs (see [2009] Gazette, 11 June, 2). We at Donaldson West have been dealing with HIPs in this way since their inception.
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Pinochet pointer
My letter (see [2009] Gazette, 21 May, 9) was an attempt to present a less critical view of the role of Lord Hoffmann in the Pinochet case than that offered by Joshua Rozenberg in his article celebrating Lord Hoffmann’s retirement.
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Professional independence in danger, incoming president warns
The legal profession is in danger of losing its independence, incoming Law Society president Bob Heslett warned last week. Heslett (pictured), who assumes the office next month, has identified three key themes and 11 objectives to tackle during his year in office. The themes will ...
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Serious concerns are raised with the first non-jury criminal trial
By Raj Chada, a partner in the criminal department at Hodge Jones & Allen The recent bout of soul searching with regard to jury trials has come as a result of a Court of Appeal decision in the Menzies World Cargo trial, which has allowed the ...
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What voting for the Pirate Party means
Here in Brussels, we are still trying to come to terms with the European election results. Voters have had their fun kicking Gordon Brown, rewarding Silvio Berlusconi for the topless women at his villa, or giving a seat to the Pirate Party in Sweden...
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Top 100 hit by downturn, says Deloitte survey
Fee income at the UK’s top 100 law firms decreased by 4.3% in the quarter ending 30 April 2009) compared with the same period last year, according to business advisory firm Deloitte’s Quarterly Legal Sector Survey. The report, published today, predicts that the quarter’s fall ...
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LSB’s £20m is a drop in the ocean, says Kenny
The £20m set-up costs of the Legal Services Board and Office for Legal Complaints to be paid for by the sector ‘is a not a real issue’, according to LSB chief executive Chris Kenny. Speaking to the Gazette, Kenny (pictured) said that, against the ...
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Wragge & Co to axe 85 after income falls
Birmingham firm Wragge & Co has announced that it will cut up to 85 staff, after its revenues fell by nearly a fifth last year. The firm’s turnover for the 12 months to 30 April was £104.3m, down by 17.5% on last year’s ...
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New fixed-fee deal could cut payments for low cost accident claims
Solicitors handling the hundreds of thousands of straightforward road traffic accident (RTA) claims brought every year look set for a significant cut in the fees they receive, the Gazette can reveal. Talks to agree a new fixed-fee claims process for RTA claims worth less than £10,000 ...
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MoJ publishes report on local legal advice
A government-commissioned report on local legal advice provision has recommended that the Legal Services Commission work with service providers to reduce the bureaucratic burdens heaped upon them.
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Defence fee caps will be final blow for legal aid, practitioners say
Government proposals to cap payments made to acquitted defendants who have paid privately for their defence are the ‘final nail in the coffin’ of criminal legal aid firms, a leading practitioner group has warned. The Ministry of Justice announced this week it is to press ...
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All-party group boosts legal aid
Michael Mansfield QC (pictured standing) criticised the government’s ‘short-sighted and completely erroneous’ approach to the provision of legal aid services at last week’s launch of an all-party parliamentary group on legal aid. The group, chaired by Labour MP Karen Buck, aims to promote parliamentary and public understanding of the role ...
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We cannot ignore the arrival of alternative business structures
You may have noticed that lawyers opposed to the prospect of supermarkets, banks and other non-legal firms running legal practices recently protested outside the Royal Courts of Justice (pictured, left). They handed out cans of baked beans labelled ‘Legal services by supermarkets is as ridiculous as lawyers selling beans’. ...